- Author
- Swinden, Greg
- Subjects
- History - general, History - pre-Federation
- Tags
-
- RAN Ships
- None noted.
- Publication
- June 2011 edition of the Naval Historical Review (all rights reserved)
Another example was Ordinary Seaman Erle Boyd (ANF 1646) from Bendigo, Victoria who enlisted in the ANF in March 1911 and his first ship was HMS Psyche. When he transferred to the RAN he was allocated service number 7353 and joined the new cruiser HMAS Melbourne. Boyd served in the RAN until 1933 and attained the rank of Chief Petty Officer. When World War II broke out he returned to the RAN in January 1940 and served at sea throughout the war and was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) for his service in HMAS Manoora.
Several ANF ratings served in the submarine arm of the fledgling RAN and a number lost their lives when HMA Submarine AE1 was lost off New Britain in September 1914. These included Engine Room Artificer 3rd Class John Messenger (ANF 1389/RAN 7291) from Ballarat, Victoria and Stoker Petty Officer John Moloney (ANF 1133/RAN 7299) from Brisbane, Queensland. Able Seaman Reuben Mitchell (ANF 1448/RAN 7476) also of Ballarat, Victoria enlisted in the ANF in 1910 and later served in the RAN Submarine service and was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for his bravery while serving in the Submarine E14 in the Dardanelles campaign in April/May 1915. Stoker Petty Officer Henry Kinder (ANF 1334/RAN 7244) of Kogarah, New South Wales was Mention in Dispatches for his service in HMA Submarine AE2 during its penetration of the Dardanelles on 25 April 1915. Kinder later spent several years as a Prisoner of War of the Turks after the AE2 was sunk on 30 April 1915.
Of course not all ANF ratings were effective sailors. Some were a Kings Hard Bargain – a lazy and ineffective sailor and several deserted before their period of service was over. Able Seaman Herman Brazendale of New Norfolk, Tasmania enlisted in the ANF in 1911 (ANF 1612/RAN 7866) and served onboard HMAS Sydney when she destroyed the German cruiser Emden at Cocos Island on 9 November 1914; but he was a difficult sailor who was frequently in trouble and deserted from the RAN in July 1918.
After the creation of the RAN in 1911, and the Australian Fleet Unit in 1913, the need for the ANF ceased to exist; although RN personnel on loan to the RAN made up nearly 30% of the navy’s manpower. As a result enlistment slowed and no Australians were recruited after October 1912[8] although New Zealanders continued to join until March 1914. Overall, however, the ANF ratings provided a good source of highly trained manpower at a crucial time in the RAN’s history. In 1913 when the RAN required well trained personnel to man the newly acquired warships the ex-ANF ratings were able to provide that skill and knowledge and with a distinctly Australian flavour[9].
For those interested in researching the ANF further a good source of information is the ANF Service Records held at the Australian War Memorial (AWM 266). This consists of the individual Attestation Papers for each man who enlisted in the ANF and two large, and rather musty, leather bound ledgers that record the enlistment details and service records of the 1796 Australians and New Zealanders who served in the ANF.
[1] All states except Western Australia had naval forces consisting of ships and NSW and Victoria possessed naval brigades (naval infantry)
[2] The Royal Navy ships of the Australian Squadron remained based at Sydney until October 1913 when the first RAN Fleet unit formally arrived in Australian waters. The flagship of the Royal Navy Australian Squadron was the cruiser, HMS Cambrian, which saluted the arrival of the Australian Fleet unit on 4 October 1913 and then, nine days later, she and several other British warships departed and returned to England for reassignment or decommissioning. Some ships remained in Australian waters on loan to the RAN such as the cruiser Encounter.
[3] This was linked somewhat to the Australasian Naval Defence Act of 1887 in which the Australian colonies had provided funding for the maintenance and manning of seven warships (five third class cruisers and two torpedo gunboats). Previously manning of the ships in Australia had been purely by Royal Navy ratings recruited in Great Britain although several Australian born individuals did travel to England to enlist directly in the RN.