I commenced War Service on 4 July 1940 as Signalman in the Royal Corps of Signals, British Army. Received military training at Trowbridge Barracks, Wiltshire, and signals training in wireless interception. Had seven days embarkation leave in December 1940 prior to boarding “Empress of Australia” in Glasgow in January 1941 en route for Singapore. The ship travelled in convoy to Cape Town protected by HMS Ramillies (Battleship) and numerous other escort ships, including cruisers and destroyers. (U-boat attacks were prevalent in the Atlantic at that time). First shore leave was at Cape Town – 48 hours – and from there we sailed to Bombay with reduced escort but still in convoy.
Disembarked in Singapore at the end of January and moved to the north of the island to Kranji Naval Wireless Station where our Section was engaged on the wireless interception of Japanese Army and Air traffic until the island was invaded by Japanese infantry in December 1941.
The complement at Kranji Wireless Station comprised Royal Navy, Army and Air Force signals personnel and a company of thirty (30) WRNS (Wrens) and we were accommodated in timber houses where the living and sleeping accommodation was on the first floor and the kitchen and laundry facilities at ground level. Each dwelling had its own Chinese staff who prepared all the meals, did all the cleaning and laundry and generally attended to all our needs. The security of the Station was in the capable hands of Indian Army Guards (Punjabis) who manned the entrance gate and patrolled the perimeter fences. As Kranji was a Naval Shore Station, facilities were excellent and the food first class and plentiful.
After Japanese troops entered the north of Malaya and began their advance southward, daily air raids took place, Tengah Airfield and Singapore City itself being the main targets. The Airfield was some 3-4 miles from the Station, which was located on a hill, and we had a birdseye view of the airfield defences during these raids. Initially the Japanese used high level pattern bombing utilising 20-30 bombers with no fighter protection, as the Singapore air defences were almost non-existent. As the war proceeded a small number of Hawker Hurricane fighters were landed at the docks, assembled, and subsequently provided some semblance of defence. I well remember the first time they went into action. Our operators at Krangi had for some months been plotting the movement of the Japanese bombers as they flew south and we could predict their ETA over Singapore Island. On this particular morning the Hurricanes were airborne some 20 minutes before the predicted arrival of the bombers and positioned themselves above the formation. When they dived down among the formation the element of surprise was perfect and that day Japanese aircraft losses were considerable. From that day onward the bombers were always accompanied by a large escort of Zeros and that earlier initiative was lost.
Toward the end of my time in Singapore I was one of a small party who travelled north on a special assignment to monitor troop movements by listening to Jap field Stations. We travelled as far north as Raub but the rapid advance of the Japanese necessitated our withdrawal south after approximately 7-10 days.
Soon after our return to Kranji the Station came under Japanese bombardment (shelling) when their troops reached Johor on the mainland. The Station suffered a number of direct hits, including some on the bomb-proof wireless room, but there were no casualties. Our section now comprised one Lieutenant, eleven Wireless Operators and one Maintenance Mechanic as the remainder of the original group had been evacuated from Singapore Island to Java some weeks earlier. Our small Section had the responsibility for maintaining important wireless links until the main Section had established its communications in Java and could take over these special routines. Once the changeover had been effected our small group was authorised to evacuate Kranji and to re-join the Section.
Once the Japanese Army gained a foothold on Singapore Island and began to advance southward, plans were put into action for us to move south and join a Wireless Intelligence Section in Singapore City. We spent approximately a week, as far as I can recall, in one of the City buildings but three of us (a Sergeant, Driver and myself, a Signalman) spent two to three days on the eastern side of the Island in an empty house, where we endeavoured to monitor the movement of Japanese troops, using our Humber Wireless Van. The rapid Japanese advance precluded any effective operation and we returned to the City Base. Singapore City was already experiencing constant air attacks and bombing raids with the docks the main target. The only resistance seemed to be from the ground defences.
We received orders to evacuate the Island by whatever means were available, which proved to be a Chinese vessel anchored in the Singapore Roads and laden with 250lb bombs. My recollections of those last few hours prior to our departure are understandably hazy – bombs falling, constantly “going to ground” and “diving for cover” as each flight of bombers (usually in threes) plus intermittent high level bombing attacks, were directed against the City. Eventually we were ferried out to what was to be our means of escape, the Chinese ship, late in the afternoon. The ship weighed anchor and sailed within a couple of hours. We learned later that the Captain decided to sail even though some of his Chinese crew were still ashore. As we proceeded through the narrow “Roads”, we experienced a heavy tropical downpour which reduced visibility to almost nil and enabled our ship to leave under cover of the driving rain and, more importantly, hiding us from the low level bombing attacks. The storm lasted until we reached the open sea, our destination unknown (to us anyway!!). Next morning we joined a small convoy of vessels sailing south under cover of an armed escort – a naval ship – either a destroyer or a small gunboat.
Our voyage south to Batavia (Java), our eventual destination, was fairly uneventful. The convoy was attacked on one or two occasions by a single enemy plane but sustained no damage. Because our vessel was missing several crew members we had to take our turn (two at a time in the stokehold, shovelling coal into the hungry boilers and doing the rounds of the pulsating engines which required regular oiling. The ship’s stokers were, for Chinese, extremely well built with rippling muscles, all six feet or over. Our paltry efforts with the shovels were negligible compared to their output and staying power, but we did our bit. Boy wasn’t it hot below decks!! I think we did two hour shifts. Meals comprised a dish of soup (always tins of Scotch broth) and, as far as I can remember, either bread or dry biscuits - meagre rations but in the circumstances sufficient. We sailed into the harbour at Batavia after some 7-8 days at sea and were quartered in Dutch Army Barracks during our short stay there. We had no duties and did spend some time walking around the City. I can recall we made up for lost time and enjoyed a real meal, also a visit to the pictures where the film was “Irene” (with sub titles). There must have been facilities made available for us to obtain local currency at the Barracks. A few days later we re-joined our main Section at Bandoeng (Bandung) where they had established a Wireless Intercept Station in the Department van Oorlog (the War Office). We were pleased to be back among friends again.
Within about three weeks we were on the move again. Japanese forces had landed in the north of the island (Java) and were rapidly advancing southward. Our destination turned out to be Tjilatjap, at the southernmost tip of Java, where we eventually boarded ”SS Zaandam”, a Dutch passenger vessel (10,909 tons) which was sailing to Australia. Its complement was largely civilians who, like ourselves, were leaving Java to avoid capture by the Japanese. The ship was grossly overloaded and food supplies were very limited – about two sandwiches daily per person. We had an uneventful voyage to Fremantle ('SS Zaandam' arrived in Fremantle 6th March 1942) although we learned subsequently that, of some 16 vessels which sailed from Tjilatjap, only our ship and the “Sea Witch” successfully avoided the Japanese submarines which were operating outside the port. We landed in Fremantle with the clothes we stood up in, our rifles, tin hats, and gas masks and were given a warm welcome by Aussie troops on the wharves and the inevitable group of ladies officiating over cups of tea and sandwiches which we accepted with grateful thanks.
Once we had arrived in Australia, we were all given a choice - either stay with the British forces and be reassigned, or else remain in Australia and be seconded to the Australian Army. I chose to remain in Australia and as an English Corporal was seconded to the Australian Army’s newly formed Signals Intelligence Unit or “Sigint” as a trainer. This unit was established in Melbourne in April 1942 with two complementary sections, an intercept organisation initially known as No 5 Wireless Section and a research and control centre (Central Bureau). One month later the intercept section was transferred to Bonegilla and renamed The Australian Special Wireless Group (ASWG). This section was responsible for recruiting and training intercept operators and providing intercept sections and field detachments, and it was to this section that I was assigned.I finally ended up as an instructor of the Women's Signals Unit.
