Biographies

Occasional Paper 53: Petty Officer Fredrick Harold Harvey and Colombian Naval Service

May 17, 2019

May 2019

As told by his son CMDR Vic Harvey, RAN, Rtd

Fredrick Harold Harvey was a proud Geordie lad, born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne’s suburb of Benwell, on 13 August 1899. Benwell in the West End of Newcastle, with many streets of neat terraced houses, is dominated by its colliery. After leaving school at 14 Fred found work with the tramways and became a tram conductor.

Only known photo of Frederick Harvey in naval uniform – Family

At the time of the Great War on 30 July 1917 he entered the Royal Navy as a Boy Seaman, a month later on his 18th birthday, he signed a 12 year engagement. On entry Fred was only 5 feet 3 inches tall, so he instantly earned the nickname ‘Shorty’, had brown hair, grey eyes and a fresh complexion with a couple of well–earned scars, as Shorty was known for getting into scraps.

At this time there was little shore–side training and his first ship was the formidable looking four-funnel cruiser HMS Powerful, but she was from a past age, had most of her armament removed, and was used as an accommodation ship. He later joined the armoured cruiser HMS Shannon, she had been built pre-war and after Jutland became flagship of a cruiser squadron patrolling in the North Sea. Fred remained in her until she paid off in May 1919. There must have been some action concerning ship salvage as post-war Fred received £4/13/6 in prize money.

It was then off to warmer climes for service with the 3rd Light Cruiser Squadron in the Mediterranean in HMS Centaur. On New Year’s Day 1921 Fred was promoted to Able Seaman. With vast post-war reductions to the fleet Fred had quite a few posting ashore to the training depot HMS Vividat Devonport, which later became better known as HMS Drake.Fred was promoted to Leading Seaman while still in Vividon 10 December 1925 and passed out for Petty Officer on 6 July 1926.

At the time his engagement expired on 12 August 1929 he was serving in the distinctive new battleship HMS Rodney. Her main armament comprised nine 16-inch guns in three turrets, all forward of the bridge. From Rodney Fred was issued with a ‘Gunnery History Sheet’ providing a record of his proficiency in gunnery examinations conducted in all his seagoing ships and a ‘Trade Certificate’ signed by Captain F.L. Tottenham, RN (later Admiral Sir Francis Tottenham). The latter document notes ‘a thoroughly reliable Leading Seaman displaying intelligence, energy, initiative and power of command’.

In 1926 Fred married childhood sweetheart Dorothy Elaine Rodgers and they set up house in Plymouth where the first of two boys, Frederick Harold, was born in 1927. But 1929 was not the best of times to be leaving the comfort and security of the Royal Navy with the Great Depression beginning to cast an ominous shadow over industrial England. With little prospect of work the family migrated to Windsor in Ontario where they had relatives. While some work was found conditions in Canada were not much better than England and the harsh winters did not suit Mum especially with young Victor Edward coming along in 1931. The next year they returned to Plymouth.

South America

In the 1920s the Admiralty authorised the establishment of British Naval Missions in various countries with the aim of providing training and support with increased cooperation through targeted ship visits. This in turn aimed to demonstrate British technical expertise and encourage foreign shipbuilding orders.

In 1932 a conflict erupted between Colombia¹and neighbouring Peru regarding a border dispute in the region of the Amazon River. This led to the re–establishment of a Colombian naval service, which had previously been disbanded. A Royal Naval Mission was quickly dispatched to assist the Colombians. This was mainly in response to a potential ‘Red Threat’ with Peru acquiring two older Russian destroyers, renamed Almirante Villar and Almirante Guise, from the politically unstable Republic of Estonia in 1933. Colombia is strategically placed between South and Central America with many neighbours and responsibility for its naval waters over both the Atlantic (Caribbean) and Pacific oceans. In this instance the Peruvians, with their naval forces based only on the Pacific coast, sailed a task force into the Atlantic – so the threat was real.

Post WWI the Admiralty invited requests from British shipyards for new destroyer designs. The winning designs were from Yarrow and Thorneycroft resulting in the construction of one ship from each yard, HM Ships Ambuscade and Amazon. A year after commissioning in 1928 these ships were sent on a cruise around South America, which included calls at Colombia and Peru, and home via Panama and the West Indies.

The Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 called for significant reductions in naval tonnage resulting in the Royal Navy having no suitable ships to offer Colombia. However a class of six new destroyers based on the Ambuscade design was being built for the Portuguese Navy. The first quarter of the 20th century was tumultuous in Portuguese politics as Britain’s oldest ally transitioned from a catholic monarchy to a socialist republic, cumulating in a 1926 military coup. Despite this two ships were built in Britain (NRP Vouga and Lima) and the remainder in Portugal.

With British assistance two of the Portuguese built vessels were purchased off the stocks by the Armada Nacional Republica de Colombia (ANC) and renamed Antioquia and Caldas. The Portuguese then built two further replacement ships. Royal Naval support was provided in commissioning, storing, manning and working up these vessels.

Leading Seaman Frederick Harvey joins the Colombian Naval Service

A recruitment campaign was undertaken in England to help man the two new destroyers. No mean perk for those in the know, with a two year contract being offer on very similar conditions to service to those afforded under Kings Regulations & Admiralty Instructions (KRAI) which included medical cover, insurance and death benefits. The real incentive, in these times of grave unemployment, was 33⅓% additional pay in £stg for an equivalent RN rank. While this was a single man’s posting, at the completion of the contract a fully paid return passage to England was provided, plus an additional two months pay in lieu of leave.

NRP Lima constructed by Yarrow & Co., Glasgow

On 23 February 1934 a formal ‘Contract for Ratings’ (written in English) was entered into between the Chargé d’Affaires of Colombia representing the Government of Colombia and Frederick Harold Harvey. This was witnessed by a Royal Naval officer. On New Year’s Day 1935 another bonus was received with Fred promoted to Petty Officer.

There is an interesting aside in the report of a football (soccer) match between the two ships when working up. This notes that Antioquia’s goalkeeper ‘Shorty Harvey’ accidentally collided with an opposing player with the result that Shorty lost most of his teeth but with true British grit he continued playing with his ship winning 5 – 1. Shorty was not carted off to hospital until the end of the game.

Eventually both new destroyers reached their home port of Cartagena in Colombia on 14 May 1934. They were more of an insurance policy as the dispute with Peru had been settled before their arrival. We are not aware of Fred’s service in country but it does not appear to have been arduous and, strictly in accordance with his contract, he returned home on 22 February 1936. Upon return, with tales to tell and employment gradually improving, Fred became a postman in his native Newcastle. He also joined the RNR.

Had Fred remained in Antioquia he might have seen some unusual action. On 21 January 1936 on the occasion of the death of King George V the Bermuda Militia Artillery were instructed to fire a ceremonial salute from their 4.7-inch gun battery. This salute consisted of 70 blank rounds – one for every year of the sovereign’s life. Because of damp storage conditions there were insufficient blanks so the shortfall was substituted with life rounds fired at maximum elevation. As they opened fire the gunners were unaware that Antioquia was making for the Royal Naval Dockyard, where she was scheduled for refit. Although straddled the ship was not damaged.

Once more with the outbreak of war in 1939 Fred volunteered for naval service but was knocked back. This did not stop him from joining the Army as a private. Now over forty years of age he remained in the United Kingdom, mainly employed as a Batman/Driver to a senior officer based in Scotland.

After the war Fred was welcomed back into the Post Office where he worked as a driver until the time of his death in 1963. He is buried in Newcastle. His widow Dorothy came to Australia and lived with her son Victor and his wife Connie until her death in 1986. The eldest son Frederick Harold (junior) with his wife Violet migrated to Canada where they made successful business careers and raised two children. Finally younger son Vic continued the family tradition, joined the Andrew and, with many years of distinguished service in the RAN … but that is another story.

Notes:

1. In terms of population, present day Colombia, with a population in excess of 49 million, is the second largest country in South America.

Occasional Paper 46: Lieutenant Kenneth Robert Hudspeth DSC, RANVR

February 12, 2019

Lieutenant Kenneth Robert Hudspeth, Distinguished Service Cross and 2 Bars, RANVR, WWII

Lieutenant Kenneth Robert Hudspeth, RANVR was one of many Royal Australian Naval personnel whose service in Royal Navy units during the darkest days of World War 2 has gone largely unnoticed in Australia. This story of the self-reliant and courageous LEUT Hudspeth who completed several hazardous missions in the then SECRET, X-Craft (midget submarine) earned him the Distinguished Service Cross and two Bars.

Thanks to a research query about Hudspeth received by the Society, the story of his remarkable war service can be told. This story was researched and compiled by Dennis J. Weatherall JP TM AFAITT(L) LSM an active volunteer of the Society. Dennis is a qualified Australian Military Historian and accredited Member of the International Guild of Battlefield Guides.

Early Life

Kenneth Hudspeth was born in Echuca, Victoria on the Murray River on 31 March 1918. His Father Robert was born in 1891 in Carlton, and mother Ada (nee Sim) in 1894 in Box Hill, Victoria. There were two other brothers born into the Hudspeth family, Bruce in 1919 and Donald 1921 in Hobart, Tasmania.

Robert Senior started work at 14 years of age and studied at night school to become a teacher. He went on to become the first Principal of Hobart Technical College having established the school, recruited and trained staff in the specific trades required.

Kenneth Robert Hudspeth, was encouraged by his father to be aware of the bushland, and became a keen bushwalker in Tasmania’s south-west region. He was also interested in all water activities and subsequently became a Sea Scout and crewed local cruising yachts. With such involvement, Kenneth never lost his deep interest in maritime matters.

On finishing school Kenneth, following in his father’s footsteps became a trainee in the Tasmanian Education Department and was assigned to Hythe area school in the suburb of Southport following training.

Early Career

Following the outbreak of WWII, Kenneth offered his service to the Navy and was selected as a Sub Lieutenant RANVR. His first posting being to HMAS Cerberus for induction followed by HMAS Rushcutter to undertake Anti-Submarine warfare training in the newly established school commanded by CMDR Harvey Newcomb RN.

During the Battle of the Atlantic up to 20 percent of all A/S Officers were Australian RANR/RANVR serving in the Royal Navy (RN).

Hudspeth departed for the UK in the “Imperial Star” in January. Postings then followed in quick succession and included; HMS Ferret and HMS Clarkia. After gaining his Bridge Watchkeeping Certificate and serving 15 months on North Atlantic convoy escort duties in 1941 & 1942, he volunteered for submarines and was posted to HMS Dolphin, HMS Cyclops (Submarine Depot Ship) and from October 1942 to August 1944, HMS Varbel I and II.

He was promoted LEUT RANVR on 15^th January 1943 and assigned for commanding officer duties in Midget Submarine “X-Craft”. His first command was X-Craft X10.

HMS Varbel I – named after CMDR’s Varley and Bell, both RN Engineers who designed the X-Craft prototypes. Originally the “Kyles Hydropathic Hotel” requisitioned by the Admiralty, located at Port Bannatyne on the Isle of Bute, Scotland.

“Bute’s War”, locations of HMS Varbel I and II

HMS Varbel II – “Ardtaraig House” was also requisitioned by the Admiralty early in the war and became HQ for the 12th Submarine Flotilla, located at the head of Loch Striven Scotland.

Hazardous service

The Admiralty had requested volunteers for special and hazardous service, stating they must be below 24 years of age on selection, unmarried, be good swimmers and of strong and enduring physique”. After volunteering and selection interview at HMS Dolphin Hudspeth was accepted without an explanation of what ‘hazardous service’ was. He was subsequently posted to HMS Cyclops then HMS Varbel where he commenced training (and was told what hazardous service he’d just volunteered for). Training commenced immediately in the new midget submarines known as X-Craft.

HMS Cyclops (F31) depot ship for the 7th Submarine Flotilla home based at Rothesay 1940-1946. Originally the passenger liner “Indrabarah” built by Laing and Co. for the Indra Line Ltd. Purchased by the Admiralty whilst under construction on 27th October 1905, scrapped in 1947. Photograph taken on the Rothesay Bay Firth of Clyde Scotland.

X-Craft Surface running possibly the X21 with LEUT J.V. Terry-Lloyd SADF as CO standing on the casing.

C-Craft control room, craft number unknown. This image shows the very limited crew space available.

HMS Bonaventure (F139) was designated as depot ship for all Midget Submarines. Built by Greenock and Grangemouth Dockyard Co. in Greenock, Scotland for the Scottish “Clan Line”, it was to be launched as “Clan Campbell” but the Admiralty requisitioned her on the day she was launched – 27th October 1942 – and once converted was commissioned into the RN on the 26th January 1943.

Operation Source: 22^nd September 1943

Operation Source was a Top Secret Operation to neutralise three German Capital ships, SMS Tirpitz, Scharnhorst and Lutzow. Hudspeth was one of six midget submarine CO’s detailed to attack these vessels. His target was the battleship SMS Scharnhorst, later downgraded by the RN to a Battlecruiser due to carrying only 11 inch main guns. All were at anchor in the Kaa Fjord.

X5 was the Mission commander commanded by Commander LEUT “Henty” Henty-Creer RN who was Australian born. X6 was commended by LEUT Donald Cameron RNR and X7 commanded by LEUT Godfrey Place RNR. These three X-Craft were detailed to attack the SMS Tirpitz. X5 was lost with all hands either during the attack or withdrawal (there is no definitive record), although the Admiralty refuses to dive on the wreck (located in 1974) to check if, in fact, they had deployed their two tons of explosives and were actually sunk on their escape from completing their attack on Tirpitz. Both X6 and X7 succeeded in damaging their target, although both X-Craft were forced to the surface within the anti submarine net around the Tirpitz. Both were craft were scuttled. Two X7 crew members never escaped their craft. The six surviving crew members were taken as prisoners of war (POW’s). Both CO’s Cameron and Place were awarded the Victoria Cross.

On the 18^th September 1943, X8 commanded by LEUT J Smart RNVR was en-route to attack the SMS Lutzow (Pocket Battleship). It was under tow by its mother submarine, HMS Sea Nymph when the tow line parted. It was found the next day. As LEUT Smart had been forced to jettison both saddle charges during the passage X8s participation in the mission was cancelled. Unfortunately, X8 was scuttled on the 18^th September and the crew returned to the “mother” submarine for passage home.

X9 commanded by SBLT E.V. Kearon RNVR and X10 were designated to attack SMS Scharnhorst on the 16^th September 1943. Unfortunately, X9 under tow from HM Submarine Syrtis had dived and failed to surface on the same day. It was found the towing hawser had also parted. All four of its crew were lost.

X10 Crew: Left to right: SBLT G Harding; LEUT K.R Hudspeth CO; SBLT B Enzer; SBLT E Page (Passage CO) and seated left bottom ERA Tilley.

Other crew members of X10, unofficially named “Excalibur”, the legendary sword of King Arthur, included; SBLT Bruce Enzer RNVR, 1st LEUT SBLT Geoff Harding RNVR and Diver, ERA Tilley (who been seconded from fleet submarines). Harding was the youngest of all X-Craft crewmen, he’d just turned 19. Passage CO was “Ernie” Page, a tall, red-bearded Irishman.

X10’s target was the SMS Scharnhorst, believed at the time of departure from home base to be at anchor astern of the SMS Tirpitz in the Kaa Fjord. Unknown to X10 as at 1300, 12 September when she left base under the tow of HM Submarine Sceptre, the Scharnhorst had slipped her moorings on the morning of 22 September and headed to Alten Fjord to undertake Gunnery practice. Subsequently, Scharnhorst received a signal from Tirpitz advising she’d been under attack and had been torpedoed. As a consequence, Scharnhorst did not return to her berth in the Kaa Fjord. This situation unknown to LEUT Hudspeth became important post mission.

After slipping her tow from HM Submarine Sceptre at 2000 on 20 September, X10 dived to test her trim. All was satisfactory, so course was set for the allocated target SMS Scharnhorst. Given known technical reliability issues with the X-Craft it is not surprising that Hudspeth was beset with multiple mechanical break downs. First the periscope motor started to smell pungent when raised and lowered, then the motor burnt out and the craft filled with fumes. Next the Gyro compass failed as did the magnetic compass light, finally the boat started to leak above the switchboard and all fuses blew. Every crew member, regardless of trade, was put to work in an endeavour to rectify the defects and hopefully resume X10 its mission. At 0215, X10 bottomed out at 195 feet just 4 miles from Kaa Fjord and where it was presumed SMS Scharnhorst was at anchor. Finally, one of the two side saddles (explosives) flooded. It seemed little else could go wrong?

LEUT Hudspeth asked his crew if they wanted to proceed to their target in the condition they now found themselves in. All responded yes. After serious consideration as their CO and having heard multiple explosions at 0815 from the other attacking X-Craft, he weighed carefully if he should continue and if forced to the surface, the consequences of losing both his craft and crew. He also considered the impact on other craft successfully attacking their targets. X10 stayed bottomed all day then at 1800 Hudspeth called off the mission and limped back down the Fjord to the rendezvous for return to Loch Striven, Scotland.

Map of Kaa Fjord showing the location of SMS Tirpitz and where Scharnhorst should have been on the day of the attack.

Commanding Officers of X-Craft on Operation Source with the exception of X5 CO LEUT “Henty” Henty-Creer RNVR. Left to right; LEUT T Martin RN X9, LEUT Kenneth Hudspeth RANVR X10, LEUT Basil McFarlane RAN X8, LEUT Godfrey Place RNR X7 and LEUT Donald Cameron RNR X6.

LEUT Hudspeth was awarded a DSC (Distinguished Service Cross) on 11 January 1944. His citation read: “For outstanding courage whilst in command of HM Submarine X10 during Operation Source in September 1943. This submarine penetrated Alten Fjord on 22 September 1943 to within four miles of where Tirpitz was lying. LEUT Hudspeth bottomed in this position in enemy waters throughout 22 September while he and his crew worked in trying conditions to make good the vessel’s defects. The attempt was in vain and LEUT Hudspeth had to come to the correct though bitter decision to withdraw, when so near his goal. The successful double passage of the approaches to Alten Fjord required determination and skill of a high order. The application and endurance shown in the attempt to remedy defects deserve credit. The information this Officer was able to bring back was of great value”.

Operation Postage Able: 17 to 21 January 1944

As the planning went ahead for the invasion of Europe, scheduled for the summer of 1944, it was realised that the Admiralty had no close inshore charts of the French coastline. Therefore, towards the end of 1943 (December) a group of specialised servicemen arrived at the X-Craft Scottish base to check out if it was possible to use these craft to gain the information required for the upgrade of what would become the “invasion charts”. The name of the group was Combined Operations Pilotage Parties (COPP) their role was to gain all possible information on the shore line both above and below the expected tide levels. The Normandy coast was their target shoreline. COPP was a mixture of Naval and Army personnel, the latter being trained commando swimmers. It was Navy’s job to take these commandos, land them unseen to reconnoitre ashore before returning to their X-Craft for passage home.

Two X-Craft (X20 and X23) were shipped by rail from Loch Striven (Scotland) to Portsmouth (south coast) for the operation. The original crew from X10 that was scuttled on its return from the aborted SMS Scharnhorst raid (Sep 43) were reassigned to X20 where they practised passage in the shallow waters of the Solent. Due to last minute “second thoughts” by senior officers, the first planned COPP mission was carried out by small surface craft. The planners were concerned about the possible discovery by the enemy of an X-Craft operation close inshore.

LEUT Hudspeth was awarded a bar to his DSC on 4 April 1944 for his missions in landing COPP personnel on enemy held coasts, his citation reads; “For outstanding courage and devotion to duty whilst commanding HM Submarine X20 in hazardous operations. He showed great coolness, grasp and ability in manoeuvring his X-Craft submerged in shallow water close under enemy defences during the first attempt at putting Combined Operations Pilotage Parties on beach reconnaissance on a heavily guarded position of an enemy coast, in unknown and unpleasant conditions during the period 17 to 21 January 1944”.

Operation “Gambit”: 2 to 6 June 1944 of the Normandy Coast

Following the successful charting of the Normandy coast X20 and X23 were retained for the subsequent operation, Operation Gambit. LEUT Hudspeth continued in command of X20 whilst LEUT George Honour RNVR was CO of X23. For this operation the the crew of each was to be five men. Originally designed for a crew of three, each carried divers and one other. Conditions were cramped!

This operation was part of the overall D-Day Naval Operation known as “Operation Neptune”. Basically both craft had to approach the British / Canadian allocated sector beaches and position themselves at the outer markers of Sword (X23) and Juno (X20). Their role was to sit it out until the allocated time and date of the invasion, then surface and act as navigation beacons for landing force craft heading to the two beaches.

Map showing Normandy beaches Sword (British) and Juno (Canadian) 6th June 1944

With D-Day set for Monday 5 June 1944, both X-Craft left their berths at Fort Blockhouse and set course to exit the east gate on the Portsmouth Boom Defence. Operation “Gambit” had commenced. It was Friday 2 June at 2130 hours. The X-Craft were under tow by two trawlers the Darthem (X20) and the Sapper (X23), they broke their tow the next day and headed for what are now known as Sword and Juno invasion beaches. They positioned themselves (submerged) on the 4 June to be the leads for the biggest invasion force the world had ever seen.

The X-Craft needed to ventilate every five hours to draw in fresh air. They also had to confirm their allocated station by periscope sightings each evening. At 2200 daily they tuned into the BBC news broadcast for any coded message that would confirm the landings would commence the following morning. During one such broadcast, the code was transmitted that the invasion landings would be delayed due to weather (at the UK end) for a day. As their supplies were limited, especially oxygen backup (in bottles) this message caused some concern onboard X20. Their mission on D-Day was to illuminate mast head beacons (to sea) from the deck and periscope to give the landing armada a tested navigation course to their landing beaches of Sword and Juno.

The allocation of operation names is of interest. In this case the Admiralty had chosen Gambit which, as in Chess, a piece is risked so as to gain advantage later! No words were ever so true for X20 and X23.

For this mission not only did they carry extra crew but enough equipment to open a deep sea fishermen’s store! Before departure Portsmouth they stowed onboard the following kit:

Two coastal quick release anchors,
Three flashing lamps with batteries,
Several taut-string measuring reels,
Two small portable radar beacons,
One 18 foot sounding pole with two telescopic masts of similar length and
Twelve extra bottles of oxygen in addition to the X-Crafts normal fixed supply.

The crew were given fake identification papers and told if the mission was aborted they were to swim ashore make contact with the local resistance who would help them return to England. That is of course, if they weren’t drowned or shot by German sentries. If they survived and escaped, they still had to find the local resistance which was easier said than done. Essentially, they were on their own if the mission was aborted.

X20 positioned herself off Juno Beach less than a mile and a half from the coast on Sunday 4 June 1944. When the coded message was received it simply read “trouble in Scarborough” so X20 manoeuvred into deeper water to wait until Tuesday 6 June, the new D-Day. At 0502 the periscope was raised along with the telescopic mast, lights affixed (looking seaward) the radio beacons and echo sounders activated……the final phase of the invasion of Europe was about to commence!

X20 had completed her mission successfully so had X23, so the crew hunkered down had breakfast and waited until it was time to get themselves off the beach and rendezvous with their two craft for a well-deserved return to Portsmouth.

For this operation, LEUT Hudspeth was awarded a second bar to his DSC on 28 Nov 1944. The citation read: “For gallantry, skill, determination and undaunted devotion to duty whilst commanding HM Submarine X20 during Operation Gambit, the Combined Operations Pilotage Parties beach reconnaissance of the French coast prior to Operation Neptune and the landing of Allied Forces on the coast of Normandy”.

After D-Day LEUT Hudspeth was posted back to HMS Varbel (12^th Submarine Flotilla – Midget X-Craft) and was involved in training new crew, he also wrote a manual on X-Craft operations, something he was well suited for having been a teacher prior to his war service.

HMS Orwell (G98) in her war time camouflage paint

On the 23 September 1944 LEUT Hudspeth was posted to HMS Orwell (G98) an Oscar Class destroyer and back to his old trade as an Anti-Submarine Officer. The Orwell had been launched on 2 April 1942, commissioned 17 October 1942 and assigned immediately to North Atlantic and Russian Convoy duties. LEUT Hudspeth served under LCDR John Randall Gower, CO from 15 July 44 through to 16 October 1945. During Hudspeth’s time onboard most sailings were on the Russian run north until returning to Scapa Flow at the end of April 1945 Orwell rejoined the Home Fleet and assumed duties as required. During this period LEUT Hudspeth served as First Lieutenant until released from his RN service.

On 10 September 1945 LEUT Hudspeth was posted to HMS President pending return to Australia and demobilisation. He embarked on the passenger liner “SS Aquitania” leaving Southampton on 28 October and arrived in Tasmania in early December 1946. His service concluded at HMAS Huon on 5 February 1946

Post demobilisation, Hudspeth continued to serve in the Reserve, was promoted to LCDR on 31 December 1951 eventually resigning his commission on the 21 January 1965. Thus ended, a distinguished career of 25 years in war and peace in the RN, RANVR and post war RANR.

Post war Hudspeth obtained his teaching diploma and returned to his pre-war occupation as a teacher with the Tasmanian Department of Education. He became the warden of “Werndee”, a hostel in Hobart for junior and trainee teachers. Then followed several appointments to several schools in northern Tasmania before becoming Principal, and Superintendent of Building for the Education Department throughout Tasmania. Kenneth Hudspeth retired from education in 1979 aged 61.

Kenneth married an English woman, Audrey Nicholson in 1959. They produced three sons: Andrew, David and Donald. None followed in their father into the services. In retirement Kenneth followed his interests in music and literature, although his chief interest was anything maritime and his love and involvement in the Tasmanian Maritime Museum.

Kenneth & Audrey Hudspeth in retirement.
Image supplied by son, Andrew Hudspeth

Kenneth Robert Hudspeth passed away on the 3 December 2000 at the age of 82 years. He was a war time hero, a volunteer, a Reservist and one of the most decorated Australian Naval Officers of WWII.

Midget Submarines Specifications – X-Craft

Overall length: 52 feet

Displacement: 30 tons

Propulsion: Diesel engine and Electric motor

Range: Approximately 1,000 miles

Speed: 6.5 Knots surfaced, 2 knots submerged economical speed

Armament: Two crescent sectioned charges 30 foot long each with two tons of explosives

Crew: Three to five subject to mission

Diving depth: 300 feet

References:

Royal Navy National Museum Portsmouth UK George Malcolmson Curator Archives and Images
X-Craft X20 In the English Channel LCDR K R Hudspeth RANR Rtd paper
“Above Us The Waves” C E T Warren & James Benson George G Harper UK 1953
“Midget Submarines of the Second World War” Chatham Publishing 1999 Paul Kemp
“Skill & Valour” James J Atkinson Spink & Son Australia 1986
“Bravo Zulu Honours & Awards” Vol 1 1900-1974 Ian Pfenningworth 2016
“Semaphore Operation Neptune D-Day 6 June 1944” John Perryman RAN Rtd paper
Naval Commander Force “J” HMS Vectis Report 179/323 25/09/43 Archives RN
Supplement to The London Gazette Rear Admiral C B Barry Tirpitz report 11/02/48
Defence Media Network “Operation Source X-Craft Raid on Tirpitz” Dwight Jon Zimmerman 19/09/2013 paper
Lost Heroes of the Tirpitz Dr Eric Grove 17/02/2011 paper
Major British Warship Losses WWII Submarines & Midget Submarines Gordon Smith
“Service Histories of RN Warships in WWII” LtCdr Geoffrey B Mason RN 2003
“Bute at War” www.buteatwar/gallery
Australians in Midget Submarines Ray Worledge 11/08/2013
U Boat Net – Allied war ships HMS Orwell G98 Oscar Class Destroyer
War Hero – Educationalist Ray Worledge paper
Operation Gambit “Fighting Spirit” Gavin Mortimer interview with S/Lt Jim Booth X23
Foxtrot Alpha Net “How the RN’s X Class Midget Submarines helped make D-Day Tyler Rogoway 2015 paper
Journal of the Australian Naval Institute. “The RANVR and the Normandy Landings” John Connor School of History ADFA paper
National Archives of Australia A3978 Barcode 30964422 & CA 38 / 587 – Canberra.
Dominion Yachtsmen Scheme DRA paper Ms Janet Roberts Billett paper
“Hudspeth Family 2018” via direct contact Mr Andrew Hudspeth eldest son of Kenneth and Audrey Hudspeth, family history – photographs.

Occasional Paper 40: Secret History of the First Australian to be given Penicillin

November 15, 2018

On Thursday 9^th August 2018 the ABC 7.30 Report broadcast a story by Tracy Bowden about the first use of penicillin in Australia. Tracy has given permission to the Naval Historical Society of Australia (NHSA) to publish this interesting and historical Report in full due to its Naval connection. This paper also includes some further research undertaken by both the NHSA and Westmead Children’s Hospital Heritage Committee.

Peter Harrison, far right, with his mother and siblings, in the mid-1940s after being treated with penicillin. Image supplied by Harrison family

A secret mission to save a young boy’s life — which has only just come to light — has re-written the history of penicillin and antibiotic use in Australia.

The man behind the story is Peter Harrison, who has just celebrated his 82nd birthday. If Mr Harrison had not received the “wonder drug” 75 years ago, it is likely he and his children would not be here today. “I’m overcome with joy to be part, a small part, of the beginning of the penicillin story,” Mr Harrison told 7.30.

Peter Harrison, Australia’s first penicillin recipient, is now a healthy 82-year-old.
Image supplied by ABC News: Alex McDonald

Back in 1943, Mr Harrison suddenly became ill and was admitted to Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children at Camperdown, in Sydney. He was diagnosed with Pneumococcal meningitis.

“I was terrified,” he said. “I wondered what was going to happen. I thought, maybe I will die here.”

His father, Dr Leo Harrison, was a Navy surgeon. With no modern antibiotics, treatment options were limited. As his son got worse, Dr Harrison was convinced the only answer was penicillin, a drug which was, officially at least, not yet available in Australia.

What happened next was uncovered just a few months ago, when researcher Beth Robinson was sorting through old hospital documents now stored at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead.

“On the front of [one] envelope was a handwritten line saying, ‘The first child to receive penicillin treatment in Australia,'” Ms Robinson said.

The original note and envelope recording Peter Harrison as ‘The first child in Australia to have penicillin’. (Supplied: The Children’s Hospital at Westmead)

“There had been no evidence of this story anywhere, it just didn’t exist. It predated anything else the records had shown so far.”

‘He would not be alive today’

A team at the hospital continued to dig and the story that emerged was remarkable.

At the time, penicillin was an experimental drug. It was being produced in the United States, with precious supplies mostly reserved for the military. Australian doctors by-passed official channels, asking their counterparts in America to supply the drug to a small boy in Sydney — Peter Harrison.

“The request was granted and the turnaround time was extraordinarily quick,” Dr Alyson Kakakios, from The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, said. “It was sent on Saturday the 10th of July, and by the following Thursday it had actually arrived in Australia. “He would not be alive today if he had not received that penicillin.”

Beth Robinson with the documents she found inside a safe at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead archives. (ABC News: Alex McDonald)

At that time, the war in the Pacific was at its height. The precious cargo was sent on a Liberator bomber and the Australian doctors were urged to keep the one-off delivery secret.

“When you think of what would have been on those planes — aircraft parts, troops — they were also carrying a small box with penicillin in it on dry ice,” said Dr Glen Farrow, who was also on the hospital committee investigating the case. “Someone had to keep topping up that dry ice all the way. So there were a lot of people keeping the penicillin cold and making sure it got to Peter safely.”

The letter telling the doctor who administered the penicillin not to tell anyone. (Supplied: The Children’s Hospital at Westmead)

‘Boggles my mind’

The researchers discovered the boy at the centre of the story had not only survived but was still alive and well.

Mr Harrison’s daughter, Susan Field, said the story was “amazing”. “My dad’s life was saved as a child. If it hadn’t been, I wouldn’t be here,” Ms Field told 7.30. “As children we had this in our family folklore, that Dad’s life was saved by the US military bringing the penicillin out, but we didn’t have a lot of facts.”

His son, Peter Harrison Jr, said: “They were just experimenting, and it worked because it was the wonder drug.”

Mr Harrison does not remember much about what happened, but he recalls the US pilot coming to his hospital bed to wish him well.

Peter Harrison’s father, Dr Leo Harrison. (Supplied: Harrison family)

Tilly Boleyn, curator at the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, said this new information changes the official records in terms of Australians being treated with penicillin.

“The first treatment I know of was an Australian soldier in New Guinea. But that would have been in December ’43. And in fact, Australia only started thinking about and investigating how we would make penicillin in October, so [Mr Harrison was] well before that.”

Another Australian, Sir Howard Florey, played a key role in the development of penicillin, recognising its potential to kill the bacteria that cause infection.

Mr Harrison recently met those who have been helping solve the mystery. It would not have happened without the help of Americans, and the acting US consul general based in Sydney, Linda Daetwyler, was keen to meet Mr Harrison and hear more about his story.

“It boggles my mind how that happened,” Ms Daetwyler said.

“I don’t think it would happen nowadays, with all the bureaucracy we have, but clearly there were a lot of people along the line that were touched by this little boy’s story and pushed away protocols and regulations to make a miracle happen.”

Mr Harrison and the researchers still wonder what contacts or connections his father had to make the delivery possible.

“He pulled some strings and I don’t know how he did it, but he was a determined man, like I am,” Mr Harrison said.

Further Research by the NHSA and The Children’s Hospital at Westmead Heritage Committee

The NHS examined Surgeon LEUT Harrison’s Service Record and established that he spent most of his time in the service ashore, serving briefly in HMA Ships Parramatta and Manoora. Following time at HMAS Penguin, the Naval Hospital at Balmoral, in January 1943 he was posted to HMAS Kuttabul. Intriguingly, little over a month after obtaining the penicillin that saved his son’s life in the July, he was approved for discharge from the RAN by the Central Medical Co-ordinating Committee on 23^rd August 1943; the Committee also recommending he be promoted to Surgeon LCDR. We wondered if the two events were connected and that his sudden discharge at a time when a Navy at war would have been desperate to retain as many medical practitioners as possible was some form of sanction.

Further research has shown this not to be the case; his engagement had expired, and it appears that Harrison retired to General Practice and raising his family.

At the same time, contact was made with The Children’s Hospital at Westmead Heritage Committee. With the assistance of a Master of Museum and Heritage student from the University of Sydney, Beth Robinson, and Director of Clinical Governance Dr Glen Farrow, who has taken a particular interest in this story, the Committee has been attempting to establish just who LCDR Harrison contacted to arrange for the supply of the medicine.

In this desperate situation it would not be unusual for Harrison to be talking to other naval doctors based in Sydney or even seeking help through the Navy chain of command. While we cannot prove what happened, the facts as we know them suggest that this is what he did. In Melbourne at the time a Dr Wilberforce (Bill) Newton was a physician at the Alfred Hospital, a consultant physician to the Navy and an expert in chest disease and TB. He would have been up to date in advances in antibiotic therapies, including the development of penicillin in the US, and would be the obvious expert to consult within the Navy.

Bill Newton was also the younger brother of Sir Alan Newton, renowned Australian surgeon and Chairman of the Commonwealth Medical Equipment Control Committee (MECC). The MECC was responsible for making sure Australia was stockpiled with drugs and equipment needed to withstand invasion, but also able to support our troops in the field.

It must have taken someone with “connections” to obtain approval for the release of penicillin by Dr Chester Keefer who was in charge of development of the drug at John Hopkins University in America. That person may well have been Dr Bill Newton, who at the request of Leo Harrison asked his brother whether he could help. Other possibilities include Professors McPherson Brown and James Bordley who had been colleagues of Keefer at John Hopkins and were now back in Australia.

Whatever the process, contact with America was established through Mr. LR Macgregor, Director-General War Supplies Procurement Mission in Washington. Later, Sir Alan Newton personally thanked Mr Macgregor on his return to Australia after 6 years in Washington for his involvement in this incident.

On a Friday night an A1 priority cable sent to Macgregor resulted in his seeking the approval of the surgeon-general of the US army for the release of 1,000,000 units, thought to be sufficient for one person and worth about £30. Packed in dry ice, the drug was carried in a bomber to Australia and first administered on the Thursday morning, less than one week later. By the following Monday Peter Harrison was able to eat a normal meal – a remarkable recovery.

Despite the immediate and significant improvement in Peter Harrison’s condition, within a week another lumbar puncture ascertained that the infection was still present and active. This led to further communications with the United States to procure Antipneumococcic Rabbit Serum, which also aided in the recovery of Peter Harrison. He remained in hospital approximately six weeks after receiving the penicillin. We know now that the penicillin dosage was not sufficient for one person and significantly less than what would be administered today. We would give 1,000,000 in one dose today.

The value of penicillin, although still in its experimental stages, had been shown, particularly in war zones. Accordingly, in October 1943 CSIRO scientists were sent to the United States and before long small quantities of the drug were being made by the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories. Australia then became the first country in the world to make penicillin available for the treatment of civilians.

Occasional Paper 39: The Story Of Commander Paul Hugill Hirst RAN 1899-1963

November 14, 2018

November 2018

Compelled to Resign: The Story Of Commander Paul Hugill Hirst RAN 1899-1963

by Lieutenant Commander Terry Feltham RAN Ret’d

“Just because something ends doesn’t mean it never should’ve been. Remember, you lived, you learned, you grew and you moved on”. Anon.

Why this topic?

The recent discovery within the Society’s archives of an undated letter from Signalman Donald Fraser, commissioning member of HMAS Toowoomba1 led to my researching the reasons for the resignation in March 1942 of her Commanding Officer, LCDR Paul Hirst and the eventual dispersal of her entire crew.

The following are extracts from undated letter by Don Fraser:

After suffering heavy damage on the passage. Soon thereafter we were ordered back to sea. Our captain ‘Digger Hirst’ was loath to take Toowoomba to sea until major repairs were affected. Apparently Senior Naval Officer Western Australia, Commodore Collins, directed the skipper – ‘Take your ship to sea or resign’. ‘Digger’ advised the ship’s company, “I’ve resigned and I will be happy to get back to the spuds in Tasmania”. Under a new skipper we sailed to Adelaide for repairs. There, the entire crew received ‘individual draft notes’ sending them to all corners of the globe! Toowoomba then decommissioned, affected repairs and recommissioned. Did ‘Digger’ resign for nothing? Don Fraser.[i]

My First Impressions

Initially, there seemed little to this research task. Paul Hirst was a member of the 1913 Pioneer Class[ii] at The Naval College and HMAS Toowoomba 1 was Paul’s third command (following Tasmania and Success). Clearly, Commodore John Collins and The Naval Board held Paul in high regard. So, in my opinion, all that was required was for me to obtain copies of Toowoomba’s Reports of Proceedings from commissioning date in October 1941 to March 1942, seek out the Naval Board paperwork on the incident, the notes by Commodore Collins immediately before and after his decisions on the incident and access Paul Hirst’s personal reports and then write the story. ‘Wrong’. Despite considerable help from many people (most notably Vice Admiral Peter Jones) many cupboards were bare. However, sufficient veteran’s recollections are recorded to allow us the essentials of the story.

So I chose to go back to the early part of the 20^th Century, research the history behind The Royal Australian Naval College and its Pioneer Class and build the story from that point.

The Royal Australian Navy and its Naval College

By the middle of the first decade of the 20^th Century Vice Admiral Sir William Rooke Creswell, KCMG, KBE (‘The Father Of The Royal Australian Navy) along with Rear Admiral Frederick Tickell MID CMG RN and two very supportive Prime Ministers, Alfred Deakin and Andrew Fisher, had begun a concerted push to have our Navy (more a Colonial Force at the time) breakaway from The Admiralty. By late 1905 the Australian Commonwealth Naval Board was constituted in Melbourne, and it was clear that ‘The Royal Australian Navy’ (RAN) was close at hand.[iii]

VICE ADMIRAL WILLAM ROOKE CRESWELL, KCMG, KBE, RAN (Chief of Staff, RAN)

REAR ADMIRAL FREDERICK TICKEL CMG RAN (AS A CAPTAIN RAN) Australian War Memorial

Prime Minister of Australia Andrew Fisher, By T. Humphrey & Co, NLA image

Prime Minister of Australia Alfred Deakin, NLA image

By 1911 many of Creswell’s capital initiatives for the RAN had been agreed and the Australian Government had also signed off on a major recruitment scheme for Australian Naval Officers, specifically:

An Australian Naval College (to be named HMAS Creswell on commissioning in January 1958) would be established at Jervis Bay by 1915. In the interim, young boys from all Australian states, and whose 13^th birthday fell in the calendar year 1 January 1913 to 31 December 1913, would be invited to sit an exemplar exam in 1912 for entry to the Temporary Australian Naval College at Geelong in Victoria in 1913. Twenty eight Officer Cadets would be chosen to undergo a rigorous four year education, leadership, sporting and management program taking them to University entrance equivalent. On completion the successful graduates would join the Royal Australian Naval Officer Ranks as Midshipmen.[iv]

Creswell also made it clear to the Australian Government that he expected significant numbers of RN officers (including several of Flag Rank) would be required to fill positions in Australia’s naval command structure for the foreseeable future; probably until the early 1930s. He went further:

‘this fact does not worry me one iota as I am confident the Naval College structure agreed by the Australian Government, with its fine Executive, Educational, Engineering and Electrical training staff, would soon begin commissioning superb Australian Naval Officers’.[v]

Vice Admiral Peter Jones AO DSC RAN (Ret’d) in his book Australia’s Argonauts expresses best the sentiment of the time:

“For the nation, the calling for the first intake of Australia’s naval college was an important step in forging its own Navy. Yet, for twenty eight 13-year-old boys their decision would forever change their lives. Their careers would decisively shape the course of the Royal Australian Navy”.[vi]

The 1913 Entry to the Royal Australian Naval College, known as the Pioneer Class. (RAN)
Paul Hirst, Back Row, circled. John Collins, Middle Row.

Members of the Pioneer Class[vii]

Otto Edmund Albert;

George William Thomas Armitage;

Joseph Burnett (later KIA when Commanding Officer [Captain RAN], HMAS Sydney);

Norman Keith Calder;

John Augustine Collins (later Vice Admiral Sir John, KBE CB, Chief of Naval Staff 1948-1955);

Alfred Denis Conder;

Ernest Semple ‘Dick’ Cunningham (lost in HM K17 in 1917);

James Claude Durie Esdaile (the last surviving member of The Pioneer Class);

Harold Bruce (Fearless Frank) Farncomb (later Rear Admiral – CB, DSO, MVO, MID (3) Navy Cross [US] and Commander of the Legion of Merit [US]);

Eric Augustus Feldt (later OBE and Commander RAN – our greatest Coastwatcher);

Frank Edmond Getting (later Captain RAN – KIA 1942 when in Command HMAS Canberra);

Lloyd Falconer Gilling;

Paul Hugill Hirst (later Commander – 3 Commands – Tasmania, Success and Toowoomba);

Elmer Benjamin Howells;

Peyton James Kimlin;

Frank Lockwood Larkins;

John Valentine Stuart ‘Jack’ Lecky;

Rupert Basil Michel Long;

Hugh Alexander MacKenzie DSC;

Jack Bolton Newman;

Edwin Scott Nurse;

Win Locker Reilly;

Cyril Arthur Roy Sadlier;

Henry ‘Harry’ Arthur Showers (later Rear Admiral, CBE);

Horace John Harold Thompson;

Harry Bertram Vallentine;

Adrian Joseph Beachleigh Watts;

Llewellyn Leigh Watkins.

Captain Bertram Chambers RAN was the initial Master at the College and to anyone interested he would say:

– ‘these young boys were selected on their perceived ability alone; social standing was paid no mind. I guarantee that by the passing of six months it will be impossible to tell the difference between the Cadet who knew the meaning of ‘a silver spoon’ and the Cadet who could handle a stump jump plough’.[viii]

Several of the class proved notable talents and will be well known to many of us: Vice Admiral Sir John Collins, Rear Admiral Farncomb, Rear Admiral Showers, Captain Burnett and Commander Feldt. Commander Paul Hirst proved to be a first-class naval officer and commanding officer, however, he will not be as well-known as those named above.

Boys to Men

The selection process sought to ensure that only the fittest and the physically strong formed the 1913 Entry.

Sadly though, several originals lost their life while serving their initial engagement 1913-1930 and three Cadet Midshipmen were discharged before graduation returning to civil life and uncertain futures. The first to give his life was Otto Albert through meningitis in May 1914. Dick Cunningham, along with 47 other crew members in the RN submarine K17 were KIA following a collision in what was to become known as the Battle of May Island on 31 January 1918; and after the war ended, Frank Larkins accidentally lost his life when swept overboard from the casing of the RAN submarine J2 on the night of 19/20 June 1919 while transiting past Sumatra on his return to Australia.

World War 1 ends

Several of The Pioneer Class saw service during WWI, but by 1920 their lives had returned to a form of normality. A Return of Service obligation tied them to the RAN until 1930 and by then the seafarers blood flowed in the veins of quite a few, many going on to give absolutely outstanding Naval service until retirement; most notable being Vice Admiral Sir John Collins and Rear Admiral Harold Farncomb. The honour and legacy of those two men was settled for all time when the Australian Government gave the names Collins and Farncomb to two of our Collins Class Submarines.

Vice Admiral Collins was not only a name to be remembered by the Australian Government and the RAN; the people of Sydney (maybe even wider Australia) silently offered their thanks to him at his funeral. One woman was heard praising him in this way, ‘You have to understand what John Collins meant to us. When we were losing everywhere in the war he gave us our finest victory. He gave us hope’.[ii]

Paul Hirst proved also to be an outstanding naval officer. During the 1920s he was recognised as such on two occasions by The Naval Board, when given command of HMAS Tasmania and later HMAS Success. The following was written of Paul Hirst during his period In Command of HMAS Success.

“Paul Hirst is a capable, keen and zealous Commanding Officer of HMAS Success”. RAN.[iii]

During that decade Paul was also appointed as The First Lieutenant at HMAS Cerberus, a tough assignment for any Naval Officer.

In 1931, with the world at peace, Paul decided to resign his commission and return to the family home in Carrick, Tasmania. When War raised its ugly head again late in the 1930s, he offered to re-join in July 1939 as a member of the Emergency List and was accepted with the rank of Lieutenant Commander. Following service at Cerberus, then Warrego and Brisbane, Paul was appointed to commission HMAS Toowoomba in October 1941. This appointment being further recognition of the esteem in which he was held by his superiors.

Toowoomba at War 1941/1942

Soon after her commissioning late 1941, Toowoomba entered operational service. She was based in Sydney initially, tasked with convoy escort duties along the east coast of Australia until January 1942, when she was ordered to Batavia. Toowoomba was in constant action over the next two months and on 14 February was one of the last ships to enter Singapore Harbour before the Island was captured by the Japanese. Toowoomba’s sailing orders for each of her assignments in 1942 were issued under the hand of Commodore Collins RAN.

Following the outbreak of war with Japan, Captain John Collins was appointed Commodore Commanding China Force, based in Batavia, Dutch East Indies. HMAS Toowoomba under the command of Paul Hirst was stationed in the Dutch East India area early 1942, so throughout that period, Commodore Collins was Paul’s senior officer and as such his reporting officer

During what must have been a quite insane period in the Dutch East Indies early in 1942, Toowoomba was ‘dive bombed’ many times, surviving, it seems, only by the magnificent seamanship of her Captain. Toowoomba’s crew paid tribute to Paul with Signalman Fraser remembering Paul as a ‘Bonzer bloke and a terrific skipper’.[iv]

Toowoomba’s assignments in the Tanjong Priok and Tjilatjap areas kept her extremely busy and Tjilatjap became a regular stop off for refuelling. Hirst decided it would be prudent always to track close inshore when escorting convoys and when leading his corvettes.

Early 1942 the RAN decided that as Collins and his staff could not be well protected in Batavia, the office was to be moved to Fremantle,

Early on the morning of 2 March Collins, stationed at the time at Tjilatjap was doing his utmost to find shipboard accommodation for as many as possible in the transfer of his quarters and staff to Fremantle to take up the position as Commodore Commanding Fremantle and Senior Naval Officer, Western Australia

To his delight, over the horizon came Paul Hirst in Toowoomba and the other corvettes he was leading. Collins would have found them a god-send; as they made possible the evacuation of all personnel.

Soon after that evacuation, Toowoomba was ordered back to Fremantle and then commenced routine patrols off the Western Australian Coast. During her last patrol, she encountered heavy seas and suffered major damage to her upper deck structures and sonar and was forced to return to Fremantle. Shortly before arrival, a signal was received in Toowoomba informing Paul that he was to be promoted Commander and that he was to take four corvettes, including Toowoomba to join the British Eastern Fleet. The whole crew were delighted in the announcement.

Damaged Toowoomba arrived in Fremantle on Saturday 19^th July 1942.

The Fremantle Meeting

Paul’s naval career ended effectively one week after Toowoomba’s return to Fremantle on Saturday 19 July 1942.

On arrival in Fremantle, I think it fair to assume that Commodore John Collins inspected the damage to Toowoomba[v] and that Paul paid a visit to Senior Officer Western Australia Commodore Collins to further explain the structural damages to Toowoomba and to seek time to affect the required repairs. There are no written records extant of either Paul’s visit to John Collins or John Collins’ visit to Toowoomba. The Naval Board were in Melbourne and would not have visited the ship.

I do not say that Collins suggested to Hirst, ‘resign’, as there is no corroborating evidence such an exchange occurred. What we do know is that Hirst told his ship’s company he had resigned.

What I am suggesting is that there may well be several other parts to this section of the story. In particular I have little doubt that Commodore Collins took in Paul’s explanation of the repairs considered essential before Toowoomba could return to War Time duty anywhere. I think it is fair to assume, Commodore Collins, at this time, was (nearly) out on his feet following those hectic days in Singapore, Tanjong Priok and Tjilatjap when all that he was concerned about was the safety of his staff and the prosecution of Australia’s wartime commitments in the region.

There could be only one winner in the apparent disagreement between Paul and Commodore Collins over Toowoomba’s seaworthiness.

Vice Admiral Jones makes a most salient point. “The date was 1942, however Paul’s principled stand then resonates today where there is much greater appreciation on ensuring the material condition of ships ‘ship safe’ regime”.[vi] So I remain bemused that Collins and the Naval Board (apparently) dismissed Hirst’s caution out of hand.

Despite Collins having been closely associated with Hirst’s promotion to Commander and Hirst’s exemplary wartime record in the Dutch East Indies in 1942, Paul would no doubt have given serious consideration to all Collins had to say before he (Hirst) decided ‘Resignation it must be’.

Both men were true gentlemen, outstanding Naval Officers and leaders (particularly in the case of Commodore Collins) and each would have known what the outcome of their disagreement had to be. First and foremost though was that Australia’s Naval Activities in the Dutch East Indies and also in Australian waters would take precedence over personal friendships. Paul would have understood this clearly.

Paul then returned to Toowoomba keeping much to himself until the following day. At an appropriate time, he assembled the ship’s company on Fremantle wharf, advised them of his meeting with The Senior Officer Western Australia, Commodore Collins, and told the crew (words to the effect) – “I’ve decided to resign my Commission. I will be returning to my family in Tasmania. You have been an amazing crew. I wish you well for the future”.[vii] On Paul’s departure, a period of considerable gloom settled over Toowoomba.

The Aftermath

Repairs to Toowoomba were not affected until November 1942. Yes, a new Commanding Officer was appointed shortly after Hirst’s resignation, but the original crew remained aboard until Toowoomba arrived in Adelaide for docking and repair.

The obvious question as far as I am concerned: ‘Why did Paul Hirst feel compelled to resign IF the repairs to Toowoomba were essential and arranged to be completed in Adelaide soon after his resignation’?

On arrival Adelaide, Toowoomba was docked for repairs and her original crew (including all officers) were reassigned (posting notes and appointments) far and wide within the RAN.

Clearly, the Naval Board wanted a lid put on the whole incident. On 22 November 1942 Toowoomba was assigned to duty to the British Eastern Fleet involved in escort and patrol duties across the Indian Ocean reaching as far west as the Persian Gulf operating with the fleet until returning to Fremantle on 3 December 1944 for refit. That refit was completed in March 1945, and Toowoomba joined the British Pacific Fleet, assigned to escort and patrol duties between Australia and New Guinea until the end of hostilities.

Following the end of World War II, Toowoomba spent time in Hong Kong, performing minesweeping and hydrological survey duties; returning to Australia in December 1945. The corvette earned two battle honours for her wartime service, “Pacific 1942” and “Indian Ocean 1942–44”.

Following his resignation, Paul returned to his beloved Tasmania. However, he was not done with service in our Armed Forces. In September 1945 he volunteered for duty as a Captain with the Australian Army and was appointed Master of Craft with the Army’s water transport corps. Paul’s appointment in the Army was terminated (at his request) in January 1947. He then returned to farming in Tasmania. His wife Evelyn passed away in 1963 and Paul was laid to rest in Carrick Church Cemetery, Tasmania, in 1973.

Shipmates attending Paul’s funeral in 1973 at Low Head, Tasmania, recalled: ‘Digger had an uncanny ability to avoid the bombs from Japanese aircraft’. Norm Smith, another shipmate, wrote, Paul Hirst ‘had brought the ship through several close encounters with the enemy of the time so I and 80 or so others revere his memory in perpetuity’.[viii] Vale

HMAS Toowoomba (1)

HMAS Toowoomba During Pre-Commissioning Trials 1941

HMAS Toowoomba at Fremantle on return from Active Duty in Singapore and Dutch East Indies
March 1942

Namesake:	City of Toowoomba, Queensland
Builder:	Walkers Limited in Maryborough, Queensland
Laid down:	6 August 1940
Launched:	26 March 1941
Commissioned:	9 October 1941
Decommissioned:	5 July 1946
Motto:	“Fearless”
Honours and awards:	Battle honours: • Pacific 1942 • Indian Ocean 1942–44
Fate:	Transferred to Royal Netherlands Navy

Acknowledgements

Vice Admiral Peter Jones AO DSC RAN (Ret’d); Mr John Perryman Sea Power Centre, Canberra ACT; National Archives of Australia; Signalman Donald Fraser and his family; The Australian War Memorial; The Hirst Family (Tasmania and Toowoomba QLD); Historical Societies of Hobart Tasmania and Carrick Tasmania; Dr Ian Pfennigwerth [Captain RAN Ret’d] and The Royal Australian Navy.

References

[i] Undated letter from Able Seaman Donald Fraser – commissioning signalman HMAS Toowoomba.

[ii] Australia’s Argonauts, Vice Admiral Peter Jones AO DSC RAN (Ret’d), Echo Books, West Geelong 2016. Pp428.

[iii] Vice Admiral Sir William Rooke Creswell RAN.

[iv] Royal Australian Navy papers 1911.

[v] Vice Admiral Sir William Rooke Creswell RAN.

[vi] Australia’s Argonauts, Vice Admiral Peter Jones AO DSC RAN (Ret’d), Echo Books, West Geeelong 2016. Pp. 17.

[vii] Australia’s Argonauts, Vice Admiral Peter Jones AO DSC RAN (Ret’d), Echo Books, West Geeelong 2016. Preface.

[viii] Australia’s Argonauts, Vice Admiral Peter Jones AO DSC RAN (Ret’d), Echo Books, West Geeelong 2016. Pp19

[ix] Royal Australian Navy papers 1911.

[x] Australia’s Argonauts, Vice Admiral Peter Jones AO DSC RAN (Ret’d), Echo Books, West Geeelong 2016. Pp. 640.

[xi] Paul Hirst’s personal papers.

[xii] Australia’s Argonauts, Vice Admiral Peter Jones AO DSC RAN (Ret’d), Echo Books, West Geeelong 2016. Pp. 428.

[xiii] Personal communication Vice Admiral Peter Jones AO DSC RAN (Ret’d).

[xiv] Signalman Fraser interview by Vice Admiral Peter Jones AO DSC RAN (Ret’d) for Australia’s Argonauts).

[xv] Australia’s Argonauts, Vice Admiral Peter Jones AO DSC RAN (Ret’d), Echo Books, West Geeelong 2016. Pp. 636.

Occasional Paper 31: Captain Edmund Anstice, RN

October 29, 2018

July 2018

The following is a brief passage from the memoirs of Geoffrey Dobbin who was both a Merchant Navy and Royal Naval Reserve Officer. Geoffrey Dobbin was related through marriage to Vice Admiral Edmund Anstice, RN who served on loan with the RAN from 1946 to 1948. At that time the Admiralty had generously offered the assistance of the then Captain Anstice, RN to advise on RAN Fleet Air Arm Matters. In Australia he was appointed Fourth Naval Member (Commodore 2nd class). Given his rapid promotion whilst in Australia he was most successful. This paper provides insight into his career as a pioneer naval aviator.

Arrival in London

After a brief call at Tilbury Deebank sailed to Falmouth for docking and I was able to bid farewell to Captain Rivett and Gravel Gertie, a drunken Radio Operator and my fellow officers with whom I had travelled halfway around the world and sign off and join P&O.

I travelled up to London by train and booked into a hotel in Lancaster Gate which was not too expensive and then thought about how I would spend the month before actually starting with P&O. An immediate telephone call was to my Mother’s cousin, Lesley Anstice who, with her husband, Ned, lived in London and had asked me to come and stay,

Lesley Ritchie, as she was before she was married, was born in Australia and had fallen for a dashing Royal Naval Officer, married him and had gone to live in various naval posting around the world.

Ned had had a very interesting career in the RN. He had been a cadet at Osborne and Dartmouth, having joined the navy at thirteen, as was the practice in those days. It was the time of the First World War and Ned was then fifteen when the RN sent all the final year cadets away for training in a cruiser which came to a sticky end after meeting a German battleship and virtually all of the cadets were lost. This left a great gap in the fleet and there was an urgent need for Midshipmen so Ned and his other fifteen year olds were sent to war.

After the war, and by then a Lieutenant, Ned decided to specialize in Naval Aviation and so became a pilot. Naval aviation in those days consisted of seaplanes being launched off cruisers and battleships by a catapult and then having to land in the sea after the flight and be lifted back on board by a crane. A rather precarious lifestyle. Ned was appointed to a cruiser which was to escort the Australian contingent to Gallipoli from Egypt. His role in the landing was to be in charge of one of the naval boats used to land the troops and in the process he was wounded by rifle fire. This put him out of action and he was sent home to the UK to recover in hospital and allow him to get a little older before risking his life again in the service of King and Country.

A later form of naval aviation was where the forward guns of some of the older cruisers were removed and a flat forward deck was laid in lieu. The ship was provided with several Walrus aircraft, fitted as amphibians, and these would be choked at the after end of the foredeck. The ship would then be steamed flat out into a head wind, the aircraft engine started and also put full ahead, the chocks would be removed and with any luck the biplane would become airborne and not fall into the water and be run over by the ship. Getting back on board also necessitated landing the aircraft in the water and being craned back to safety. Ned’s promotion was quite rapid as he managed to keep alive whereas many of his contemporaries did not.

With the advent of the Second World War Naval Aviation had progressed rapidly and there was a fully functional Fleet Air Arm of which Ned was a leading light although he had passed the combat flying age by that time unless he chose to go up in plane just to show that he could fly. Although no longer flying off the decks of carriers he was still heavily involved as the captain of Ark Royal operating in the Atlantic and Med.

I first met Ned and Lesley when they were living in Melbourne in 1946. Ned, by then a Captain and soon to be a Commodore, had been sent to Australia to start the Royal Australian Fleet Air Arm. We had been given the HMAS Sydney as our first carrier and she sailed from Devonport on 12^th April 1949 with her Australian crew. Nearly ten year later I was to find myself as her navigator during my time with the RAN as a Reserve Officer.

I can recall meeting Ned in Melbourne and being somewhat overawed. I was a cadet in Mungana and we were lying in Victoria Dock when I got a phone call from Ned’s secretary to say that he and Lesley would be delighted if I and one of the other cadets would join them for dinner and if so a car would collect us at 1800. This meant that Bob Champion, the other cadet and I went on a frantic search for clean collars, clothes brushes to get the coal dust off our black uniforms and ties that were respectable.

At 1800 a large black car drew up at the gangway with a naval rating at the wheel and a white ensign flying on the bonnet and Champion and I climbed aboard to the fond farewells of the other cadets and travelled in luxury so seldom experienced in our lowly world strata.

Dinner was a little overawing as Ned was there covered in gold braid and so also was an assortment of other high ranking naval officers and their wives. However, they all took a great deal of trouble to ensure that Champion and I were put at ease and made to feel part of the dinner party.

Later, we were returned to Mungana by the same car and driver and retired to the cadets half deck along with the multiple question from our fellow curious cabin mates. Champion did mention that he felt he was better suited to dining and conversing with the higher echelon of society rather than having to mix with lowly riff raff with which he was obliged to share a cabin. This resulted in him being taken forcibly on deck and having several buckets of fire water thrown over him.

Now, here I was in London and Ned had had even further promotion. He was now a Vice Admiral, CinC Fleet Air Arm, Fifth Sea Lord and a KCMG. It was still a little overawing as I was a sub-Lieutenant and you don’t really get much lower on the pecking scale. However, Ned and Lesley made me very welcome in their rather luxurious and very big flat in Sloane Avenue where they lived with a large black Labrador. It was Spring and I would take the dog for a walk in Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park and other people who were walking their dogs would smile at me and say good morning as I was obviously of the class that did not need to work and was therefore presentable and of a status similar to themselves. If only they had known.

One day Ned asked me if I would like to visit the Admiralty in Whitehall. He had already arranged for me to visit the House of Parliament and have tea on the terrace with some members and also a quick tour of the Palace Gardens. I said yes I would love to see the Admiralty and he said it would be arranged. On the appointed day I repaired to Whitehall at 1700 and reported to the Royal Marine Sergeant at the main desk and was escorted, with some deference, to the Board of Admiralty.

I was greeted at the door by a Flag Lieutenant who welcomed me and said that the board would be entering any moment now and that I was very welcome. It was a very large room with a big oak table in the centre with finely carved chairs set around it. The walls were covered with paintings of former admirals and ships of the line and at the far end stood two stewards in white coats alongside a well-stocked bar.

Just then a door at the other end of the room opened and about ten or twelve men entered.

This was the Board of Admiralty lead in by the First Lord of the Admiralty and he was followed by the Sea Lords and their assistants. They were all in civvies so there was not very much gold braid around.

Ned came over and greeted me and introduced me to several people whom I cannot remember and a steward handed me a gin and tonic. Mountbatten was the first Sea lord and very much a hero of mine and there he was actually in the flesh talking to somebody or other. After a few minutes he must have noticed the strange young face in the room and he came over and stood in front of me.

“Don’t think that we have met”, he said. “I’m Mountbatten and you are?”

“Dobbin, Sir”, I managed to say. Very much in awe at the great man to whom I was speaking. “A guest of Sir Edmund’s”, I added as some justification for being there.

“Ah yes”, he said. “Ned mentioned that he had somebody from Australia coming along this evening. What rank are you?” “Sub-Lieutenant, RANR sir”.

Mountbatten smiled and said, “Subbie eh! You know my father used to run this place and I did not get inside it until I was a commander. Congratulations, you better come with me and we’ll freshen up your gin.” He then took me over to the bar, had the steward give me a fresh drink and then took me around and introduced me to the First Lord and others whom I had not already met. He was a very gracious host and had that ability of putting people at ease.

By this time I had been seeing the P&O Officers Department, arranged the date when I would be joining Perim and had made all of the expensive and necessary visits to Gieves in Bond Street to be measured foe all of my black uniforms, mess dress uniform and tropical uniforms. All at vast expense which I did not have but with the usual favourable credit system for which Gieves was famous.

Soon after this I was off to sea again but always saw Ned and Lesley when I was in port until they moved to Scotland when Ned retired.

Note: Career of Edmund Anstice, RN

Naval Aviator

On attachment to the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Air Force (all naval aviation being under the control of the RAF at that time), he attended No. 1 Flying Training School at Netheravon, Wiltshire, from June 1924 until January 1925 before being posted to No. 462 Flight, Fleet Air Arm, aboard the aircraft carrier Furious in the Atlantic Fleet, receiving the RAF rank of flight lieutenant on 1 July 1927. On 1 September 1927 he became Flight Commander of No. 464 Flight, FAA, aboard the carrier Courageous. He was promoted to lieutenant commander on 15 February 1928, and in October 1929 transferred to the battlecruiser Renown.

Anstice returned to Courageous in November 1930 to serve as Flight Commander of No. 463 Flight for the next two years. He was promoted to Navy commander on 31 December 1932, and to the RAF rank of squadron leader on 1 January 1933, and from 26 September was attached to the Directorate of Training at the Air Ministry. On 19 June 1936 he returned to Courageous once more, this time as Senior FAA Officer and Squadron Aviation Officer, receiving promotion to wing commander on 1 July. On 28 July 1937 he was appointed Executive Officer of the heavy cruiser HMS Shropshire in the Mediterranean Fleet, remaining there until receiving promotion to the rank of captain on 30 June 1939.

World War II

Anstice spent the early part of World War II, from October 1939, serving at the Admiralty, and was appointed Deputy Director of the Naval Air Division in February 1941. He returned to sea duty in August 1942 serving briefly as Commanding Officer of the escort carrier Striker, before taking command of Fencer until 19 January 1944. In March 1944 he returned to shore duty at HMS Monck, the Combined Training Headquarters at Largs, Ayrshire, where he served as Chief of Staff for Aircraft Carrier Training.

Post-War Flag Officer

Anstice was appointed Commanding Officer of Royal Naval Air Station Lee-on-Solent (HMS Daedalus) as a commodore (2nd class) on 30 October 1945.

In November 1946 he was appointed Director of Naval Aviation Planning for the Royal Australian Navy, and in October 1947 as appointed to the newly created post of Fourth Member of the Australian Commonwealth Naval Board to advise the board on all matters related to naval aviation.

Promoted on 10 July 1948 to rear admiral, he served as Flag Officer of the Training Squadron, then from 26 August 1949 as Flag Officer, Flying Training based at RNAS Donibristle, Fife (HMS Merlin).

Promoted to Vice Admiral on 15 September 1951, he served on the Board of Admiralty, as Fifth Sea Lord and Deputy Chief of Naval Staff (Air). Vice Admiral Anstice retired on 16 September 1954. He died on 30 August 1979.