S1E6 - HMAS Australia Court Martial

[@BillHalliwell]

A colleague and I have been studying Australian military history for the last 15 years for a series of documentaries on General Sir Thomas Blamey (later Australia's only Field Marshal). This work, of course, has involved us in the histories of all three services and the closely linked UK armed services and even the experiences of the US military, including General Douglas MacArthur while he and his forces were here in Australia and their short time in New Guinea. I only begin with this to point out that we had an opportunity to compare the historical backgrounds of the UK, US and Australian forces including their navies during WW2. What became crystal clear to us was, that compared to the armies and air forces, official 'cover-ups' by the navies of these three Allied nations were absolute masters at this form of deception. Navies call their submarine arms 'the silent service', however, it's patently clear that whole navies are, in fact, THE silent services, in every way imaginable. We were taught at Uni never to impose modern day values on the past and that is utterly correct. In this incident, that was suppressed brilliantly by the RAN for as long as they possibly could, the common knowledge 'scuttlebutt' of these three stokers' homosexuality was known to be the certain motive by all those common sailors that were not allowed to be part of the official Court Martial, nor were any of them called by the prosecution or the defence as witnesses or even to provide background mitigation. (That, oddly, came in the form of a letter of mitigation from the ship’s Captain who also served as the prosecutor - a legal twist so improbable that not even ‘Rumpole’ would have swallowed that one.) So, apart from the two accused sailors, there was not one single person in the, rapid, three-day Court Martial that could, or would, come right out and offer up the most 'acceptable' and most probable motive for the murder. In those days the concept of the gay sailor was common, a notion based in fact, and innuendo, going back in the RN and other navies hundreds of years. If one, privately implied that an RN or RAN sailor might be gay in the days of WW2, it would not have even raised an eyebrow, albeit that homosexual acts in the UK were, on land and presumably at sea, totally illegal. After the Morant & Handcock executions, during the Boer War, at the hands of British Army, the Australian government privately, if not publicly, had no intention of allowing two Australian sailors to be executed on-board an Australian flagged ship, even if that ship was under command of the UK. In the long run, the outcome was probably the best that could be 'engineered' given that it was clear that nobody wanted to see the accused swinging from the Yardarm. The great, never to be answered, mystery in this case is simply this: Why didn't the two sailors who were prosecuted for the murder simply toss the third sailor overboard? No screaming, no blood, no fuss. Just an unfortunate accident that actually happened quite frequently in navies the world over during WW2. Cheers, BH

[@atw98]

Did you do you book? My grandfather Was a commander on the boat and on the board. So you have so so much wrong. There where reason for the sailor not being called because the commanders where not going to hang any of their men, especially on board. So get it right at least. These idiot have it so wrong. The Captain, godfather of my mother.

[@icewaterslim7260]

@@atw98

[@Khakhees]

Tomorrow, 6/3/18, I attend the funeral of a veteran of HMAS Australia.

[@pillowtalk5595]

My papas dad was second in command in this boat. Apparently he saved many lives and survived multiple Japanese bombs and sewicides. Unfortunately he passed of post dramatic stress disorder. Many others were just as strong and brave as my great grandfather was. RIP

[@brucewoods9377]

It’s was NEVER A BOAT! It was a SHIP (How to remember, Ships carry boats - boats do not carry ships

[@ohnolookwho241]

@@brucewoods9377 unless you are a submarine that surfaces under a ship

[@kristinehayes4885]

You mean your Grandfather. It is a ship not a boat. WTF is "sewicides"? It is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder not "dramatic". You write and spell like an uneducated bogan.

[@michelleattrill8196]

My dad was a stoker on HMAS Australia...

[@bess1953]

Mine too. He died in 2010.

[@d.howard4218]

@@bess1953 My dad was the bugler during WW2 on HMAS Australia.

[@bess1953]

Thanks for letting me know. They were a tough lot!

[@garrywarnes9157]

Michelle your father should be celebrated as a brave and worthy man who was an integral part of a ships company. You should contemplate suing Mike Carlton for his disgusting comments regarding Stokers.

[@shondra6]

My uncle was a gunner. Killed by a kamikaze. 😭😭😭 lest we forget.

[@landcruiser1055]

My Grandfather served on this ship.

[@shondra6]

My uncle served on this SHIP. I wonder if he was on it when this happened... 😱😳🤔

[@KG84C]

So who was the killer?

[@shondra6]

What the heck Mr Carlton . 😱😱😱😱😱😱

[@garrywarnes9157]

I would have expected nothing less from that arsehole Mike Carlton to denigrate Stokers as being the lowest form of Sailor......not true at all Stokers were and are the mechanical branch of the Navy that kept the mechanics of the ship running and this happened below decks because that is where the machinery was, to denigrate Stokers is a foul and cowardly act by someone not fit to be a Stokers Bootstrap!

[@locktite401]

What a load of rubbish!