OUR HEROES – THEIR STORIES

My father came from a large family, with convict ancestry dating back to the First Fleet. He was the third of nine children of Robert Boyd and Gertrude Elizabth Boyd, nee Wellfare. Born on May 14, 1915, he was a 6th generation descendant of First Fleet convict Edward Whitton who arrived on the Scarborough in 1788. In 1936, aged 21, Jack achieved the distinction of becoming the NSW Fencing Champion.

He was 27 when he answered the call to fight for his country in the Second World War. He enlisted in the Army at Paddington, Sydney, on the day of his 27th Birthday, May 14, 1942. Sixteen days later, May 30, he began initial training at Bathurst, NSW. On August 22 he was sent to the Guerrilla Warfare Training Camp at Plumpton, in western Sydney.

His next move was on November 14 to Townsville, Queensland, where he went into a holding camp awaiting further orders. They came soon afterwards. They were about to be thrown into battle against the Japanese in Papua.

Jack was one of 300 men sent to Papua to replace 2/33rd soldiers killed, wounded or who had fallen ill with disease in the Kokoda campaign. The battalion started the campaign with 625 men but were down to 128 exhausted officers and other ranks by the time they reached Gona three months later.

On November 14, 1942, Jack and the others were shipped to Port Moresby where he was “taken on strength” and posted to the 2/33rd Battalion A.I.F. The 300 were ready and well prepared to go straight into the fighting at Gona, but with the Japanese almost defeated, and the remnants of the battalion exhausted, it was decided there was no point risking further losses. The battalion was withdrawn from action at 5pm on the day the 300 reinforcements arrived in Port Moresby. Before returning home to Australia the 300 were given a taste of jungle warfare condtions by going on a gruelling three-day exercise to the top of Imita Ridge and back. The battalion was shipped to Cairns in January, 1943 for rest, recovery and reorganisation. Further intensive jungle training at Ravenshoe, on the Atherton Tablelands, had the 2/33rd ready for its next deployment, the recapture of Lae from the Japanese. It went back to Port Moresby on September 1, 1943, to prepare for the assault which involved the first airborne attack of the Pacific war by Commonwealth troops. Jack was a member of 8 Platoon, A Company, commanded by Lt. Phil Curry (later Captain Curry M.C. O.A.M.).

A, C and D Companies, and supporting troops, were to be airlifted from Port Moresby on the morning of September 7, 1943. They were in a convoy of 18 trucks parked in a holding area at the end of the Jackson’s Field runway, awaiting enplaning orders, when disaster struck. Sitting on the tailgate of one of the A Company trucks, Jack watched horrified as a US Army Air Force Liberator, carrying four 500lb bombs, attempted to take off but hit a tree and crashed into six of the trucks. There were horrific scenes as the plane exploded in a huge fireball, with men on fi re running to escape the inferno. A Company men escaped injury, but 60 of Jack’s fellow soldiers were killed or mortally injured. Most were from D Company.

Another 90 suffered serious injuries or burns. The 11 crew of the plane and two truck drivers were killed. Despite the horrendous nature of the accident it was decided the attack on Lae had to proceed.

A Company was the first to go, airlifted to Nadzab, the starting point, 90 minutes after the crash. Surviving members of C and D Company followed later that day

There was no respite for the men. Two days after the crash Jack and the battalion were in action along the Markham River Valley against the Japanese heavily entrenched in former coffee plantations, including Heath’s, Edwards’, and Whittaker’s, and in other strongholds such as Lane’s Bridge, where C Company was ambushed. The conditions were atrocious. As well as fighting the Japanese the Australians had to battle the conditions. The valley floor was flat but covered with tangled masses of high bushes, trees and vines interspersed with patches of kunai and pit pit grass, giving ideal cover for the Japanese. Swamps with black oozing mud and slime abounded in the lower areas of these subtropical lands. The heat and humidity was intensely uncomfortable.

The Battalion played a major role in defeating the enemy on the road to Lae, especially at Edwards’ Plantation where there was heavy fighting and heavy Japanese losses. Lae fell to the Australians soon afterwards.

After Lae, the battalion returned to Nadzab for a brief rest. It then moved into the Ramu Valley and the Valley of the Surinam and Biwi river systems. In October, 1943, the battalion was engaged in further heavy fighting in the battle for Shaggy Ridge, a precipitous, 6km. razor-back ridge with Japanese troops dug into bunkers along the top. The only way to reach them was up steep single-man tracks with sheer drops either side. It took nearly three months to defeat the Japs.

At the start of the battle for Shaggy Ridge, Jack, like so many other soldiers fighting in Papua and New Guinea, suffered malaria and was evacuated to the 2nd Field Ambulance.

He was airlifted to hospital at Nadzab, but returned to his platoon in late October, 1943. The Battle for Shaggy Ridge continued through November and December. Having played an important part in its capture the Battalion returned to Port Moresby in late December, 1943, and was shipped back to Australia in February, 1944, for some well-earned rest and recreation.

Jack was given 24 days leave. He took the opportunity to marry Joan Francis Harkins at St.Therese Church, Lakemba, Sydney, on February 26, 1944. Fr. Michael Sheedy was the celebrant. Jack’s younger brother, William, was best man and my mother’s sister, Moira Harkins, was bridesmaid. Being wartime , Jack was married in his uniform. He re-joined his unit in July, 1944.

In August, 1944, the 7th Division, including the 2/33rd Battalion, was honoured for victories in Papua and New Guinea with a march through the centre of Brisbane, applauded by hundreds and thousands of people.

Further training in Queensland during late 1944 included three days and nights of amphibious exercises in assault boats in preparation for the Battalion’s next battle, the invasion of Balikpapan in Borneo.

A grand 7th Division sports day in January,1945, was followed by further jungle training. Jack was granted 24 days leave in February, 1945, and was reprimanded by the C.O. for returning late. He was given a stern lecture but wasn’t punished.

Orders for their next and final deployment of the war, the battle for Balikpapan, came in June, 1944. The American troopship U.S.S. Howard Lykes transported Jack’s unit to the island of Morotai, where they boarded assault craft for the landing on Balikpapan. The object was to drive the Japanese back and secure Balikpapan’s valuable oil fields. The invasion involved 30,000 men and more than 100 ships. Despite landing in the second wave, with the beaches having been secured, the 2/33rd saw more action and suffered more casualties than any other battalion in the invasion.

The fighting at Balikpapan was fierce, with many hand-to-hand combats when Japanese soldiers repeatedly broke through the 2/33rd ’ lines and into their positions. Men on both sides were killed or wounded in these suicide attacks. Jack, who was in the thick of the action , was promoted to Lance Corporal during the fighting in Borneo.

The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, brought a ceasefire on August 11, 1945. All offensive action ceased on August 15. The war officially ended on September 2 with the Japanese signing their surrender aboard the U.S.S. Missouri in Tokyo Bay.

Jack finally disembarked in Brisbane on January 8, 1946, and was discharged from the A.I.F. on January 21. He had served 1,348 days in the Army – from May, 1942, until January, 1946.

He spent 874 days in Australia and 474 days overseas. In recognition of his war service, Jack was awarded the 1939/45 Star, The Pacific Star, the 1939/45 War Medal, and the Australian Service Medal. A Vocational Guidance Report completed by the Army, just prior to Jack’s discharge read: “Very superior general intelligence and abilities. Test scores are at the professional level. Suggest he returns to a laboratory job with Sydney County Council and should commence the Laboratory Assistance Certificate Course.”

After the war Jack returned to the Sydney County Council as a Meter Reader, working in the City and later in the suburbs. However, the arrival of family meant the education needed to become a lab technician wasn’t possible. Dad and Mum carried on the Boyd tradition of large families by having eight children, four boys and four girls. They built a home at Kingsgrove but in 1954 moved to Caringbah – then a somewhat “rural” area with orchards and poultry farms. Dad died on December 4, 1973, aged 58. My mother remained a widow for the next 39 years, dying on October 26,2012, aged 92. They have left a wonderful legacy of 20 grandchildren, and 25 great grandchildren –including two Japanese-born great grandaughters.

Although he never discussed the war Dad kept in touch with many of his mates in civilian life, among them:

*Harry Bonham – Cpl. NX95329.
Dad was a close and great mate of Harry for the rest of his life. Our family made numerous visits to visits to Bathurst where Harry and his wife, Marcia, lived. We also visited the family at Kingsgrove in the early 1950’s and 60’s.

Harry told me that Dad was a typical ‘city bloke’ without a country boy’s sense of direction. One time, at perhaps Lane’s Bridge, Dad needed to relieve himself when Harry noticed that his ‘lack of a sense of direction’ had him heading to the Japanese lines instead of away. Harry’s quick action saved that situation.

*John (Jack) Frederick Frost – Lance Cpl.NX93105: Our family knew Jack and Margaret Frost quite well.

They lived at Gymea when I was growing up at Caringbah.

*William (Bill) Albert Gooding – Sapper NX178378 (N466751): We got to know Bill Gooding very well when I joined the Battalion Association. We visited him at his home at Fingal Bay.

He told me Dad saved his life when they came under fire from the Japanese at Balikpapan and had to hastily retreat. Bill said they were running down to a gully when he fell. Dad grabbed the straps of his pack, picked him up and quickly got them to safety on the other side of the gully.

*Douglas Arthur Hancock – NX96806:
We got to know Doug through Battalion reunions. He and Dad also used to meet at lunchtime when Dad worked for Sydney County Council at the QVB in Sydney.

*Basil Selwyn Langley – NX144157
(N234785): We met at reunions and visited Basil at his home in Newcastle a number of times. Basil told me that Dad became a mentor or big brother to him as an 18-year-old. He described Dad as a “Big Bloke”, gentle but most commanding, with a caring common-sense approach to most things. Basil said that when he got into a scrap and ended up with a fat lip, Dad gave him a fatherly dressing down that stayed with him for the rest of his service.

Basil was sitting with Dad on the tail board of their truck when the Liberator crashed. He said the crash was at first unreal, then your worst nightmare. He left his comments at that.

*Walter (Bucket Head) Anlezark – Cpl.NX53159:
Our Family visited the Anlezark’s numerous times in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s. They lived at Katoomba.

*Arthur Murray Sweetapple – Lieutenant WX96:
I met Murray at Battalion reunions and often travelled on the train with him from the South Coast to Sydney

Others Dad kept in touch with included:
David Albert Denny – NX95459; Robert Clarke Gawne – NX81910; John (Snowy) Allan King – NX46719 and Robin James Earle Weightman – Cpl. QX60915.