Goldsmith, John Henry – NX140370
NX140370 John Henry Goldsmith didn’t ever share with his family or friends the graphic details about the battle for Shaggy Ridge in New Guinea, but spoke with amazement about the conditions under which it was fought.
Goldsmith, who was born in Sydney in 1921 and enlisted in December, 1942, was a Lieutenant and Officer Commanding the 2/33rd Mortar Platoon during the famous battle. It took more than three months to capture Shaggy Ridge, where the Japanese had established a major defensive position to block 7th Division troops advancing from the Ramu Valley to join other Australian units on the north coast of New Guinea.
Shaggy Ridge is a 6.1km long, 1,700 metre high mountain razorback spur. More than 3,000 Japanese had dug themselves into heavily defended underground bunkers that were impervious to air attack and artillery bombardment. It seemed unassailable.
The only way to reach the Japanese was by climbing steep tracks, wide enough for only one man at a time, and with sheer drops of hundreds of metres either side.
Men who had endured the appalling conditions on the Kokoda Trail described Shaggy Ridge as “another place like hell on earth”. The 2/33rd , including Goldsmith’s mortar platoon, spent weeks in action around the base of Shaggy Ridge.
John Goldsmith.
After weeks of intensive bombing and artillery attacks had failed, it was decided the only way to defeat the Japanese was with a near suicidal,single-file frontal attack.
This unenviable task finally fell to the 2/27th Battalion in January, 1944. After having established a foothold at the base of Shaggy Ridge its men advanced up the precarious tracks under heavy machine gun fire and with grenades raining down on them.
Goldsmith, who became Principal of Duval High School in Armidale, on the New England Tablelands, after the war, always looked back with pride on the 2/33rd’s part in the Shaggy Ridge victory and its other wartime achievements, as well as those of the original 33rd Battalion A.I.F. in World War 1, which was formed in Armidale
It led to him establishing a committee to raise funds to install a large bronze bell in the tower of Armidale’s St Peter’s Anglican Cathedral to commemorative both battalions. The bell, one of eight in the tower, was consecrated in 1996.
The bells are rung every Anzac Day and for other special commemorations.
A Life Member of the 2/33rd Battalion Association, John never missed an Anzac Day dawn service in Armidale, carrying a battalion banner, and for many years, as President of Armidale Legacy, delivered the Anzac Day service address in Armidale’s Central Park with the bells tolling in the background. He was involved with Legacy for 40 years. His many other community activities included membership of the University of New England Ethics Committee, 25 years on St Peter’s Cathedral Parish Council and Diocesan Synod, and 45 years with the RSL. He also founded two progress associations.
On Australia Day 2009 John and his wife, Merle, were given a Mayoral Award for their long service to the Armidale community. They had three sons. John died on September 7, 2012, aged 90. Mourners packed St Peter’s Cathedral for his funeral, with the cathedral bells tolling in his honour.