Yes I read that the Japs thought they'd be welcomed as liberators, but they were hated before they even arrived and their brutal behaviour and their despising attitude turned the last natives against them. What happened when you got aleave or free time? It was impossible for you to go home, so did you just go into town (if there was one) or did you skip the leave because there was nothing else to do? I suppose there were shows and movies for the soldiers as well as bars etc... Did you get some rest before you mover to another theatre, or did you "hop" from on place to another as soon as the place was cleansed.

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Thank you for that detailed account of your day in and day out Jack. I know have an image of what it must have been like. Thank you for sharing, and again, thank you for your service!!

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Scott

Hello friends,

I remember some of the most restful times for me was when I was a being transported by the Navy (with the exception of a few PBY's and one particular LST), no matter how many were aboard, I could sleep like a log in a clean dry place with no bugs, shave, mail a letter, and feel like I was on U.S. territory again. Some of the fellas didn't like the Ocean much, but many of the Navy boys treated us very well.

As far as leave goes, there were rest areas in the rear, if the areas were secure, they would have a movie screen, an APO, a PX of sorts, make shift showers, and from time to time beer was available. I was back in Australia a number of times for different reasons, I took one leave in Brisbane, and one in Sydney. I don't remember knowing anyone who had a stateside leave, I know the Navy would send fellows home if their ship had been lost.

Skip, while on leave in Australia, I was introduced to my future wife in Sydney, we married in '46, and remained so for 57 years.

All for now, fingers are giving out again.

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All the Best
Jack

This is excellent so you even managed to get some space for romance and took an Aussie lady back to the USA. That's must be quite rare, or isn't it? I heard that many English girls maried Americans, but I didn't know about Australian women.
So basically you had to stay on the islands with the humidity and the bugs, or face a long travel to australia. Quite a challenge. Was it dangerous to commute like this, because of Japanese subs or aircrafts, or were they absent form this zone for good in 1944?

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Hello Skip,

The latter part of '44 I was up in the Philippines, I returned to Sydney by ship in 1946, there was a mountain of red tape for a fiancé to immigrate to the USA back in those days, we had kept in touch writing letters, and I was pretty restless back home. Looking back now, she was the one good thing from that whole dirty business we were involved in, she helped me make sense of things, and never asked me questions about the things I had done.

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All the Best
Jack

Aww, sounds very wonderful. Wish love was as amazing to tell about nowadays

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Time is only enemy you'll never get rid of.

Could you tell us some anecdotes about your stay in Australia please?

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Well Skip,

If you remember me telling you about the atabrine tablets, I was pretty well saturated, having to take them for so long. My leave in Sydney after meeting my future wife on a double date at the pictures, led me to to being invited to tea the following evening, with the intent of me being introduced to her Mother and Brother. I was staying at a hotel in Sydney, eating every meal they served up. I took a baths, I shaved, and worked on my table manners as best I could, also kept my language and tone in check, after all we had been living and behaving in
a way the week before that most civilized Aussies might think us Yanks to be animals.

I thought tea was going to be tea, like a ladies social club affair, so I ate dinner, had my shoes shinned, put on my new uniform and went to tea. Well, Valerie had given quite a build up about the American Army officer she had met, so when the cab dropped me off at her Mother's house, the front door opened and the sitting room was full, they had food and pastries of all kinds, all the ladies were bringing me special treats they had made, and asked if I had ever been to Hollywood, or met Clark Gable. Valerie's mother asked me about my family, then asked if my mother was Chinese. She had never seen the affects of atabrine and tropical suntan.

Hands are numb, all for now.
Take care

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All the Best
Jack

That's great Jack!
Chinese! That's too funny! It's great how they rolled out the red carpet fo you! I wish dating today was more like that!

I know that your experiences during the war are very personal things, so I thank you for sharing them with us. Can you tell me if you found any souveniers or trinkets you mailed of took back home? Any prized possesions?

Thanks again!!

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Scott

Hello Scott,

I was never one to pick up souvenirs, men would get hurt or killed taking items off booby trapped dead japs. There was some good trading a fellow could do in the rear with the Navy boys for helmets,swords and such. For the most part, we carried all we could with our own gear, if a fellow wanted to drag something along on the way back, I had no problem with that.

My youngest brother Bill wrote me few times about sending him something, I ended up taking a map case off a jap officer for any Intelligence it may have contained, that was attached to a pistol belt. So, we filled a box with the jap pistol, a few defused jap grenades, a flag the officer carried, a few jap dog tags, some jap rifle and pistol ammunition, and a bayonet, I figured the package would be stopped be for it got to him, I addressed it to my Father and they got it just as we mailed it. Later on I sent him a jap sword, a 7.7 rifle, and a bottle of sake labeled for my Dad, that one showed up without the bottle.

I wore my 45 home, I'd been sleeping with the thing for a long while, I tried to turn it in after the war a couple of times due to the fact the item being marked "U.S. property" along with my trench knife, pistol belt, and shoulder holster. I was told to just loose them, or get rid of them by a supply officer, too much paper work he said.

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All the Best
Jack

Excellent stories Jack, It looks like you had quite some fun in Sydney. So I figured you has a second meal with all the high tea stuff from the ladies.
I'm surprised the parcel with defused grenades arrived. I figure the custom officer did not really care at the time. He however took his dime when he conficated the Sake the next time. I'm not sure whether it's because it was alcohol or because of the food and drinks import restrictions.

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That is funny Skip, granades get thru but not the booze! Jack after your tea did you get to go out with her, or was it back to base?

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Scott

Scott,

Back then, that was going out with her, we sat on the swinging bench on her mothers veranda with her mother a few feet away inside the house. Sydney was in black out conditions, so that would have been a romantic evening by the standards of the day. I'd paid the cabbie a five pound Aussie note in advance to pick me up at 9pm for a ride back to the hotel, I tried to pass him a few more pounds to wait longer, he refused and said; "take yer time sport, long as ya need mate", we sat and talked until it was time to leave.

I had a briefing to attend the next morning, Valerie had told me where she worked, so I took a cab with another officer pal of mine, and we walked into the manager's office as if taking command of the place for inspection, Val worked in an office full of women, we told the manager we had a few questions for one of the women who worked for him, and my friend threw in; "you would be greatly helping the war effort if we can speak with her", Valerie was summoned to his office by his secretary, and told there were some American Army Officers here to speak with her, we asked if we could speak in private, so he then gave her the rest of the afternoon off. I took her for the mid day meal, we had our photos taken by the street vendors, she showed us the sites around Sydney, later the cab took her home. I bought her a ring, and when we went to the pictures that night to see the new Randolf Scott film, I slipped the ring on her finger.

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All the Best
Jack

Jack you sly dog you! That's fantastic! I can almost see the expression on that guys face! "greatly helping the war effort"! That was good thinking! That briefing must have meant they were going to ship you out again, yes?

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Scott

Scott,

Yes, if I remember we both had to catch a transport to Milne Bay, back then if you had a 10 or 14 day leave, you could easily spend two or three days getting there and back each way. A fellow had to work pretty fast with the ladies.

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All the Best
Jack

Was 5 pounds a lot for you at the time? I believe it must have been quite a summ. Australia must have been heaven for you compared to the war zones.

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Well obviously Jack you worked fast enough, you got her!!

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Scott

Thank you fellas,

I have been a bit out of sorts, feeling better now, I'd like to answer any questions you might have about the type of fighting we did. I think you all can understand what I say, and some of the topics I have hesitated in covering up to this point.

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All the Best
Jack

How we fought,

The Japs were cunning and shrewd at the individual level at times, but in large groups under higher command, they would die like sheep to slaughter, Banzai they would scream running with bayonets fixed and we would cut them in half with .50 caliber fire, then here they come again, and again trying to do the same thing with 150 men that they couldn't do the hour before with 700. The jap was fought and killed one at a time or by the dozen, hand to hand, or at the end of a trench knife when necessary.

The japs would charge at you, sometimes just pop out at you from the vegetation at arms length and hurl themselves at you, or roll a grenade toward you from a few feet away, they could be waiting in a spider hole, a log bunker, they would tie themselves to the tops of trees and wait for days to shoot at you, they would creep into your lines at night and at daybreak you might find one or two of your men with their throats cut from ear to ear, or worse. At Momote airfield we took five Banzai charges from before midnight to dawn, they ran out of an aircraft revetment at us, with our backs to the ocean. When it was over, the possum squads would take care of any unfinished business, then the bulldozers pushed them into a pile and buried them.

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All the Best
Jack

Sir, you mentioned that you also were in the Philippines during the War. I'm a Filipino and I'd like to know what you experienced in our country.

Thank you for telling us such personnal memories Jack. I am aware that this must be difficult for you to tell as you probably relive every moment of these charges. How absurd these Banzai charges were. I suppose the Japanese had no choice any way. Their officers had this sense of "Honor" that taught them that it was better to send men to slaughter than surrender. It may seem stupid to westeners, but in a sense it is bravery too. I shows how different our mentalities were at the time.

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Glad to hear you are felling a bit better Jack!
I appreciate the detail of your experiences! This last post of yours surprises me, as just this morning I read about the "banzai" charges of the Japs on Attu, in the Aleutian Islands. From the book :An Incomplete History of WWII", quote
..."the Japanese kept coming, seemingly courting death, throwing grenades, but also holding them against their own chests and committing suicide as they ran. When the battle for Attu ended only 18 Japanese were taken prisoner. The Americans counted more than 2,300 corpses and were sure ther were more...."
I agree Skipper, it seems a waste to send them into their deaths that way. Pride is a strong tool!

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Scott

One of the reasons, I read, was that part of the Aleutian was the only American territory that had been physically occupied by the Japanese, so the symbolic for them was very important. Besides they had nowhere to retreat and if they did, the shame would have been too big.

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Hello,

Falcon Jun, it's a pleasure to meet you, the Filipino people I met in late '44 were very courageous, risking everything to help us, including entire villages and families. Many paid a very dear price, terrible what the japs did to your country.

Skipper, we found ourselves in that "no where to retreat to situation" more times than I can remember.

Take care,

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All the Best
Jack

Jack, were you ever in this position when you you thought "oh well this is it" and that you were saved at the last moment by reinforcments or pure luck or whatever it may be?

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