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Following are articles taken from The First Post over the last 50 years. Many will not have read these previously but they form part of our history. The articles are not taken as a history of the Association or the Battalion but feature for those now getting on in years to help you remember some of the history that occurred in our time. PRIMUS AGAT PRIMAS This is the last edition of the First Post. It is a sad moment for me, a moment to reflect on a group of young Australians who came forward when their country needed them. They were the generation born from war (WW1) and were now stepping into the shoes of their fathers. and continued at different times through to the return of the unit to Australia in July 1942. The 2/1st battalion had fought in North Africa, Greece, Crete and in Syria and had spent three months in Ceylon and now was looking forward to a break. But that was not to be. Early September 1942 saw the battalion heading to New Guinea and a different type of warfare. I wonder if the historians who write about Kokoda and the tourists who The desperation, the mud, the mountains, the lack of food and sleep, a fanatical enemy, cannibalization by the enemy all with no end in sight. No-one can ever walk in their boots. 2/1st BATTALION ACTION NOVEMBER 1942 Interviewed by Daily Telegraph March 24th 1956 This cites the heroism of a force led by Captain B. W. T. Catterns, of the 2/1st Battalion, in an attack on a Japanese encampment during the advance on Sanananda in November, 1942. During the week the writer sought out the officer mentioned in the history and asked his version of the incident that have gained them, immortality as an outstanding feat of Australian arms. Captain Basil Catterns. M.C., who was educated at Fort Street and worked in a Sydney newspaper office before the war, is now the advertising manager of a big Australian tyre-and-rubber company. Catterns, a dark, handsome warrior, told his story over a cup of tea in his Granville office. He had no difficulty in remembering the details. " he recalled. Following the capture of a village called Soputa, the 2/1 Battalion, commanded by Lt Col Paul Cullen, resumed the role of the leading battalion in the advance, Catterns, a company commander, was acting as second-in-command, the 21C having been recently killed. Catterns said. The battle that followed was one of the hottest and most dramatic of the New Guinea campaign. The Australians swept through barricades of plaited vines protecting the camp and fell on the Japs, firing Brens and tommy-guns and lobbing grenades into the huts. Screaming Japs ran from the huts only to be cut down and join the dead around the camp fires. In a few minutes the Australians had killed about 150 of the enemy. The Japanese reorganised quickly and joined by reinforcements from another enca- mpment, fought back. Catterns formed his men to a defensive position - a sausage shaped perimeter about 60 yards long and 30 yards wide, into which they carried their wounded and then dug in. The wounded were stacked round the precarious shelter of a tall tree, but the Japanese picked them off one by one. Throughout the night the Japs probed the Australian positions and swept them with heavy machine-gun and mortar fire. When daylight came the Australians were in a terrible position. The Japs picked out the two-man pits in which the Australians were holding out and enfiladed them one by one with heavy machine-gun fire. Under cover of the fire, Japs crept forward and lobbed hand-grenades into the pits. Each grenade explosion meant the death of two more Australians. But the Australians still fought back. A few who raised their heads above their pits in spite of the withering machine-gun fire managed to pick off the Jap grenade throwers as they crept forward. All that day the defenders held out. The jungle around them had been cut down to ground level by the hurricane of fire, until it resembled flat field. The tangle of fallen trees and tall grass provided some cover for the wearied Diggers. At sunset the remainder of the 2/1st Battalion fought its way down the main track and the Japs drew back, though enough were left to harass the men still holding that defence perimeter. By the following morning all the Japs had gone, leaving the Australians to count their dead. Of the gallant 90 who made the attack only 24 remained alive. But the gun had been silenced. The Japs had to abandon it in their retreat and the way to Sanananda had been opened. No awards were made for gallantry to the men who took part in that magnificent stand but their heroism has gone into history. The 2/1st Battalion went on to fight again, but it had been terribly mauled and was relieved in December that year. Only two officers, Lt-Col Cullen and Major Catterns, and 52 men were left. Four months earlier the battalion, 1000-strong, had proudly marched through the cheering crowds of Sydney. ANZAC Day 1940 (1st Edition) This morning Reveille sounded at 3.00am. This was our cue to rise and dress quickly, form up and march quietly by the light of a fading moon to the Gaza cemetery. We formed up outside a small building set in an area dedicated to the thousands of fallen upon row of neat graves interspersed with cyprus pine trees and wondered. through the silent dawn. The two minutes silence which followed was unforgettable. Again the crisp notes of the bugle broke the stillness to complete the solemn strains of the call known through the ages. As we marched off down the pathway to do silent homage to our fallen we were a ghostly, shadowy m marching feet grew fainter and fainter the dawn broke. It was unearthly, moving, symbolic and brought forth deep emotions in every man. The Second First (Vol 3 No 1) From the ANZAC landing onward, From Helles to Lone Pine, With blood in every line. From Pozieres to Mouquet Farm, Thilloy to Menin Road, From Broodseinde down to Larnicourt, They took their fighting code. Suited them very well, Their record gave them cause for pride, That time shall never quell. And when the call of battle rang, Through-out the world once more, And armed itself for war. From the capture of Bardia, From Derna to Tobruk, To smoke filled hells in Greece and Crete, Their gallant way they took. Through the fever ridden Stanleys Down the path of fame they came, The Second First Battalion, Immortalised their name. I first met some of these men at an ANZAC Day function in the early They had supported 1 RAR in Vietnam and had visited our wounded in hospital and so we had become a part of their association. These men handed their association to us and entrusted us with the traditions and honours they had earned in war. We have kept the faith and will continue to do so. The First Post has been produced by 1 RAR and supported by the informed us all but times and technology has altered the way this is done. The association has been handed over to the younger generation of 1st Battalions so it now time to close this chapter of the 1st Battalion Association. They will always live with me. It has been an honour. Mike Waldron The very first Cover of The First Post July 1940 First CO of 1RAR - COL R.H.MARSON, DSO, ED Dick Marson will be remembered by the Infantrymen with whom he served as the first Commanding Officer of 1st Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment. Dick served in the 14th Light Horse Regiment prior to World War 2. In 1940, with the rank of Captain, he was appointed as one of the original members of 2/25th Battalion. Dick served with the 2/25th throughout the War, including campaigns in the Middle East, Papua, New Guinea and Borneo. In October 1942, he was promoted in the field to Lieutenant Colonel and appointed to command the 2/25th Battalion. He was awarded the DSO for his part in the Owen Stanley Campaign and was Mentioned in Dispatches on three occasions. With the end of hostilities, Dick was appointed to command the 65th Infantry Battalion, as part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Forces, Japan. The 65th Battalion, redesignated 1st Battalion, The Australian Regiment, returned to Australia in late 1948, however, Dick remained in Japan until 1952. Following his retirement in 1954, Dick served for two years as a UN military adviser in Kashmir. In 1955 he was appointed an Honorary Colonel. In latter years Dick was a successful farmer in the Longford area of Northern Tasmania and was a key figure in the local community. He died in January 1985. By Brig E.J.H. Howard, CBE First Post 1992 P 1RAR Association leadership to the next generation. The HQ of the Association moved to Townsville, we formed a very close relationship with 1RAR supported strongly by LTCOL Jason Groat then LTCOL Ben McLennan next, and the new National Committee is a close-knit group of post-Vietnam veterans. Our Vietnam veterans who have led the Association for the last 30 years or more have served us all exceptionally well and they have shown great foresight and courage to set in train the events that have led to this successful transition.