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Letter Writer

Letter: HMS Shropshire and Rex the mascot

The following email was recently received by our Research desk with a photograph of a handsome canine nattily decked out as a Leading Seaman Gunner with two Good Conduct Badges.

Dear Naval Historical Society,

I have recently uncovered a photo amongst others of ‘Rex’ According to the notation on the back he was the ship’s mascot. As my uncle was a Royal Marine gunner serving for a while on the (still) HMS Shropshire I have no doubt this is correct.

I realise that the Shropshire was later given to the Australian Navy so it may not mean much to yourselves. If this is the case would you have any details of any Royal Navy organisation or ex-servicemen of the UK who might be interested. Some of the other photos are of my uncle on board with fellow crewmen and mates. I am attaching a low res version of ‘Rex’.

Thanks

Peter D. Golding

By Editor: HMS Shropshire was first commissioned on 24 September 1929 and following a refit was recommissioned as HMAS Shropshire on 20 April 1943. We should be pleased to hear from any of our members who may know of ‘Rex’.

 

 

Letter: Recollection of an Admiral’s Barge

Dear Editor,

I enjoyed reading Bill Burrell’s recollections of admirals’ barges (Naval Historical Review, December 2018). He errs, though, in referring to the Admiral Hudson as a barge: it’s a cabin cruiser.

I was the last Naval Support Commander, resident inTrescobefore the barbarians flogged it for a song to an eastern suburbs property developer in 1997. My predecessor but one, David Holthouse, was a force of nature. He had Trescorestored with authentic Edwardian finish, had a new admiral’s barge constructed and purchased Tresco II, a 42-foot Riviera flybridge cabin cruiser, to entertain VIPs on the harbour. The barge was of traditional design and built by Norman R. Wright & Sons in Brisbane. It was beautifully done but the electrics were awful and the engines noisy beyond belief. It certainly looked the part in its ceremonial duties and was undoubtedly the smartest thing afloat on Sydney Harbour. I’d have thought an engineer would get the engines right but he didn’t. Tresco II had twin Volvo Pentax diesels and they were worse than the barge’s. Despite that, she was worth her weight ingold in serving not only the Navy but alsothe broader Defence hierarchy, including at times the Minister. Both the barge and the cabin cruiser were berthed at Tresco’spier on Elizabeth Bay where they were lovingly manned and maintained by a dedicated boat’s crew of three. They were victualled

Riviera 42 Flybridge cruiser

out of Tresco. Tresco IIwas replaced by the Admiral Hudson long after my time.This barge was blue and wore the disc of a rear-admiral mounted on the bow. The green hulls of yore were designated for the Commander-in-Chief, or CNS in our case. Think of CN’s use of green ink to this day, otherwise the prerogative of Commonwealth auditors.

Sincerely,

 

David Campbell

 

 

By Editor: We have thanked Admiral Campbell for his comments and have sought advice from Defence Management Services on the fate of TrescoIIand the Green Parrotas these vessels still appear on their website.

 

Letter: Hospital ships

Dear Editor

As always, lots of interest in the September edition but one item has caught my attention.

In the article about the hospital ships, on page 43 you show a photo of an aircraft attacking an IJN sub-chaser. The aircraft is identified as a USAAF Liberator. The Liberator was a 4-engined heavy bomber while, although the picture is a little unclear, the aircraft is clearly twin-engined, twin-taiied and almost certainly a Hudson and thus most likely RAAF.

Sorry to nit-pick but the review is usually so precise that I couldn’t help myself!

Thanks for your excellent work in producing such an excellent periodical covering an otherwise much neglected part of our national history.

Regards

Martin Rathbone

 

Martin

Thank you for your recent email and of course you are correct the aircraft illustrated is not a Liberator but neither is it a Hudson.

The original photo comes with the following inscription: B-25 aircraft of the 345thBombardment Group, US 500thBombardment Squadron attacking Japanese sub chaser Ch-39 off Three Island Harbor, New Hanover, New Ireland 16 Feb 1944. Looking closely at this photo there appears to be a bomb in flight between the aircraft and the ship’s mast.

The 345thBombardment Group was activated between 8 September 1942 and 19 December 1945. This Group together with its squadrons of B-25 Mitchell medium bombers were used extensively in the New Guinea campaign and most likely operated from the Dobodura Airfield Complex in what is now known as Girua Airport serving the township of Popondetta in the Oro province of PNG. These aircraft were modified with extra fuel tanks to increase their range and with extra 0.50 caliber machine guns installed in the nose of the aircraft.

From Japanese records we learn that on the morning of 16 February 1944 sub chaser CH-39 was escorting the 5,700 ton cargo ship Sanko Maru which was towing a HA-52 Type B midget submarine when they were attacked by B-25 bombers. These aircraft bombed, strafed and sank CH-39and Sanko Maruand damaged the midget submarine. On the same afternoon another flight of B-25’s found the remains of CH-39on a reef and abandoned but the midget submarine was still on the surface which they bombed, strafed and sank. Japanese records indicate that the midget was scuttled by her crew after the raid. A total of 14 Japanese were killed in this action with the survivors being taken to their small base at New Hanover.

From the Melbourne based FRUMEL operation we now know that by this time Japanese naval codes had been broken and the Allies were able to gain advance information on enemy ship movements.

We trust this explanation covers off on our previous errors and we shall publish it as a Letter to the Editor in the next edition of our magazine.

Kindest regards

Walter Burroughs

Editor – Naval Historical Review

 

 

Letter: Villers Bretonneux Museum – Garden Island Dockyard crest

Dear Editor,

Some years ago when I was serving in the office of the Naval Historical Society a letter was received with a copy of a photograph of a Garden Island Dockyard crest taken at the Villers Bretonneux Museum. The question was how did it get there? We had no idea so the topic lapsed.

Recently a previous General Manager of Garden Island Dockyard, Rear Admiral Nigel Berlyn, contacted me by telephone with a query about the time when we were both on the Island in the mid-1980s. As matter of passing interest I mentioned the above photographic query and the Admiral told me that during his time as General Manager a group of former French naval personnel from the Villers Bretonneux district had visited the Dockyard when he had presented them with a Naval Dockyard crest. Presumably in older age one of this group donated the crest to the museum.

Should the crest still be on display this explanation might be of interest to Australian visitors.

Kind regards

Norman Rivett

 

By Editor: Have any members who may have recently visited this museum noticed the GID crest?

 

Letter: What’s in a Name – Cumberlege

A few emails have been received from learned members regarding the spelling of a family name used in the June 2018 edition of this magazine on Rear Admiral Claude Lionel Cumberiege and his influence on the RAN. There are a number of spellings to this ancient name which appears to derive from the parish of Cumberbatch in Cheshire, England.

Bowing to the superior knowledge of the informants and, thanking them for their contribution, your Editor agrees that the spelling Cumberlege as used in the Dictionary of Australian Biography should have been used throughout this article. Well spotted to all concerned.

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