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Melville Neilson Cumming: An Albany hero known by many names

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Biographies and personal histories, History - WW2
Tags
RAN Band, Honours and awards, Midget Submarine Attack Sydney
RAN Ships
Publication
September 2021 edition of the Naval Historical Review (all rights reserved)

By David Theodore, Curator, Princess Royal Fortress Military Museum

Melville, Skinny or Bob? Over a lifetime a person can be identified by a number of names. From all official documents such as birth certificate, enlistment papers and alike, Melville Neilson Cumming was the given. In newspaper reports he was Melville; the musician. To Albany mates he was Skinny, a nickname. But to his family he was Bob, son and brother. This array of names was complex to navigate at first as I tried to link the three names to the one person. But as I continued to delve deeper I was fortunate to find the connections enabling me to write this document.

Born Melville Neilson Cumming (1914-1961) on 29 January 1914 in Albany, Western Australia, Cumming was one of four children born to parents Robert Melville Cumming and Ellen Agnes (nee Neilson). While sisters Olive and Norma both survived through to adulthood, brother Ernest did not; dying aged 7 months in Coolgardie.

From a young age Cumming was no stranger to the military world. During interviews carried out by Frank Kruse, a literary researcher, Cumming was known to come from a ‘military family’ in Perth.1 Further research also uncovered the fact that one of Cumming’s great grandfathers was Robert Melville of the Royal Marines 43rd Coy, who saw action in the China War (1840-1842) and Crimea War (1854-1856), and arrived in Western Australia as a Pensioner Guard in 1857.2

His father Robert enlisted in the Australian Imperial Forces on 9 February 1916, as a private in the 44th Battalion. During his service on the Western Front, he was wounded in action four times; once by gas. Late in 1918 was awarded the Military Medal, the citation reading: For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty during the advance from 22-26/8/18. On the morning of the 26th during the advance East of Bray the Coy was held up by direct frontal fire from an enemy 77 mm gun. Pte Cumming then went forward in advance of his Coy and singlehanded rushed the gun, which was firing at point blank range, killed the gunner and captured the gun. This courageous act enabled the Coy to push forward to its final objective with a minimum of casualties.3

Goodbye Daddy

In fact, one of earliest photographs of young Cumming is with his father,titled Goodbye Daddy. This intimate portrait captures father looking down at the two-year-old Cumming who is looking up at him. Cumming wears his father’s military-issue peak cap, his small hand holds his father’s index finger.

Cumming’s two uncles also saw service in the First World War. Wallace Roy Cumming served in the 12th Battalion and died of wounds sustained in the Western Front in Belgium in 1917. His uncle Ernest Neilson, his mother’s brother, was part of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force’s 1st Canterbury Infantry Battalion and was killed in action in 1917 in Belgium.

His father’s return brought changes to the household. Olive remembers: I recollect my father returning from World War One, this strange man picked me up at the railway station.4 She continues: Bob [Cumming] would put mum on the kitchen table and she had to sing. They were happy times. When dad was home he was boss and the children were seen but not heard.5

Music was always part of Cumming’s life, he was a ‘child prodigy6 with sister Olive recalling her early memories of Albany being ‘wonderful’ and of her brother: Bob [Cumming] was gifted, he loved to play the violin.7 She goes on to remember their mother was: …so proud and always said Bob [Cumming] was born in the wrong bedroom! They had a great love for each other.8

Cumming’s talent as a musician was well known throughout Albany. He played the violin at many functions earning a small wage, including being part of a local musical group called The Gloomchasers Orchestra.9 Their weekly performances in the Town Hall were well attended as they played for many charitable events. One newspaper report mentions Cumming’s performance as: …rendered, with excellent technique, the violin solo, Phantom Melody, and when insistently encored, played a request number, the popular Bonny Mary of Argyle.10 However, during the hardships of the Great Depression, …he often spent months walking from farm to farm for work and a meal.11

So when HMAS Canberra (I), the flagship of the Australian Squadron12 visited Albany, Cumming took the opportunity to enlist in the Royal Australian Navy on 5 October 1934 as a Bandsman. This was part of the expansion in musician recruitment in the 1930s, with a total of five bands at sea.13 It was a time which affected the family as Olive recalled: A lot of fun and laughter left with him.14

Cumming was to serve throughout Australian waters on four of the five RAN ships which had bands at sea in the 1930s and early 1940s: Australia (II), Canberra (I), Hobart (I) and Sydney (II). He was posted to various land bases such as HMA Ships Cerberus, Penguin and Leeuwin, and performed when ordered to do so.

But it was on the night of Sunday 31 May 1942 where Cumming was confronted with the effects of war, the threat of death first-hand, when three Japanese midget submarines entered Sydney Harbour. Their mission was to attack Allied ships, in particularly the heavy cruisers Canberra and USS Chicago,15 in an attempt to divert allied naval power from the decisive battle that was fought near Midway in the Pacific a week later.16

Japanese reconnaissance planes had flown over Sydney Harbour earlier that day raising little concern from harbour defences; they were mistakenly identified as United States floatplanes.17 When torpedoes were fired at Chicago later that night, those on board the ferry Kuttabul knew little of the cause of the blast they received.

The Japanese midget submarines were operated by two men and carried two torpedoes, designed for stealth attack. It was submarine M24, crewed by Sub-Lieutenant Ban Katsuhisa and Petty Officer First Class Ashibe Mamoru, that fired their two torpedoes at Chicago; both missed. One ran aground on Garden Island and failed to explode, while the other struck the seawall beneath Kuttabul.18

The aftermath of the explosion was chaotic. Kuttabul was sunk, 19 Australians and two British personnel were killed with another 10 wounded.19 In A Very Rude Awakening by Peter Grose he writes: Bandsman M. N. Cumming had boarded Kuttabul only five minutes prior to the explosion and was fortunate to receive only minor cuts from the blast. At first he thought a bomb had hit the ship but instead of heading for the safety of shore, he stripped off and dived repeatedly into the bitterly cold watery wreckage ignoring shattered glass and jagged woodwork in a frantic search for survivors. He is credited with rescuing three critically injured shipmates.20

From newspaper reports survivors credited two men for their heroic actions, one being Ordinary Seaman Combers who dived into the water and saved one of his fellow shipmates. But even he stated: My effort was nothing really, but Bandsman Cumming did the real job of work. He kept diving into the wreckage and saving men who would have had no chance but for his bravery. I think he got three men out. Two of them were critically injured.21

There were many others who also reported the heroic actions of Cumming, like Steward Parsons: He brought up three men who would have had no chance of survival but for his brave act.22 Ordinary Seaman Roberts reported: Cumming was the real hero of the attack. He risked his life every time he went into the wreckage.23

In another report: Escapees agree that the hero of the incident was Bandsman M. N. Cumming, who was aboard when the torpedo struck. He stripped off his clothes, and although the force of the explosion had hurled him through a glass door he organised rescue squads to go to the assistance of men trapped in the wreckage. Cumming remained in the water for a considerable period diving among the wreckage in his search for the injured. His colleagues say that he brought at least 3 men to the surface and dragged them ashore.24

Heroics played down

But when Cumming was interviewed he played down such heroics, recalling: We had no previous warning and I didn’t think we had been torpedoed. I thought we had been hit by a bomb dropped by a raiding aircraft. I saw a petty officer trapped in the mess. I stripped and dived into the water and with assistance of an official whose name I don’t know, I pulled him out. I also pulled out a chap who had only been in the navy a week.25

Events of the night and Cumming’s actions were captured on a newsreel titled The Japanese Submarine Attack on Sydney Harbour and distributed throughout Australia. The newsreel found its way to Albany later in the year where it was screened to packed audiences in the local Empire Theatre. People recognised him immediately and yelled That’s him! and There he is! as he recounted his actions on the night.26

In December 1942 Cumming was granted leave and returned to Western Australia to visit his parents who had moved to Bunbury, 180 km south of Perth. He was greeted with a hero’s welcome, and played for the Bunbury State School break up, receiving applause for his performance.27

HMAS Kuttabul commissioned

Around the same time, on 1 January 1943, the naval depot at Garden Island was commissioned as HMAS Kuttabul in memory of the 21 men killed during the attack.28 There was no mention of Cumming’s actions after 1943; after all there was a war going on.

It is puzzling to read that the only award in connection with the attack went to Mr Cargill for the sum of £40, and Mr Nangle who received £10; both civilians and in the employ of the Maritime Services Board. Their report led to the discovery and destruction of the submarines,29 but there were no commendations for bravery with no awards issued to any serviceman of any rank who took part in actions on the night. There were many examples of actions that could be deemed ‘brave’ or ‘above and beyond the call of duty’, but none recommended.

But why was this the case? After all, the accounts given by those who took part in the actions of the night were well documented. Was it due to Rear Admiral Muirhead-Gould’s official report where it stated: The deficiencies in the defence system on the night of the attack were identified as the failure of the outer indicator loop; the failure of the operators to recognise the midget crossings; communications, including the reliance on light signals between vessels, and between vessels and Garden Island, rather than wireless transmitters and telephones; the lack of a completed anti-submarine boom net, and the absence of depth charges on the naval auxiliary patrol boats.30 Was it in the best interest not to further highlight the failure of the harbour defence and move on?

Returning to Sydney in 1943, Cumming saw out the remainder of the war being discharged on 17 October 1946. However, after completing 12 years of continual service in the navy Cumming’s claim for pension was rejected because he failed to attend his medical examinations when called upon.31

After leaving the navy, Cumming continued to perform making a small income through the late 1940s and early 1950s in Frank Coughlan’s Jazz Orchestra,32 one of Australia’s leading and most influential jazz bands who regularly played at the Trocadero in George Street, Sydney.33

It was a chance meeting with poet and philosopher Harry Hooton in the old Moccador coffee lounge in Market Street which altered Cumming’s life. Cumming was dressed in his dinner suit and ready to go and play for the orchestra; something he wasn’t enjoying. Hooton approached and said You’re looking unhappy, and after a brief discussion, Harry put it to Cumming: Why don’t you get out?34

About a week later, in the middle of a musical number, Cumming just got up and walked off stage, giving his trombone away to the nearest passer-by. This was the last time he played as a professional musician, instead turning his hand to writing, and to where Cumming and Hooton became inseparable.35

Like some mature ex-service personnel, Cumming attended Sydney University around this time.36 This was the time of Sydney’s emerging artistic post-war movements such as Sydney Libertarianism and The Push.37 Cumming was regularly involved in many discussions on poetry and social change that were happening in Australia.38 It was apparent that living through the hardships of the Depression and experiencing first-hand the fragility of life during his service, who better to put pen to paper a write about Australia’s post-war life. In his poem titled Challenge,39 written in 1951, his thoughts on life and death are evident.

Challenge

Man leaves a blank will.
Winds in mountains blow
his efforts to the wall
when comes his time to go.

Mind is a brown whirl,
dust in fountains dry;
and caught in dusty whorl
the thirsting dream may die.

Dare not closely peer,
life is a dark well:
confirms the oldest fear
if nothingness is hell.

Rocks give up their dead,
show in relics stark
evidence light can lead
to long disastrous dark.

Cumming and Hooton continued their friendship for over a decade. When Hooton was diagnosed as terminally ill with cancer, Cumming sat by his bedside as a true friend. Over the following months Cumming was there to assist Hooton in recording over eight hours of audio tapes; where Hooton spoke on life and society and read from his own works.40

Hooton died on the 27 June 1961. Cumming was distraught as there wasn’t enough money to pay for the funeral. Cumming went about the streets, canvassing friends and the general public, collecting enough money for the funeral,41finally obtaining the necessary funds; however, about a week after the funeral, he was to take his own life. The loss of Hooton was too great to bear alone.42

Although Cumming only reached the age of 48, he lived many lives. From Frank Kruse: Cumming may have been a naval bandsman, a musician and a poet but he was also a man. Given he was a complex man but one whose life stands as a shining example of both the bravery, uniqueness and originality of the Australian psyche.43 His story can now be told. His words read. His actions remembered.

Lest we forget.

Acknowledgements:

Firstly, I would like to pass on my thanks to Paul Fenn, a member of the Mosman & Northern Beaches Remembers, who brought Cumming to my attention. Paul’s phone call on 14 January 2021 requesting information on Melville (Skinny) Neilson Cumming, an Albany-born Second World War serviceman, was another of the many enquiries I receive as Curator at the museum. As we spoke of the story of Cumming’s actions, I got a sense that this may be not be a typical enquiry into one of Albany’s servicemen, but could be a significant one of national importance.

As I searched the museum’s Roll of Honour database it quickly became clear that no information was held relating to Cumming; research into the Roll of Honour has only been recent, not to mention very selective due to limited time and resources. And so began my research on Cumming.

Part of our discussions identified the need to find a photograph of him if possible. As part of my first task; finding what information was out there on the midget submarine attack carried out on the night of 31 May 1942, I discovered that there was a newsreel titled The Japanese Submarine Attack on Sydney Harbour which featured Cumming and his heroics.

I wish to pass on my appreciation to Angus Johnstone from the National Film and Sound Archives (NFSA) in Canberra for assisting in locating the newsreel, and Glenn Eley from Cinesound Movietone Productions Pty Ltd for giving permission to use the images of Cumming taken from the newsreel.

I would also like to acknowledge the assistance of Peter Hale, a nephew of Cummings, who has been forthcoming with details of the family history. The numerous photographs, articles and poems, but also his mother’s memories, gave great insight into the family and allowed Cumming’s early life in Albany to be written.

Last but not least, Frank Kruse, a literary researcher, who has tirelessly carried out over 10 years of interviewing and documenting people that were associated with Cumming and Hooton. Without his dedication and passion their story would be lost, and difficult to write the later years of Cumming’s life. I wish him the best in completing his future endeavours.

With the dedication from those mentioned above, it has enabled the museum to not only document Cumming’s service, but has also led to documentation of his father Robert Cumming who is on Albany’s Roll of Honour board, his uncles who also served in the First World War – Roy Cumming who died of wounds and his other uncle Ernest Neilson who was killed in action and is remembered on Albany’s Avenue of Honour.

 

  1. Discussions with Frank Kruse, 10 February 2021
  2. Family History WA, Enrolled Pensioner Force WA, viewed on 18t February 2021, <https://enrolledpensionerforcewa.org.au/epf-profiles/m/melville-robert-royal-marines-43rd-company/>
  3. Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, No. 115, dated 10th October 1919
  4. Olive Hale Memories, 29 November 1994, compiled by Peter Hale
  5. Ibid
  6. Rawlins, A., Not Poetry, Railery, 1991, Overland
  7. Olive Hale Memories, 29 November 1994, compiled by Peter Hale
  8. Ibid
  9. Ibid
  10. Albany Advertiser, 29 February 1932
  11. Ibid
  12. Royal Australian Navy, HMAS Canberra (I), viewed 22 February 2021, <https://www.navy.gov.au/hmas-canberra-i>
  13. The RAN Band Ashore and Afloat. Semaphore, Newsletter of the Sea Power Centre – Australia, Issue 17, September 2006
  14. Olive Hale Memories, 29 November 1994, compiled by Peter Hale
  15. Nicols, R., The Night the War came to Sydney. Wartime, Issue 33 January 2006
  16. Ibid
  17. Perryman, J., Japanese Midget Submarine Attack on Sydney Harbour, viewed 2 March 2021, <https://www.navy.gov.au/history/feature-histories/Japanese-midget-submarine-attack-sydney-harbour>
  18. Nichols, R., The Night the War came to Sydney. Wartime, Issue 33 January 2006, pp. 26-31
  19. Ibid
  20. Grose, Peter. A Very Rude Awakening. Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 2007
  21. Daily Telegraph, Wednesday 3 June 1942
  22. Ibid
  23. Ibid
  24. The West Australian, Wednesday 3 June 1942
  25. Northern Star, 3 June 1942
  26. Albany Advertiser, 3 September 1942
  27. Harvey Murray Time, 24 December 1942
  28. Perryman, J., Japanese Midget Submarine Attack on Sydney Harbour, viewed 2 March 2021, <https://www.navy.gov.au/history/feature-histories/japanese-midget-submarine-attack-sydney-harbour>
  29. Awards in connection with Japanese midget submarine attack [on Sydney Harbour], 1942, NAA, MP151/1, Item ID 1519338
  30. Heritage NSW, M24 Midget Submarine, viewed 3 March 2021, <https://www.heritage.nsw.gov.au/about-our-heritage/feature-wreck-m24-midget-submarine/the-raid-sydney-31-may-1942/official-report/>
  31. National Archives of Australia, dated 9 February 2021
  32. Discussions with Frank Kruse, 10 February 2021
  33. Soldatow, S., Harry Hooton, viewed 3 March 2021, <http://www.takver.com/history/hooton_bio.htm#n73>
  34. Ibid
  35. Ibid
  36. Baker, A.J., in Broadsheet, No 81, March, 1975
  37. Ibid
  38. Discussions with Frank Kruse, 10 February 2021
  39. Cumming, M. N., Challenge, 1951, email from Frank Kruse, 10 February 2021
  40. Harry Hooton collection [sound recording], viewed on 10 February 2021, <https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-222766616/listen>
  41. Discussions with Frank Kruse, 10 February 2021
  42. Ibid
  43. Quote from Frank Kruse, dated 5 March 2021

 

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