OUR HEROES – THEIR STORIES

Aletter written 60 years after the end of World War II told Peter McCulkin for the first time why his father suffered lifelong nightmares after serving with the 2/3rd Battalion in Balikpapan. Private Thomas John McCulkin QX52927 was just 20-years-of age when thrown into battle against the Japanese at Balikpapan in 1945 – the 2/33rd Battalion’s last action in the last weeks of the Pacific War against an enemy fighting to the death rather than surrender.

A member of 11 Platoon, B Company, McCulkin was haunted by what he witnessed during this fierce fighting, but the memory of one incident in particular scarred him for life.

It involved the mortal wounding of the Officer Commanding B Company, Captain Hec Davies, the killing of his runner, Private E. Farquhar, and the serous wounding of five other soldiers when a mortar bomb exploded in the middle of B Company HQ.

Davies was censoring letters by HQ personnel when the bomb hit. Tragically, It turned out to be friendly fi re. The bomb, fi red by the Battalion’s Mortar Platoon, had been intended for Japanese
positions 500 yards away. Eight mortars were bombarding the Japanese.

During the fi ring the bomb that hit B Company HQ was heard to fi re short charged which meant it fell short of its intended target because too many of the secondary charges had been removed. The mortar crew didn’t realise what had happened until half an hour later when a survivor picked up an Australian mortar fin at the scene.

Captain Hec Davies was the last of the original members of the Battalion and the last officer to be killed in action.

Tom McCulkin’s family knew nothing about his involvement in the mortar incident until the copy of a letter he wrote to the Department of Veterans Affairs in January, 2004, came to light after his death in 2015.

He wrote in his letter: “We landed on the 1st July 1945. Landing was wet, up to our chest in water. Boots stayed wet for three weeks. Skin came away when boots were removed because of tinea and salt water. We had hardly any sleep for two weeks and all were affected.

“We were ordered to ‘dig-in’ on a jungle covered feature called “Cart”, where we stayed for several days. During the third afternoon a terrific bomb landed in the middle of our perimeter. We lost our Captain and his runner and also five or six seriously wounded. The noise of the dying and wounded lasted all night and I have not been able to shake the sound of them suffering from my memory since. I have flashbacks of this above incident ever since”.

Tom had never spoken with his family about the impact of seeing the devastating results of the mortar explosion. His letter to the Veterans Affairs made sad reading for his family.

Peter McCulkin wrote: “When this letter showed up over seven years after his passing and over seventy-seven years after that terrible incident on ‘Cart’, it was so hard to read, with an overwhelming feeling of sadness and the thought that I wished I knew about the flashbacks and nightmares, and how and if I could have helped.”

Peter said his father didn’t speak much about the war until well into his 70s.

“He never spoke about Balikpapan,” Peter said. The letter to Veterans Affairs in January, 2004, was among his father’s papers that one of Peter’s brothers gave him after Tom died.

“His letter gave me an insight into his experiences on Balikpapan and consequently the nightmares he had for the rest of his life. He never once let on to the family.” Peter said.

Tom McCulkin was born in Brisbane on March 25, 1925. His mother and father, Gordon and Mary (nee Tobin) were living at Lota, a Brisbane bayside suburb.

Growing up near Moreton Bay Tom and his brother, Mick, became avid small boat builders and sailors. Tom went to various schools including Marist Brothers, Rosalie, in Brisbane.

He was working as a delivery driver when he joined the Citizens Military Forces in April, 1943, a few weeks after his 18th birthday. He transferred to the A.I.F. as a signaller; finally joining the 2/33rd Battalion on the August 1, 1944.

After extensive training on the Atherton Tablelands the Battalion departed Australia on June 9,1945, for its last operation of the war.

His 11 Platoon B Company landed at Balikpapan in Borneo on July 1. During the short but fiercely fought campaign, the 2/33rd Battalion was supposed to have been a reserve battalion, with the main task of taking the fight to the enemy after other units of the 25th Brigade had secured the beaches.

However, it did more fighting and suffered heavier casualties than any other battalion involved in the Balikpapan assault. The fiercest fighting was around the Milford Highway, where the Battalion faced the most determined Japanese resistance in the last weeks of the Pacific War.

Following the Japanese surrender, Tom was among 64 2/33rd Battalion soldiers – two officers and 62 other ranks –to join the 1st Commonwealth Division for the Occupation of Japan. He served with 65th Battalion in Japan from October 1945 until his discharge in May ,1947.

Back home, he was 29 when he married Brisbane girl, Patricia O’Reilly, the start of a long and happy marriage. They had seven children, two girls and five boys, the oldest being Peter.

Tom drove fuel tankers for the Shell Company for 35 years, firstly based on the southern Gold Coast at Tugun then moving to Brisbane in 1960.

He went on to establish a very successful steel fabrication business on the north side of Brisbane, where his company designed and installed the first steel structures supporting the electrification of Brisbane’s train services.

His love of sailing stayed with him for life. In his 70s he sailed his 26-foot sloop single-handed from the Gold Coast to the Whitsundays a number of times. Peter said: “It was a rare feat for a bloke of his age.”

He also successfully raced motor bikes in 24-hour enduros for Norton and was a handy amateur boxer, winning numerous local bouts.

Peter said: “ Dad only marched later in life. I recall him marching once or twice when I was young but it was rare. He never spoke of the war until late in life.

“ He marched in Yeppoon when we lived there in the early 2000s, and then he was a regular member and marched at the Kallangur R.S.L. until he passed.”

Tom McCulkin died in March 2015 at the age of 89.