- Author
- Gale, Lieutenant Commander M.B. , VRD, RANR (Retd.)
- Subjects
- Ship histories and stories, Naval history, History - WW2
- Tags
-
- RAN Ships
- HMAS Platypus
- Publication
- June 1987 edition of the Naval Historical Review (all rights reserved)
The days following the big raid were marked by a number of incidents: It was not uncommon to see a dead body floating down the harbour with the tide. One day I was walking along the beach at the back of the boom wharf and there was a hand and arm lying on the sand with the water lapping over it. I simply kicked it back into deep water. I have often wondered what else I could have done.
Our medical officers did a wonderful job. Surgeon Commander James and Surgeon Lieuts. Sammy Sewell and Graham Groves, all RANR officers and the Sick Berth Attendants. It should not be overlooked that at this time there were no female nurses in the area, in fact there were no females of any description in Darwin.
One of the most notable achievements was the Navy’s effort to maintain contact with and to supply the AIF commando battalion still on Timor, and still fighting the Japs who had occupied the island. The ships used initially for this were HMAS Kuru, commanded by Lieut. Jack Grant RANR(S) and HMAS Vigilant commanded by Sub. Lieut. Alan Bennett RANR(S), both were small coastal patrol craft and quite unsuitable for the duties they were asked to perform, but there was little else to use. Either one or the other would set out from Darwin and time their arrival for a rendezvous at an east coast beach where they would land their supplies and take off wounded, and then try to leave to be far enough away by daylight to avoid detection.
But the Japs, after the first couple of trips, realised what was going on and from then on their reconnaissance patrols would be out, and the bombing would commence. On one occasion, Kuru was bombed continuously for the whole of one day on a return trip. She fought furiously with the few machine guns she had until she ran out of ammunition. She did not suffer a direct hit, but from near misses, her superstructure and hull were riddled with shrapnel holes, one of her guns was put out of action, and a barge which she had been towing was hit. On her arrival back in Darwin, I went on board with an ordnance artificer to repair and check over her guns. In the small wardroom Jack Grant started to tell me of his ordeal when suddenly he broke down. It was the first time that I had seen an adult man cry.
Kuru and Vigilant were crewed generally by reserve personnel. They were sent back to Timor time and again, and went in right under the noses of the Japs and they were invariably bombed and strafed, in particular on the way home. Their task was taken over eventually by the corvettes Castlemaine and Armidale which latter ship was lost during these operations. Finally, destroyers were used, and Voyager also was lost.
It was always a puzzle as to why some recognition was not given to the courage displayed by the personnel involved, in particular Jack Grant and Alan Bennett. Every time they sailed we wondered whether we would see them again.
The ‘Plats’ was finally patched up so that she could steam again, and her crew were returned to her under a new Captain, Commander Jack Donovan RAN. Commander Donovan was a most efficient officer, and a stickler for regulations.
‘Plats’ was the senior ship in the harbour, and at 0800 each morning, the ceremony of colours was carried out with meticulous precision. At 8 bells the alert would be sounded, all personnel on deck would face aft and come to attention and officers would salute while our ensign was raised. Our captain was always present, immaculate in his brass hat and spotless uniform.
On one occasion, the SS Time, a collier from Newcastle, had arrived in Darwin with a load of coal for shore installations, coal burning auxiliaries, and Platypus. One evening she was ordered by NOIC to berth alongside ‘Plats’ at 0800 the following morning and to replenish us with coal. It was a clear sunny morning, colours at 0800 had been sounded, and the Time was approaching our starboard quarter. There was a full tide running, which Time, being an old vessel, could barely overcome. Her slow progress towards us and intention to come alongside was not made easy by the fact that we were swinging to our buoy and yawing from side to side in the tide. The Time was almost level with our quarterdeck when Commander Donovan, standing in his sartorial splendour, cupped his hands to his mouth and shouted across to the Time ‘Captain, you have not asked permission to come alongside me,’ which custom is required of a merchant, or junior ship. The Captain of the Time, a short, squat figure in shorts and washing hat, slowly leant down and picked up a megaphone, and no doubt worried that the coaling operation may not be finished before the Japs came over, shouted back ‘Say, mister, do you want this bloody coal or don’t you?’ Commander Donovan, to his credit, considered that discretion was preferable to valour, and disappeared from the quarterdeck.