OUR HEROES – THEIR STORIES

Even though it all happened nearly a lifetime ago NX146322, Leslie Joseph Thomson, has vivid memories of the war, but like so many other veterans, he still doesn’t talk about them. An occasional passing remark tells why, such as when asked about the Liberator crash, which he survived. “I don’t think I will ever get over it,” he says. “It was terrible.”

Les, as he has always been called, survived and saw many other horrors in the battles for Lae, the Ramu Valley and Balikpapan. Little wonder he preferred to forget rather than remember what happened in combat. But, in the true Anzac spirit, he never forgot his mates, those who made it and those who didn’t.

It all started for Les 10 days after his 18th birthday. He remembers the start of his basic training at Dubbo, in central western NSW, was a “shock to the system” for a lad who had an idyllic, but sheltered, childhood, growing up in the Sydney suburb of Marrickville, where he went to St Bridgit’s Primary School.

“We had to make our own fun back in those days,” he recalled. “Along with three mates I used to go swimming in the Tempe River and made canoes from sheets of iron. We used to collect coal off the railway line and sell it for sixpence a bag. We did the same with horse manure. We played a lot of cricket. I used to do the bowling. I wasn’t a batsman. We had a lot of fun.” Les was born at Balmain on December 20, 1923. He was called up and enlisted on December 30, 1941, just three weeks after the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbour, starting the war in the Pacific. But for that he may well have fought his war against the Germans. Before joining the A.I.F. Les asked a couple of mates from Gulgong if they wanted to join up and “be in it”, meaning fighting overseas in the Middle East, the Mediterranian or Europe.

Les recalled: “ They said: ‘Oh no. Not us. We want to stop in Australia’. Little did they know New Guinea was part of Australia in thoe days.” During his initial training at Dubbo Les learned how to use mortars. He served as both an infantryman and mortarman.

“After leaving Dubbo we went to Canungra for jungle training for New Guinea. That took the best part of three to four months. It was my first engagement with live ammunition,” Les said.

He then went by train to Charters Towers, a staging camp, where the new troops were assigned to various units. “The next thing I was on a train to Ravenshoe to join the 2/33rd Battalion. The boys were just back from the Owen Stanleys. I was pleased to be part of the battalion.

“We had a lot of working parties, such as chopping wood, going on route marches and training in general. One morning men started pulling down the tents. I asked : ‘What’s going on?

“ The word got around that we were packing up and on the move. Nobody knew where. Then the tents were loaded onto trucks and we were off,” he said. The battalion was sent back to New Guinea to be part of the 7th Division assault to re-capture Lae, but not before experiencing the terrors of the Liberator crash.

Les said: “When it happened the C.O. , Lt. Col. Tom Cotton, thought the massive explosion was the result of a Japanese air attack, but quickly realised the cause was the full-armed Liberator bomber crashing into the convoy of trucks carrying three companies of the battalion,.”

They included Les’s A Company, waiting to be airlifted to Nadzab for the start of the Lae campaign. A Company was airlifted to Tsili Tsili and then Nadzab a few hours after the crash. Les was sitting on the top of one of the trucks with two mates when the Liberator crashed. The force of the massive expolsion blew Len off the top of the truck. “There was a huge orange fire ball”, he said said. He then watched horrified as men with their clothing alight ran screaming from the inferno, some being blown up by their own ammunition carried on their bodies, including grenades which detonated in the fierce heat. All the men were fully armed ready for battle. Les and the other survivors went into action against the Japanese two days later in the successful attack to recapture Lae. After Lae, Les took part in the fighting in the Ramu Valley and the battle for Shaggy Ridge. Les was in and out of battle and in hospital for a number of times with recurring malaria.

“When we came back after the Lae and Ramu Valley campaigns some of us were given leave. We then did some barge training at nine-mile beach in Queensland in preparation for our last battle of the war, the invasion of Balikpapan in Borneo. “I was still in the mortars. Before we landed our commander said: ‘You won’t be carrying the mortars far this time. We will have jeeps with trailers to transport them’. I am still waiting,” Les said shortly before celebrating his 95 th birthday.

After the defeat of the Japanese at Balikpapan, and the end of hostilities, Les remained in Borneo for a few months during the Army handover to civilian authorites. He was discharged in July,1946. Les and his wife, Margaret, married in 1948.

They had two children and lived in Sydney for more than 30 years before moving to Buff Point on the Central Coast of NSW. His main occupation after the war ended was as a painter. Among other places he worked as a maintenance painter at St George Hospital. Les also made his living for a time as a woodturner.

“I loved working with wood,” he said. He used a chain saw to cut his own blocks from trees in the bush. He specialised in making wooden bowls and other small items. His work was much sought after.

After moving to Buff Point in 1987 he became an expert in the art of Bonsai. As with woodturning he loved the challenge of creating beautiful items that gave so much pleasure to him and others. Meticulous care is needed for sucessful Bonsai growing. Some of his masterpieces took many years to grow.

Les has always marched on Anzac Day and has been a great supporter of the 2/33rd Battalion Association. Being made Patron is tangible recognition of that great service.In 2022 he was accorded the great honour of being one of four World War II veterans to be invited as official Guests-of-Honour for Kokoda Day commemorations at the Kokoda Walkway, Concord, Sydney.