Without Glamour: The Social History of the 2118th Battalion AIF in Australia and Malaya 1940 -1942
Wendy Lavinia Willcocks B.A. (University of Sydney), Dip.Ed. (Sydney Teachers' College)
A Thesis submitted to the School of Classics, History and Religion, Faculty ofArts, Humanities and Social Sciences of the University ofNew England in fulfilment of requirements for the degree ofMaster ofArts with Honours
AUGUST 2005 Acknowledgements
To the people who have helped me during the last few years:
First, I would like to thank my father, John George Fuller, for allowing me to use the letters he wrote home from Malaya in 1941. For me, reading them was watching history unfold first-hand-it was as if I was there. I am grateful for my father's enthusiasm for my project. He also took me to the 2118th Infantry Battalion Association picnics which the members hold each month in the Lane Cove National Park-I am grateful to him for introducing me to the many wonderful friendships I have made among the members of the battalion and its associates. To the men of the 2118th Battalion I would like to say thankyou for your encouragement, friendship and help, especially to Colin Spence, Mervyn Blyth, Paul Gemmell, John McGrory, Nemo Dorph, Alan Loxton, Fred Harris, Stan O'Grady, Doug Spratt, Bob Ford, Joe Forsyth, Keith Forsyth, Frank Adams, Cliff Olsen, Mac Cottee, Col Thorburn, Jack Trimmingham, Bill Barnes, Owen Smith and Ginty Pearson. I would also like to thank the relatives and friends of members of the 2118th Battalion who allowed me to use the letters they have cherished for over sixty years, as well as the diaries, photographs and collections of newspaper cuttings. In this regard, I would particularly like to thank Jane Munro, Dawn Amos, Ethnee Brooks, Barbara Cook, Margaret Fisher, Hazel Blair, Roger Stuart, Thea Watt, Ann Kilgour, Elizabeth Mitchell and Imelda Mosher As well, I would like to thank Alex Dandie, Joan Okey, Noel Simmons, Lynette Silver, Graham Wilson, Patricia Mostyn, Betty Eaton, Trish Wright-Langsford, Nicole McLennan and my mother, Dinah Fuller, for their support. I received great help from the staffs at the University of New England's Dixson Library, the NSW State and Mitchell Libraries, the National Library of Australia, the Australian War Memorial and the National Archives of Australia in Melbourne. To all those who have assisted me, thank you. To Frank Bongiorno, my supervisor during the past four years, thank you for your patience, encouragement and friendship which have enabled me to complete my project. I would like to thank Phil Cummins (then of Cranbrook School) who contacted the University of New England on my behalf, Chris Pugsley and Janis Wilton who supervised my earlier course work and John Atchison and Howard Brasted for their support. Finally, I want to thank my husband Robert, my son James and my daughter Nicky whose faith in me has never wavered.
iii Abstract
"Without Glamour: The social history of the 2118th Battalion in Australia and Malaya in
1940-1942" narrates the story of a unit of volunteer Australian soldiers who, after a period
of initial training at home, had expected to fight the Germans in the Middle East. Instead
they had to adjust to the extremely trying conditions of life and garrison work in peaceful
tropical Malaya. The story focuses on the interplay of relationships, experiences and
actions of the battalion's members both among themselves and beyond the battalion. It
also traces the development of the battalion itself. The formal military institution fashioned
on conventional lines with its emphasis on discipline and training became the entity with
which its members identified most. It was permeated with the spirit so earnestly sought by
the battalion's commanding officer but the battalion's final shape was not the achievement
only of those in command. This research uses the approach of microhistory to reveal the
contribution of the soldiers themselves to that development. The soldiers proffered their
views on their daily affairs, actions, experiences and attitudes in the letters they wrote
home from Malaya, their post-war accounts and their recorded memories. They were
individuals and had their own codes and goals. Certainly they were trained and disciplined, receiving and obeying orders from above, but although they lacked control, they proved to be not entirely powerless. The level of their enthusiasm, cooperation and even of their resistance could and did directly affect the outcome of any endeavour. This research explores the men's commitment, contribution and influence on the battalion's performance in the various facets of its Malayan experience. It considers what the men ate and wore, how and where they trained, how they reacted physically and mentally to their situation, what they did at work, at play and on leave, how they interacted with the different ethnic, military and civilian groups in Malayan society and, finally, how they performed in battle.
The 2118th Battalion was shaped by all the men who comprised it-it represented the culmination of their shared experience.
v Certification
I certify that the substance of this thesis has not already been submittedfor any degree and is not currently being submitted for any other degree or qualification.
I certify that any help received in preparing this thesis, and all sources used, have been acknowledged in this thesis.
vi Contents
Chronology VI
Key to Abbreviations x
Maps and Sketches XlI
Illustrations X 111
Introduction
Birth of a battalion 37
Relationships in the battalion 73
Preparing for war 113
Heath, recreation and morale in Malaya 169
The battalion and the "Orient" 207
Into battle 241
Conclusion 261
Bibliography 265
vii Chronology
1940
20 June Lieutenant-Colonel A.L. Varley, MC appointed to form and command 2118th Battalion AIF.
1 July Brigadier H.B. Taylor, MC, appointed Commander of 22nd Infantry Brigade AIF.
13 July First Headquarters of 2118th Battalion established at Wallgrove Camp.
22 July N.C.O. training commenced.
24 July Headquarters of the 2118th Battalion officially opened.
5 August First training syllabus commenced.
16 August Camp moved to Ingleburn.
8 August Rifles issued to the troops.
22 August Instruments were issued and Battalion Band formed.
5 September 2/18th Battalion with other 8th Division troops participated in a march through Sydney.
6 November Camp moved to Bathurst, NSW.
19 December First issue of Battalion magazine Men May Smoke.
1941
18 January Four days' final leave granted to troops.
21 January Identification discs and sea kit-bags issued.
2 February-3 February Troops evacuated Bathurst Camp and embarked on HTQX.
4 February HTQX sailed from Sydney Harbour in a convoy.
14 February HTQX parted from the convoy and proceeded alone.
18 February Troops disembarked at Singapore naval base and boarded train to Bagan Pinang near Port Dickson on Malaya's west coast.
19 February Troops detrained at Bagan Pinang and marched to Port Dickson where they occupied part of the Malay Regiment barracks.
viii 21 February Training commenced.
10 March The Kluang exercise.
4 May Battalion moved from Port Dickson to Seremban.
16 June Battalion moved from Seremban to Haig Lines in Port Dickson.
7 July Battalion commenced series of five-day exercises in the rubber and jungle near Port Dickson.
31 July Visit by the explorer Sir Hubert Wilkins
1 August Sports day held on beach to celebrate battalion's first birthday.
6 August Major C.F. Assheton promoted CO of the 2/20th Battalion.
27 August 2118th Battalion began move to Mersing on AIF taking over defence of Johore. It established a break camp at Jemaluang.
6 September Battalion moved to Palm Grove at Mersing.
8 October Air Chief Marshal Sir Brooke-Popham, Commander-in- Chief, Far East visited Battalion.
29 November Ball ammunition distributed to troops. Sentries doubled. Mersing evacuated.
1 December Full issues of ammunition were made to all ranks.
7-8 December Japan entered war. Japanese aircraft passed over 2118th Battalion to carry out first bombing attack on Singapore.
25 December Christmas dinner in the field.
1942
3 January Battalion patrol captured two Japanese airmen.
5 January-13 January Company and patrol exercises.
7 January Endau Force (comprising a company each from 2119th and 2/20th Battalions and the 2118th Battalion's Ack-Ack platoon) formed to patrol the area between Endau and Mersing.
8 January Bennett took command of "Westforce" (which included the 27th Brigade) for operations on western side of the country. 22nd Brigade remained at Mersing under Brigadier Taylor's command.
ix 13 January Japanese aircraft dropped bombs near battalion positions.
15 January Positions bombed again; thereafter, daily attacks.
16 January Because the enemy was gathering in strength in the area, Brigadier Taylor ordered Endau force to withdraw south of the Mersing River.
18 January "Eastforce", to be commanded by Taylor under General Heath's control, was formed. Heath and Taylor decided that the defence of the Mersing Road south of Jemaluang had priority over the defence of the Mersing area.
2119th Battalion moved to the western side of the country.
20 January Percival drafted contingency plans to abandon Malaya.
21 January 2/20th Battalion repelled a Japanese company-sized attack on the Mersing Bridge.
22 January Battalion ordered to withdraw from Palm Grove to Nithsdale Estate. (C Company moved to 2119th Battalion's old position at lemaluang.)
23 January Percival implemented first stage of the plan for withdrawal from Malaya to Singapore Island.
Varley's proposal to ambush Japanese in the area on the road to Jemaluang was accepted. In the afternoon the 2/20th Battalion destroyed the Mersing Bridge and then withdrew through 2118th Battalion's old position to give impression of general withdrawal from the area.
24 January-26 January to Preparations for the ambush.
26 January Successful Japanese landing at Endau. Japanese troops were reported to be marching south in column. They were expected to pass into the ambush area the next morning. However, by midnight Japanese patrols were already moving about inside the designated area but off the road.
27 January The battle on the Nithsdale Estate for which the 2118th Battalion earned its battle honours.
Afterwards, the battalion received orders and moved to Jemaluang.
28 January-29 January The battalion withdrew south.
30 January 2118 Battalion crossed the causeway on to Singapore Island.
x Key to Abbreviations
2IC Second-in-Command
AAMC Australian Army Medical Corps
ADMS Assistant Director Medical Services
AGH Australian General Hospital
AIF Australian Imperial Force
AWM Australian War Memorial
Bde Brigade
BHQ Battalion headquarters
Bn Battalion
Brig Brigadier
Capt Captain
CCS Casualty Clearing Station
C-in-C Commander-in-Chief
CMF Citizen Military Forces
Col Colonel
Coy Company
Cpl Corporal
DCM Distinguished Conduct Medal
Div Division
Fd Field
Fd Coy Field Company (basic unit of engineers)
Fd Regt Field Regiment (basic unit of artillery)
FMS Federated Malay States
GBD General Base Depot
Gen General
xi GHQ General Headquarters
GOC General Officer Commanding
HQ Headquarters
Ind Indian
Inf Infantry
Int Intelligence
Lt Lieutenant
Maj Major
MC Military Cross
ME Middle East
MG Machine-Gun
MT Motor Transport
NAA National Archives of Australia
NCO Non-Commissioned Officer
OC Officer Commanding
OCTU Officer Cadet Training Unit
OR Other Rank
Ord Ordnance
Pnr Pioneer
POW Prisoner of War
Pte Private
RAP Regimental Aid Post
Regt Regiment
Res Reserve
RMP Regimental Medical Parade
Sgt Sergeant
Sigs Signals
VC V ictoria Cross
xii Maps and Sketches
South East Asia 3
The Malayan Campaign of the Japanese 25th Army 18
The Malay Peninsula 151
Endau-Mersing Area 164
Pahang 201
The Nithsdale Estate Action -a sketch showing the dispositions of 2118th Australian Infantry Battalion on the night of 26/27th January 1942 243
Arthur Wright's sketch of the battle on the Nithsdale Estate 248
xiii Illustrations
Lieutenant John Fuller 10
Major-General H. Gordon Bennett, GOC, AIF Malaya, 1941. Lieutenant-Colonel A.E. Percival, GOC Malaya, from May 1941. 15
Brigadier Harold B. Taylor, OC 22nd Infantry Brigade AIF. Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur L. Varley, OC 2/18th Battalion AIF 39
8th Division AIF: the march through Sydney, 5 October 1940 54
The battalion's departure from Bathurst 60
The mortar platoon on its way to war 62
Boxing tournament on board Queen Mary. 68
Film star Betty Bryant visited the 2118th Battalion in June 1941 III
The visit of explorer Sir Hubert Wilkins 113
Merton Short's cartoon of the mortar shoot 136
The mortar platoon training in the jungle 143
A section of A Company moving along ajungle path in May 1941 146
Digging weapons pits at Mersing 158
The Palm Grove Camp at Mersing 162
The 2118th Battalion band 190
Palm Grove Camp - A snake caught in the lines Bookmakers odds 194
Processions in Malaya: -Tamils take their gods for an airing -Procession of the Blessed Sacrament in Seremban 230
Children in Malaya- -Lining up for stew left in the dixie -Giving the Australians the "thumbs up" sign 234
xiv