lifeasdaddy

Sydney then and now: Martin Place

Martin Place, Sydney.

Then:

State Records NSW Digital ID: 17420_a014_a0140001110   "Construction of tram tracks at Martin Place, Sydney" (Photograph used with permission of the State Records Authority of New South Wales)

The photograph is undated, but the Holden motor car in the centre foreground of the photograph suggest that it was in the late 1940's to early 1950's.  General Post Office (GPO) Sydney is the substantial building in the right foreground. The air compressor in the right foreground looks like the same model used to construct the wharf at Bennelong Point in 1950.  However there were tram tracks along George Street in this position well before the 1940s, so this is probably a major track repair.

The Cenotaph can be seen in the centre of Martin Place, in the middle distance behend the tree.

and Now:

John McCain III in Truc Bach Lake

I came across this picture of John McCain being captured during the Vietnam War on the Big Picture blog.

I've seen hundreds of photographs of McCain and Obama, but I've never  seen this one before.

I'm not endorsing McCain (as if my opinion mattered) and not not endorsing him either.  It's just an interesting moment in military history.

The photo is from the Library of Congress, and appears as part of their Veterans History Project where McCain was interviewed, mainly about his captivity where he spent more than five long years in a hell hole.

John McCain (center) being captured by Vietnamese civilians in Truc Bach Lake near Hanoi Vietnam [ Library of Congress ]

Here's his interview with the Veteran's History Project

Fun @ the Powerhouse Museum

Last week Edward asked to go to the Powerhouse Museum, which if I had to categorise it, I'd say is a museum of technology, science, decorative arts and design.  So today we made the trek to Ultimo and met up with Ben and Lauren and Edward's cousins Thomas and Eloise.

We especially got Ed excited about visiting the zero gravity simulator  which is part of the Space exhibition.

The Zero-G simulator is comprised of a stationary platform upon which the astronauts (kids) stand surrounded by a cylindrical shaped mockup of the inside of a space station.  The cylinder slowly rotates to simlulate a space like experience.  To the astronauts, nothing much seems to be happening, but when you walk out onto "earth" again, it is quite disorientating.  Thankfully there is a rest area, which I suggest you use.

On the way to the Zero-G experience, then kids also had the chance to be photographed looking like space travellers as they stuck their heads through the painted backdrop.  An oldie, but a goody.

Later the boys had the chance to dress up in astronaut costumes.  There were alien costumes too, but they didn't have the same attraction.

Apart from these obvious novelties, they had some great fun in the Experimentations area which displays pratical examples of some of the fundamental physics of electricity, light, and magnetism.  In this pic, Edward is using a hand cranked generator to power a toy electric train and send it around a small track in the enclosure.

I know that when Ed said last week that he wanted to go to the Powerhouse Museum, he had in his mind seeing the steam engines on display.  The museum includes on permanent display Locomotive No. 1, which was the first steam locomotive in Australia.  Made in England by the Stephenson works, it was transported to Australia by ship and put into use in 1855.  I see from the nameplate data, that it was in fact No. 958, as far as they were concerned.

There is also an engine built in 1882, Locomotive No. 1243 on display and Edward was able to stand on the footplate and operate a few controls.  the display is interactive, and as buttons are pressed the voice of a driver or fireman explain the workings.

There's a section called Zoe's House, which is a contruction and building activity for kids aged 3 - 6.  Ed, Thomas and Eloise all loved this.

The Powerhouse Museum is well set up to light the imagination of children, and as you can see has lots of things for them to do, see, and in which to be invovolved.

But there's also rareities to interest military historians like me.

This enigma machine is part of an exhibition, and was used to create coded messages by the German Army in World War II.

Breaking the codes made by these machines was a turning point of World War II.

There are two other known specimins of these machines in Australia.  One is held by the Australian War Memorial, and one held by the government information security (cryptological) agency Defence Signals Directorate; although both are owned by DSD.

To see inside an Enigma machine, you can check this series of photographs (not from the Powerhouse Museum)

The children all enjoyed taking a break in the courtyard cafe which has some state of the art play and climbing activites, including this giant climbing frame which can be enjoyed by kids of all ages, including this 40ish man who could not resist climbing to the top. 

I managed to control the climbing impulse.

Now, it wouldn't be a visit to a museum if we didn't manage to find an error in a curatorial plaque, and here's the result from today.

There's a display about the work of violin maker William Auchterlonie (perhaps part of the famous golfing family?) and the plaque says that," This page is open to 1924, the year the violin on display was made."

But it is clearly a page from 1934. 

He had been using a day-to-a-page diary from 1930, and the day for that page, Tuesday January 28th, 1930 is crossed out.  Auchterlonie's note begins, "Started in 1934 Beginning of November ..."

SUMMARY:

Edward asked to return to the Zero-gravity simulator, and the engine Locomotive No. 1243 - so I guess they must be the best things in the museum today.

Warning. Graphic description follows:

As a teenager working at F. Fallshaw & Sons I had the privilege of meeting Bill Heard who was a close workmate of my father.  Bill, of the 2/29 Battalion, had been a Prisoner Of War during WWII,and had been put to work on the Thai-Burma Railway by his captors.

Bill was distinguished by his very thick lensed spectacles, and I recall that his poor eyesight was due to deprivations suffered in captivity.  Of course he came home with malaria.  One day he bought in a photograph of himself working on the railway, he was  piactured driving a jeep.  The jeep was just a shell, and was used for the transport of heavy rocks.  It had no engine, and was being pulled by other prisioners using ropes.  Bill joked that since he was the most intelligent POW he got the job of driving the jeep, instead of the grunt work of pulling the ropes.  He didn't tell me any of the bad things.

     "A lot of men lost their legs at that camp and one was my mate, Lloyd Ridge.  I got a message that I was on the amputation list as well as being requested to help Lloyd through his leg amputation, which was to be first thing next morning.  My job was to hold his head down and stop him banging his brains out on the table.  I did that for the seven minues it took Dr. Coates to take his leg off; he had his right leg amputated above the knee.  My other job was to keep his Burma cheroot alight; it calmed the nerves and gave him something to do.  He survived and he made it until only a couple of months ago.

     It's not very reassuring when you are holding a mate down on the amputation table and you're on the list to have your own done.  In those seven minues you watch the scalpel and the saw, knowing that they had sent to the kitchen for the saw, which had just been cutting up the ox bones for the soup.  It was a 14-tooth-per inch saw; being a tech study teacher I know something about saws.  For me, I took it for granted that I was going to be a one-legged bloke and all would be well, because when the leg was gone and the curetting and spraying or whatever you were having done at the time wasn't needed any more, you simply wouldn't have that rotten bottom part of your leg to worry about."

[ A reminisence of Kenneth Harold Darwin, p.79, The Men Of The Line - Stories of the Thai-Burma Railway Survivors by Pattie Wright,The Miegunyah Press, 2008 ]

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The funeral of the Red Baron

A bigger mystery than The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance was the question of who was responsible for the downing of the Red Baron's plane on 21 April, 1918.

In a venture into new forms of disseminating history, the Australian War Memorial has put up rare footage of the funeral of Baron Manfred von Richthofen on You Tube here, and even embedded the youtube video into their website here.

The AWM notes, "Within a day of being recovered from its crash site, most of Richthofen’s plane had been souvenired, leaving little more than a frame "  Interestingly there is footage of the crashed plane at the start of the video, and various men can be seen happily examining it and probably souveniring.

Von Richthofen was accorded full military honours, and you will see in the film.

A fighter pilot repays his dept to the fuzzy-wuzzy angels.

I recall as a boy listening to radio broadcasts of Parliamentary debates, and hearing Tom Uren speaking passionately about Australia's debt to the Fuzzy wuzzy angels of New Guinea who saved the lives of many Australian soldiers during the gruelling World War II campaigns to our north.

It turns out it wasn't only Australian lives who were saved.  Fred Hargesheimer, a US Army pilot was shot down in 1943, and his life was saved by the New Guinea natives.

In the 1960's he returned to build a school for the remote villagers, and dedicated much of his life since then to the cause of education there.

This is his story.

[ tip from Steve Holden ]

ANZAC Day - Lest We Forget.

ANZAC Day is one of Australia's national days of mourning for those who fell in war. 

We mark it on 25 April each year.  Throughout the land, in big cities and small towns people will gather today at a war memorial, cenotaph or cemetery - and remember.

A beautiful and moving tribute:

Their name liveth for evermore.

A mystery ship: H.M.S. Undine (<1901 version)

I love the composition of this photo.

It shows H.M.S. Undine in Sydney Harbour taken through an archway of Fort Macquarie.  (Tyrrell Photographic Collection, Powerhouse Museum) Construction of Fort Macquarie commenced in 1817 and was completed by our great colonial architect Francis Greenway in 1821.  It stood until it was demolised in 1901 to make way for an electric tramway at Bennelong Point.  Australian readers will be familiar with the site, and the rest of the world knows it as the Sydney Opera House.

Now, the ship is H.M.S. Undine.  My internet searches thus far have turned up a Royal Navy submarine H.M.S. Undine (N48) which was launched in 1937 and a destroyer H.M.S. Undine (R42) which was launched in 1943.  But I can find little about Sailing Schooner H.M.S. Undine except for this photograph and one other photograph about a gathering of ships in Sydney Harbour during 1887 to celebrate the jubilee of Queen Victoria's reign.

I think I'll have to ask my friend Mac Gregory if he knows anything about the schooner H.M.S. Undine.

Added:

Mac Gregory has supplied some useful information indicating that the HMS Undine pictured above was a schooner previously in civilian service as Morna.  She was purchased by the Royal Navy in 1881 and sold in 1888. 

Therefore, the photograph above dates from between 1881 and 1888.

Here's Mac's reply to me, slightly edited;

Here is all I can find about HM ships that carried the name of Undine.

Number 3 in the list below is the only one that seems to fit, according to the Queensland papers she was still in service on March 10, 1888.

Lovely photo of her, the photographer Henry King was around 1880-1900.

HMS Undine From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Eight ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Undine, after the Ondines of mythology:

HMS Undine was an iron paddle packet purchased in 1847 and sold in 1854.

HMS Undine was to have been a wood screw gunvessel. She was laid down in 1861 but was cancelled in 1863.

HMS Undine was a schooner, previously in civilian service as the Morna. She was purchased in 1881 and was sold in 1888.

HMS Undine was a coastguard vessel, previously named HMS Hawk. She was renamed HMS Undine in 1904 and was sold in 1906.

HMS Undine was a base ship, previously named HMS Wildfire. She had been launched in 1884 for civilian servce, at first as Hiawatha and then as Mizeppa. She was purchased by the Navy in 1888 as a screw yacht tender and renamed HMS Wildfire. She was converted to a base ship in 1889 and was renamed HMS Undine in 1907, before being sold in 1912.

HMS Undine was an R class destroyer launched in 1917 and sold in 1928. She was then wrecked later that year and the wreck sold for breaking up.

HMS Undine was a U class submarine launched in 1937 and sunk in 1940.

HMS Undine was a U class destroyer launched in 1943. She was converted into a Type 15 frigate between 1952 and 1954 and was broken up in 1965.

From the Toowoomba Chronicle and Darling Downs General Advertiser, Saturday, March 10, 1888:

Only about six months ago Mr. and Mrs. John Brannelly left Brisbane on a visit to the old country. Our last issue contained a telegram announcing Mrs. Brannelly's sudden death on board the Iberia, just after the vessel had left the Melbourne Heads. Mr. John Brannelly is well known to many in Toowoomba, having been an innkeeper here for some years. The following account of Mrs. Brannelly's funeral we take from Wednesday's S.M. Herald: - The funeral of Mrs. Brannelly, who died so suddenly on board the R.M.S. Iberia when on her way from Melbourne to Sydney, took place yesterday morning. The facts of the case, which are still fresh in the minds of most people, may be briefly recapitulated. Mrs. Brannelly and her husband had been on a visit to Europe, and were returning home to Brisbane. About 9 p.m. on Saturday last, shortly after the Iberia had left Melbourne, Mrs. Brannelly was suddenly missed, and upon a search being instituted she was found in one of the cabins dead. Her death cast quite a gloom over the whole ship, for the deceased lady had made friends of all on board by her affable and winning ways, both in the saloon and out of it, consequently out of respect to the deceased a large number of people accompanied the body to its last resting place; among whom were noticeable Mr. Birrell, chief officer of the Iberia, Mr. Cook, the purser, Dr. Kerr, and the fourth officer, also the Rev. and Mrs. Mitten of Durham, England, who were fellow passengers. Mr. Stolterfoht, Mr. Brannelly, and four tars of the Iberia, also attended. The corpse left the Iberia shortly before 11 o'clock for Man of war steps. Upon passing H.M.S. Undine, that vessel brought her flags down to half mast. The body was interred at the Waverley cemetery. The deceased had been during the voyage under the doctor's care, but it was not thought that anything serious was the matter. Heart disease is believed to be the primary cause of the unfortunate occurrence.

Thanks Mac! 

The date that HMAS Perth (I) was sunk.

Slinger Wood asked me on which date was HMAS Perth (I) sunk.  I told Slinger that the Royal Australian Navy sea power ship's history site has the HMAS Perth (I) as being sunk at around 0025 hours on 1 March 1942; and the Australian War Memorial online encyclopedia has the sinking taking place at around 12.25am on 1 March 1942.

Well, what do the archives say?

Whilst there are several documents at the National Archives of Australia relating to the sinking, none are available to be viewed online.

However, the RAN service card of the ship's captain, Captain Hector M. L. Waller, DSO and Bar, is available, and does record the date he perished with the ship.

It's available in the National Archives of Australia as item [ NAA: A6769, 5220053 ]

The file has seven pages, here is page 2 (click on picture for enlargement):

We note he lived in Port Melbourne, and entered the  RAN college at the age of 13 years.

On the reverse of the card, page 3, we see the saddening notation at the bottom right hand corner:

"Missing with HMAS Perth 1st March 1942

Presumed killed in action 1/3/42"

So, the record shows that HMAS Perth (I) was sunk on 1 March 1942.

Here is Captain Waller's entry on the Australian War Memorial's Roll of Honour:

Hector Macdonald Laws Waller DSO & BAR

Rank

Captain [Capt]

Unit

HMAS Perth

Service

RAN

Conflict

1939-1945

Date of Death

1 March 1942

Source

AWM146 Roll of Honour cards, 1939-1945 War, Royal Australian Navy

View collection image 005002/13

Lest We Forget.

Why was HMAS Sydney (II) sunk?

The wreck of HMAS Sydney (II) has been found, and can be assumed to be the final resting place for most of her 645 crew.

The decades old query about why she was sunk has resurfaced and the controversy continues in an item from today's Sydney Morning Herald:

Professor Tom Frame, a former Anglican bishop to the Australian Defence Force and author of HMAS Sydney: Loss And Controversy, stepped into the latest row on Friday to defend the honour of the boat's commanding officer.

Dr Frame said Captain Joseph Burnett had been "terribly defamed" by a survivor from the Kormoran, the German armed merchant "raider" that on November 19, 1941, sank the Australian light cruiser in the Indian Ocean, killing all 645 crew.

Ludwig Ernst, 89, the president of the Kormoran Survivors' Association, told The West Australian newspaper that Burnett's actions during the fateful encounter were "incompetent" and "criminal".

"Eventually Australians will have to comprehend that the guilty party for Sydney's sinking is Captain Burnett," Mr Ernst said.

Well, what do the archives say?

Commander (later Captain) Emile Dechaineux was sent to Perth to coordinate the investigation and particularly the interrogation of the POW Kormoran survivors.  He arrived in Perth on 28 November 1941.

On 30 November 1941 Sir Dudley Pound the First Sea Lord of the Admiralty in London sent a signal to the Australian Commonwealth Naval Board:

When you have been able to collect from prisoners all available information regarding action between SYDNEY and raider, grateful if you would let me know what happened so that we can deduce any lessons for the future.

[ Naval War Diary, message 1st Sea Lord to ACNB, 1115A/30 November. Naval Historical Branch { from Captain Peter Hore's fine book HMAS Sydney II: The cruiser and the controversy in the archives of the United Kingdom}]

The response can be found in the National Archives of Australia as Interrogation of German survivors ex Raider 41 "Kormoran" [ NAA:  MP1049/5, 412871 ]

Here's page 4 of 36 pages from the online document:

This was sent to the Admiralty from the Naval Board on 23 December 1941.

At point number 1. close to the bottom of the page it states,  "CAPTAIN OF "SYDNEY" WAS DECEIVED AND PLACED HIMSELF IN TACTICALLY UNSOUND POSITION."

For the sake of completeness, here is the next page of the 2 page communique. (page 5 of the 36 page online document)

The file next shows Commander Dechaineux's draft, as an internal Minute Paper. (page 6 of 36 pages in the online document)

The next page of his draft (page 7 of 36 pages in the online document) has as the corresponding point number 1. in lessons learnt as:

1.  Captain of "SYDNEY" was deceived and placed himself in tactically unsound position.  The contributory cause of this is the admitted inefficiency of Merchant Ships in challenge and reply procedure.

We see also the signature Dechaineux at the bottom of the typescript.

There is another significant matter to consider.  The way in which the Official History of the Royal Australian Navy in WWII was written. The official naval war historian was Mr. G. Hermon Gill.  His two volume history is the starting point for any serious reader about WWII RAN naval history.

There's a very interesting correspondence relating to Gill's writing about the sinking of HMAS Sydney II, which has been highlighted by Richard Summerrell:

An interesting postscript to the official inquiries into the loss of the Sydney is revealed in the correspondence of R B M Long, the former Director of Naval Intelligence with G Hermon Gill, the official navy war historian in 1953. It appears that Gill referred to Long for his comments copies of his draft chapters of the official war history (including chapter 12, the chapter in which Gill deals with the loss of the Sydney).

In Long’s reply of 23 November 1953 he remarked that chapter 12 ‘is the best one you have done so far’. He went on to comment on Gill’s treatment of the story, particularly the conjecture as to why Burnett appeared to have put the Sydney in a position of vulnerability.

‘I think you handle the subject with great tact, very fairly and with literary skill. It is a part of the History that will be closely read and as Joe Burnett’s two sons are now rising in rank as Naval Officers it is important that they should be able to read that section without distress. I don’t know who it was who said that we all make mistakes and the man who doesn’t makes nothing. Burnett’s mistakes and the loss of the Sydney of course must be his responsibility (whether he happened to be sick or dead at the time of the action is of little consequence) and his reputation must be carried by his sons, but I think that you have given such a decent slant to the matter that they need never be even embarrassed.’

Commenting on other sections of the draft Long noted

‘The search for the Kormoran films commenced as a military expedition, certainly within six months of the Kormoran prisoners being put into stir. It continued intermittently until 1945... You probably know that I, personally, continued for over two years, a world search and on the flimsiest stories, for some indication as to the Sydney’s end. I well remember an expedition that was outfitted for me on the Gold Coast and bunged up country into Vichey/French Territory on a statement that some nine Germans, mostly officers, with two British prisoners, had gone inland from Dakar. I just can’t remember the full extent of the search but I remember it also took in Kerguelan [sic] and there was a case of the “Two Sailors” in the mountainous country back in Natal. It is correct to say that “not a stone was left unturned”.’

Part of Long’s response appears to have been used by Gill in the official history. At page 460, Gill states

‘Australian naval intelligence continued for some years a search for any information which would throw light on the fate of Sydney’s company. The flimsiest stories were followed up, and the search ranged from Central Africa to Kerguelen, but without success.

[ I have removed Richard Summerrell's footnotes from this excerpt, but the full text can be read online here. ]

SUMMARY

Firstly, Dechaineux's report on the sinking of HMAS Sydney, mainly arising from POW Kormoran survivor interrogations, stated that the Captain of HMAS Sydney was deceived and allowed himself to be placed in a tactically unsound position.

Secondly, the official historian was praised for writing about HMAS Sydney's demise so as not to cause distress or embarrassment to the sons of the Captain who were themselves in rising RAN careers.