Ahoy - Mac's Web Log

Hello,

A mate of my mum's uncle bill, who was a POW of the Japs during WWII told me a story once about a group of 'commandos' who travelled parts of the coast of Western Australia searching for Jap subs who might be taking on supplies/water etc. He related an intriguing tale of an attempt by one of these groups to have a go at damaging/sinking one of these subs that was anchored close in to shore one night. I have always taken this story as gospel until I recently started to research Japanese submarine activity on the Western coast of Australia thinking there'd be plenty to find. Most of what I've found on the net has been about subs/anti-sub warfare seems to concentrate on the Northern and Eastern coasts.

Is it plausible that such groups existed and if so can you suggest where I might find out more detail about them? I am also interested in merchant marine/naval activity along Western Australia coast. Any suggestion on those subjects.

Cheers,
John Travers

John,

I will E-Mail you three separate pages from different sites that will cover some of your interests.

http://www.lighthorse.org.au/military/north.htm 

If you go to my Ahoy site, the URL is listed at the end of this message, at the bottom of the Home Page click on All Articles.

There is quite a swag of them, but scroll down to find these articles:

1. Plaque at Fremantle WA commemmorating British/Dutch/US Submarine operations out of Western Australia in WW2.

2. Memorial to HMAS Sydney and crew at Geraldton WA.

3. The Loss of Trial in 1622. Oldest wreck on the Australian Coast.

4. Loss of HMAS Sydney.

5. Blockade Runner. HMAS Adelaide sinks German ship Ramses.

They all involve ships etc off Western Australia.

Best regards,
Mac.

Mackenzie,

Thank you very much for your quick and concise reply/replies. Yes I think it must be the 'knackaroos'/'curtin's cowboys' I was looking for. They feature in an ABC video set 'The War at Home' for a whole program which I will be chasing now for visual summary. I not much at reading books and there seem to be thousands on military subjects.

I was also surprised at the tonnage of bombs launched on the initial attack on Darwin being reasonable close to that thrown at Pearl Harbour.

My mother who sent time there while I was about five or six told me about the museum there and how 'Pig Iron Bob' Menzies sold off a lot of the scrap to the Japanese after the war.

I fear I've scratched a cut that's never quite healed. I always had reservations about the Japanese as I'm sure he died before his time from the harsh treatment he received as a POW under their regime. There is obviously so much that can be taken for granted or ignored about our wartime history. Now that my curiosity has been pricked I can sense a time-management problem looming as I realize I want to know so much more.

Thanks again for you swift reply.

Cheers,
John

back to letters index