Hero or Deserter?
Page 32
Blair, Joan and Clay
Blamey, Sir Thomas
background
Bennett as rival
Victorian Chief Police Commissioner
Boardman, Barbara
Boardman, Private Jack
Bose, Romen
Bott, Eric
Boughton, Dudley
Bowden, Vivien
Boyes, Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur
Brand, Captain
Breavington, Private Rodney
Bridge on the River Kwai
British Army
18th Division
Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
Australians’ relations with
Bennett’s views of
Broadbent, Brigadier John
Brooke-Popham, Sir Robert
Buchanan, Bess see Bennett, Bess
Bukit Timah
Bullwinkel, Vivian
Burma–Thai Railway
Burnett, Sir Charles
Byrne, Joe
Cahill, Captain
Cahill, Dr Lloyd
Callaghan, Major-General Cecil ‘Boots’
Canberra
Carty, Lieutenant L.A.
Cassimatis, Professor Anthony
Chamberlain, Neville
Changi POW camp
executions
‘no-escape pledge’
piano
Chifley, Ben
Chippendale, John
Christmas 1942
Churchill, Winston
Clancy, Brian
Clisby, Mark
Coates, Albert
Coates, Colonel (surgeon)
Collins, Arthur ‘Snowy’
Cook, Cas
Cook, Private John
Cooper, Alfred Duff
Cooper, Lady Diana
Cope, Captain
Cornfort, Roydon
Cosgrove, Sir Peter
Croft, Sergeant Ron
Curlewis, Captain Adrian
Curteis, Alan
Curteis, Christine
Curtin, John
Daldry, Charles
Daldry, George
Dalforce
Dalley, Lieutenant-Colonel John
Darby, Syd
Dawkins, Major Clarence
Derham, Colonel Frances
deserters
Bennett, whether
penalty
troops escaping Singapore, whether
Dickinson, A.H.
Dietz, Lance-Corporal Henry
Djambi
Dodd, John
Donaldson, Private Keith ‘Donny’
Doolan, Bill
Dovey, Margaret
Dovey, William
Ducros, Ken
Duffy, Captain
Durban
Dutton, Charlie
Eastforce
Elbow Force
Elphick, Peter
Empire Star
Endau
fall of mainland Malaya
fall of Singapore 75th anniversary
capitulation, whether
commemoration services
surrender
Farlow, Cliff
Federated Malay States Volunteer Force
Fletcher, Private Eric
Forde, Frank
Fort Canning
Fraser, Don
Fraser, Hugh
Fry, Thomas
Fukuye, Major-General Shimper
Gale, Private Victor
Gallasch, Brigadier Dianne
Galleghan, Lieutenant-Colonel Frederick ‘Black Jack’
Gallipoli
Gaudry, Alan ‘Butch’
Gaven, Lieutenant Frank
Gaynor, John
Gemas
Gemencheh Bridge ambush
Geneva Convention
Gilbert, Max ‘Eddie’
Gilbert, Ulric
Glover, Leslie ‘Bunny’
Godfrey, Ralph
Goss, Eddie
Gowrie, Lord
Green, Lieutenant Ron
Greenwood, Padre
Gull Force
Hachidoki Maru
Hackney, Lieutenant Ben
Hague Convention
Haig, Field-Marshal Sir Douglas
Hall, Sergeant
Harris, Captain ‘Horsey’
Harrison, Laurel
Harrison, Lois
Harrison, Noel
Hart Davies, Major A.
Harvey, Jim
Hawkins, Alex
Hayes, Lieutenant-Colonel J.O.C.
Heath, Lieutenant-General Sir Lewis ‘Piggy’
Hicks, Walter
Hitu-lama
Holding, Private Walter
Holmes, Lieutenant-Colonel E.B.
Homer, Lieutenant Roy
Houston, Jimmy
Howard, Lieutenant Tom
Hughes, Captain
Hurley, General David
Illife, Corporal James
Indian Army
2/16th Punjabs
III Indian Corps
9th Infantry Division
11th Indian Division
12th Indian Brigade
22nd Indian Brigade
44th Indian Brigade
45th Indian Infantry Brigade
Gemas
Indian National Army Guard
Muar
Singapore
Indomitable
Ishiro, Lieutenant-Colonel Kuwada
Jacobs, Major
James, Lieutenant-Colonel Neil
Japanese Army
3rd Battalion
5th Division
18th Division
25th Japanese Army
56 Regiment
144th Infantry Regiment
Ambon
bicycles
Gemas
Imperial Guards Division
invasion of Malaya
massacres by
Muar
Rabaul
Singapore
tactics
Japanese factory POW labourers
Jeater, Lieutenant-Colonel Bill
Jessup, Captain Harry
Jinkins, Lieutenant William
Jitra
Johan Van Oldenbarnveldt
Johnston, Sergeant-Major Noel
Johore Bahru
Johore Military Forces
Johore Volunteer Engineers
Kapitz, Lieutenant-Colonel J.R.L.
Kappe, Lieutenant-Colonel Charles
Kearney, Captain Des
Kennedy, Arthur ‘Bluey’
Kent Hughes, Colonel Wilfrid
Kerr, Jim
Key, Major-General Billy
Kokoda Track
Kota Bharu
Kranji-Jurong line
Kuala Lumpur leave club
Kusunose, Masao
Lark Force
Latrobe
Lavarack, General Sir John
Lay, Sergeant ‘Sonny’
Lee Hsien Leong
Lee Kuan Yew
Legg, Frank
Levy, Patrick
Ligertwood, Justice George
Lloyd, Major-General Charles
Lodge, A.B.
Long, Gavin
MacArthur, General Douglas
Macpherson, Colonel Helen
Magin, Lance Corporal John
Maher, Captain
Mahkota, Tungku
Malaya
arrival of 8th Division
campaign
fall of mainland
Japanese invasion
Malaya Command
Mant, Gilbert
Manunda
Marella
Marshall, Major J.C.K.
Mary Rose
Masters, Chris
Mauretania
Maxwell, Brigadier Duncan
McAuliffe, Mick
McEachern, Brigadier
McLaren, Colonel J.
Mead, Lieutenant-Colonel Lachlan
Menzies, Robert
Mersing
&nb
sp; Military Board
military inquiry into Bennett’s escape
Miskin, Captain Philip
Monash, Lieutenant-General Sir John
Morris, Laurie
Morshead, Lieutenant-General Sir Leslie
Mort, Roger
Moses, Major Charles
Muar
Mudie, Jack
Munday, Ern
Murdoch, Sir Keith
Murphy, Spud
Murray-Lyon, Major-General
Nagle, Lance-Sergeant Athol
Nelson, Hank
New Amsterdam
New Guinea Volunteer Rifles
Newbigging, Brigadier T.K.
Northcott, Major-General
NSW Chamber of Manufacturers
O’Connor, Geoff
O’Donnell, Lieutenant-Colonel I.J.
Operation Matador
Osprey
Parit Sulong massacre
Patras
Peach, Stuart
Pearl Harbor
Percival, Lieutenant-General Arthur
view of Bennett’s escape
Phillips, Admiral Tom
Pownall, Lieutenant-General Sir Henry
Prince of Wales
prisoners of war
Ambon
Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial
Burma-Thai Railway
Changi
Geneva Convention
Japanese factories
right/duty to escape
visit to Japan by ex-POWs
whether Bennett was
Queen Mary
Quinlan, Lieutenant Jimmy
Rabaul
Ramsbotham, Lieutenant Frank
Ramshaw, Flight Lieutenant Jack
Ray, Ramsay
reconciliation
Repulse
Return From The River Kwai
Richardson, Captain Rod
Richardson, Lieutenant Bart
Roach, Lieutenant-Colonel Len
Robertson, Lieutenant-Colonel James
Robertson, Major Andrew
Robinson, ‘Deadeye’ Dick
Rokya Maru
Roosevelt, Franklin
Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF)
1 Squadron
13 Squadron
Royal Australian Regiment
1st Battalion
Royal Commission into Bennett’s escape
Royal Netherlands East Indies Army
Saggers, Major Albert
Sakai people
Sandon, Reg
Sarimbun Beach
Scanlan, Lieutenant-Colonel John
Scott, Lieutenant-Colonel William
Simson, Brigadier Ivan
Singkep Island
Singapore
8th Division arriving in
Anzac Club
Bennett’s escape see Bennett’s escape from Singapore
bombing of causeway
British fleet at
burning money
difficulty of defending
fall of
Japanese bombing
Raffles Hotel
social scene
surrender
training in
troops trying to escape
Smith, Lieutenant Commander Windas
Sparrow Force
Spooner, Rear-Admiral Ernest
Spurling, Lieutenant-Colonel J.M.
Stantke, General Victor
Stephen, Steve
Stevens, Keith
Stewart, Lieutenant-Colonel Ian
Sturdee, Lieutenant-General Sir Vernon
Sugita, Colonel Ichiji
Sultan Ibrahim of Johore
wife Marcella
Swanton, Stuart
Sweeting, A.J.
Tanglin Barracks
Taylor, Brigadier Harold
Tern
Thomas, Lady Lucy
Thomas, Sir Shenton
Thompson, Peter
Thomsett, Ernie
Thyer, Colonel James
Tibbitts, Lieutenant Arthur
Timbs, Lance-Sergeant Kevin
Timor
Tjusi, Colonel Masanobu
Tol Plantation massacre
Trott, Colonel
University of Queensland Law Journal article
Valentine
Varley, Brigadier Arthur
Varley, John
Varley, Lieutenant-Colonel Albert
Vincent, Major
Voluntary Aid Detachment
Volunteer Defence Corps
Vyner Brooke
Waddell, Colonel Jim
Waitavalo Plantation massacre
Walker, Lieutenant Gordon
Wall, Don
Wanganella
Warden, Private Chick
Waters, Private Harold
Wavell, General Archibald
Westley, Major George de Verdon
White, General Sir Cyril Brudenell
Whitlam, Gough
Why Singapore Fell
Wigmore, Lionel
Wild, Major Cyril
Wilson, Francis ‘Joe’
Wilson, Major-General J.B.
Wolfenden, Colonel
Woods, Lieutenant Harry
Woody, ‘Salvation Army’
World War I
Bennett’s service
Gallipoli
Pozières
Wyett, Major John
Wynter, General Henry
Yamamoto, Genichi
Yamashita, General Tomoyuki
Unidentified 8th Division officers and nurses during a lifeboat drill on board the Queen Mary en route from Australia to Malaya, February 1941 (AWM 005506)
The governor of Singapore, Sir Shenton Thomas (left), and Lady Thomas (centre) were among a group of officers who greeted some 5750 Australians of the 8th Division, including the 22nd Brigade, on their arrival (AWM 005908)
Major-General Gordon Bennett (right) with Lieutenant-General Arthur Percival, Malaya 1941 (AWM 134877)
Bennett (second from right) at a cricket match with his aide-de-camp, Gordon Walker (JOAN BENNETT)
Bennett takes parade, 1941 (JOAN BENNETT)
Saluting parade (JOAN BENNETT)
The 8th Division’s band (JOAN BENNETT)
Bennett with Lieutenant-General Sir Lewis ‘Piggy’ Heath (far right), 1941 (JOAN BENNETT)
8th Division parade with Bennett, March 1941 (JOAN BENNETT)
Australian soldiers of the 8th Division and the Sultan of Johore at Istanc Bezar, the Sultan’s palace. Bennett and his men were entertained by the Sultan at his palace and later at his club, the Royal International Club, 1941 (AWM PO3358.001)
Bennett with the Sultan of Selangor in Malaya on Anzac Day, 1941 (AWM 007094)
Noel Harrison with his machine gun, 1941 (NOEL HARRISON)
Jack Boardman (in pith helmet) and Alan Gaudry (with his hand on his hip) in a photo Jack sent home (ROZ HOGAN AND JACK BOARDMAN’S FAMILY)
Field Marshal Archibald Wavell (PICTORIAL PRESS LTD / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO)
Lieutenant Colonel Frederick G. ‘Black Jack’ Galleghan, Commanding Officer of the 2/30th Battalion (right), examining a map with an intelligence sergeant outside the battalion command post in Gemas, Malaya, 1942 (AWM 011304/04)
Lieutenant-General Tomoyuki Yamashita, Commander-in-Chief of the 25th Japanese Army, which successfully carried out the Malayan campaign (AWM 127911)
A Japanese patrol coming down through Malaya on bicycles, January 1942
General Percival (far right) and his surrender party, walking to the Ford Motor Company to meet with Japanese and British officers, February 1942
British troops surrender to the Japanese in the city area, after the unconditional surrender of all British forces following the successful invasion of Malaya and Singapore (AWM 127902)
Bennett (centre) with General Sir Thomas Blamey (saluting) in Harvey, Western Australia to inspect 3 Australia Corps Training School, September 1943 (AWM052322)
POWs release
d from Changi prison camp were evacuated from Singapore by the Australian hospital ship Manunda, the first Australian ship to arrive at Singapore after the surrender of the Japanese. Here, the ex-POWs, members of 8th Division, line up to receive their embarkation cards, September 1945 (AWM 116039)
POWs arriving home, October 1945, showing their gratitude to Bennett (AWM 122157)
Bennett and his wife, Bess, board the Manunda at Woolloomooloo, Sydney, October 1945 (AWM 122158)
A portrait of Major-General Bennett commissioned by MMI Insurance, of which he became chairman after the war, 1962. (AWM PO1461.002)
Arthur ‘Bluey’ Kennedy, September 2016, aged 99
Bart Richardson, October 2016, aged 98
Jack Boardman, August 2016, aged 96
Noel Harrison, September 2016, aged 98
Ron Ferguson (left), retiring secretary of the 8th Division Association, proudly carries the new banner during the Anzac Day march in Sydney in 2017
The Kranji Line Memorial in what is now the suburb of Jurong West, Singapore (MARK LAUDI)
The 75th anniversary of the Fall of Singapore, Ballarat, February 2017
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Writing about something that happened more than three-quarters of a century ago inevitably requires much detailed research, the cooperation of a wide range of people and a lot of luck. Over the years I have found that the longer you spend on a story the more it opens up to you and that has certainly applied to the history of the 8th Division and Henry Gordon Bennett.
The following names merely touch the surface of all those who have offered their insight and guidance to me. My sincere thanks to them and anybody else I might have accidentally overlooked.
Roz Hogan, Jack Boardman’s daughter, who also helped me to access the late Alan Gaudry’s memoir; Jessie Webb and Jennie Norberry of the Australian War Memorial (AWM) research centre; Kerrie Leech, Curator, Private Records, AWM; Richard Wall, son of Don Wall; Sylvia Norton; Mark Clisby, author of Guilty or Innocent? The Gordon Bennett Case; Robert Macklin; Peter Thompson, who generously allowed me to quote from his definitive work The Battle for Singapore; Wenona Byrne of Allen & Unwin; Stephanie Volkens and her dedicated colleagues at the Mitchell Library, Sydney; Chris Masters, formerly of the ABC, whose Four Corners documentary on the fall of Singapore was compelling viewing. Katherine Phillips, of the Imperial War Museum, London; James Keady, Secretary of the 2/20th Battalion, and Ron Ferguson, Secretary of the 8th Division Association, for help in locating veterans; Peter Elphick, author of Singapore: The Pregnable Fortress, who offered me so much background on his controversial findings. Bob Pink, Secretary of 2/19th Battalion. Lt. Col. Peter McGuinness, MBE, OAM RFD, ED (Rtd) President, NMAFCT, who provided me with a valuable copy of the 2/19th’s detailed history, Grim Glory, which he edited. Captain Darryn Mullins, of the Asia Pacific Centre for Military Law. Jan Nelson, whose late husband Hank did so much to record the memories of prisoners of war; Col. Jim Waddell, co-author of Justice in Arms and Director of Operations and Security Law and Head of Corps for the Australian Army Legal Corps; Lieutenant Colonel Lachlan Mead, co-author of Justice in Arms. Air Chief Marshal M.D. Binskin, Chief of the Australian Defence Force; Brigadier Dianne Gallasch, Commander of the Royal Military College, Duntroon, and her retired colleague Colonel Helen Macpherson; Wendy Taylor of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs; Mark Laudi for Singapore background and photographs; Tim Bowden for his encouragement; Robyn Matthews for providing her father John (Jack) Chippendale’s memoir. Pauline O’Carolan at HarperCollins and Maggie Thompson at Allen & Unwin. Professors Anthony Cassimatis, James Allan and John Devereux of the TC Beirne School of Law, University of Queensland. Richard Legg who granted me permission to access material from his late father Frank Legg’s book, The Gordon Bennett Story, which was essential reading. Tighearnan Kelly, National Library of Australia.