Description
Object description
Australian trooper served with 2/10th Armoured Regt, Australian Armoured Corps in Australia, 10/1941-9/1944; private served with Z Special Unit, Services Reconnaissance Department in Australia and British Borneo, 9/1944-8/1945
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Perth, Australia, 1923-1940: family; childhood and education; father employment during Depression; father's military service during First World War; involvement in Anzac Day parades; mother's employment; father's health problems; assistance gained from war service; awareness of events in Europe during 1930s; visit of Royal Family to Perth; opinion of Royal Family. Aspects of period as private with 25th Machine Gun Bn, Citizens Military Forces in Australia, 19/12/1940-22/10/1941: reasons for joining Citizens Military Forces; end of education and civilian employment.
REEL 2 Continues: reason for wanting to serve in military; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939; attempt to join Australian Army underage; enlistment in Citizens Military Forces, 19/12/1940; service with 25th Machine Gun Bn; background to enlistment in Australian Army after altering birth certificate, 23/10/1941; reaction of father to his enlistment; vehicles used by 25th Machine Gun Bn. Aspects of period as trooper with 2/10th Armoured Regt, Australian Armoured Corps in Australia, 10/1941-9/1944: posting to Puckapunyal; learning to drive; background of fellow troopers; accommodation; leave in Melbourne; settling into military life; question of concerns for life; bayonet training; issue of overseas kit; cancellation of overseas draft after Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, 7/12/1941; reaction to events in Europe, 1940; opinion of chances in war; impressions of Japan before war.
REEL 3 Continues: reaction to Japanese successes, including fall of Singapore, Malaya, 15/2/1942; collection of M3 Grant Tanks from port at Melbourne; training in Western Australia; joining of Z Force. Aspects of period as private with Z Special Unit, Services Reconnaissance Department in Australia, 9/1944-6/1945: background to joining Z Special Unit, 9/1944; briefing at Headquarters, Services Reconnaissance Department in Melbourne; story of flight to and night out in Brisbane; character of Z Special Unit; pattern of training on Fraser Island; exercises; opinion of training.
REEL 4 Continues: question of thoughts about consequences of actions; explosives training; unarmed combat training; knowledge of situation in Pacific; role of Z Special Unit; reaction to active service posting; plan for Operation Starfish; training exercises for Operation Starfish; story of Operation Starfish advance party; cancellation of main element of Operation Starfish; driving Motorised Submersible Canoe, known as Sleeping Beauty; story of exercise using Motorised Submersible Canoe.
REEL 5 Continues: Service Reconnaissance Department deployments; journey to Morotai Island, Dutch East Indies, 6/1945; briefing received on Morotai Island, Dutch East Indies. Recollections of operations as private with Z Special Unit, Services Reconnaissance Department in British Borneo, 6/1945-8/1945: witnessing invasion of island off British Borneo; move to island; Imperial Japanese Army attack; capture of imperial Japanese Army officers at Sipitang; move to River Rajang; aftermath of capture of Imperial Japanese Army officers; thoughts prior to action; plans for if wounded or captured; issue of cyanide; arrival at River Rajang; joining of Australian Imperial Force troops in area; role of Operation Semut III.
REEL 6 Continues: flight to River Rajang aboard Consolidated PBY Catalina; Iban people; results of British rule in area; relationship and socialising with Iban people; sleeping arrangements; Japanese forces' presence on British Borneo; crocodiles sighted during journey down River Rajang; arrival in Kapit; preparations for attack on Song; Imperial Japanese Army's evacuation to Kanowit; Iban attacks on Japanese and Chinese in Song.
REEL 7 Continues: situation in Song; treatment given to wounded; character of Sarawak Rangers; situation in Kanowit; results of reconnaissance undertaken beyond Kanowit; capture of Imperial Japanese Army officer; nature of action in jungle; loss of Imperial Japanese Army officer prisoner on route to headquarters; night ambush on River Rajang beyond Kanowit; subsequent visit to Chinese camp; tactics employed to attack Japanese forces; reporting ambush; Japanese forces' evacuation of Kanowit; move to Kanowit; Allied air raid on Kanowit; move of headquarters to Kanowit; Japanese forces estimation of size of party involved in Operation Selmut III; civilian internees and Allied prisoners of war; move to Simanggang; reconnaissance party sent to Betong and capture of Imperial Japanese Army officers.
REEL 8 Continues: hearing of end of Second World War, 15/8/1945; activities in Simanggang; treatment of Japanese prisoners of war; awareness of Japanese forces' treatment of prisoners; impressions of Japanese prisoners of war; reaction to dropping of atomic bombs on Japan; situation with Japanese forces on British Borneo; handover of Simnaggang to local government; voyage to Sibu; surrender of Japanese forces; condition of Japanese accommodation and troops in Sibu; flight to Labuan; hospitalisation and medical treatment for scabies; recreational activities and debriefing. Aspects of return to Australia, 1945: voyage from British Borneo to Australia; nature of journey to Melbourne; return to Australian Army; leave; posting to Western Australia; reaction on return home to Perth; posting to orderly room and duties; return to civilian life; activities following demobilisation including visit to Sydney; civilian employment; reflections on wartime military service.
