Around the water cart.

The exploits of HMAS Pirie, which served throughout the Pacific in WWII, have been collated into a book The HMAS Pirie Story, written by H H (Harry) Cottrell. Harry was a leading telegraphist in Pirie and died shortly after completing his writings. Pirie was the first Australian-built ship to enter Tokyo Bay in 1945, where her crew witnessed the signing of the Japanese surrender. Inquiries about the book to Paul Grubb, PO Box 532, Banora Point, NSW, 2486. (News Update, Department of Veterans' Affairs, March 2001).

And now for something completely different! Take a look at the drawing, below. Some sort of pistol? What sort? Answer for you in the next edition of the Water Cart. Don't send me the answer, please. Try it on your mates.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Any member who is interested in the activities of the Red Cross Society and, in particular, Voluntary Aid Detachments (VADs -- also applied to the individual members of these) should see the long letter from Col Cecily Sinclair Smith (retd), Matron-in-Chief and Director of Army Nursing Services 1975-1976 in Vetaffairs, Newsletter of the Department of Veterans' Affairs, December 2000.

Dr Daniel Mannix, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne, held a commission in the Army as Catholic Chaplain-General from 21 July 1917 until his death at 99 in 1963. Probably the longest serving Australian Army officer? So far as is known, he never wore uniform and it was said that wild horses would not have dragged him into any military attire. However, the Army gave him a final salute of 13 guns when he was buried in a vault in Melbourne's St Patrick's Cathedral on 10 November 1963. (Mannix, Menzies and the 1954 Duntroon Colours Controversy; Wg Cdr John Steinbach, Defence Force Journal, January/February 2001).

Among recent accessions to the library of the Society of Australian Genealogists at York St, Sydney is listed `Militia Lists and Musters 1757-1876: A directory of holdings in the British Isles. Pamphlet. Reference: M/2/10/Pam.29'. (Descent, Journal of the Society of Australian Genealogists, March 2001).

Private Walter Davidson of Cooma, NSW, was the first enlistment from that area in the 1st NSW Mounted Rifles in 1899. He sailed in the Southern Cross on 17 January 1900 and arrived at Cape Town on 17 February. Walter, a great horseman whose father owned the Cooma livery stables, was taken aback by the loads carried by horses in South Africa:

   "The rider and saddle, a pair of valises with overcoat, on top of which was
   a blanket picquet cape, heel rope, heel peg and surcingle, two nets of hay
   and a nosebag of oats; a mess tin and a shoe pocket with two shoes and
   nails. Such a miscellaneous but necessary collection weighed 60 lbs., not
   counting, of course, the (weight of) rider, rifle, haversack, water bottle,
   belt with 100 rounds of cartridges and a reserve of 40 in the haversack".

(Despatch, Newsletter of the Military Historical Society of New South Wales, April-June 2000).

For those interested in Australia's armed merchant cruisers of World War Two, or specifically in HMAS Kanimbla, there is a long article on her exploits 1939-1942 in RUSI Bulletin of RUSI, Queensland, Issue No 1, March 2001. (Copy received).

Twenty-four Australian Flying Corps members are buried at Leighterton in the UK. Seventeen of them were killed in flying accidents. On 12 March 1919, Cadet Thomas L Keen, MC was killed while flying solo. As a warrant officer and RSM of the 7th Light Horse Regiment in Palestine, Keen had been awarded the MC for actions at Amman in Jordan. (Australian Flying Corps leaves the United Kingdom, article in Despatch, journal of the New South Wales Military Historical Society, April-June 2000).

Opening of Anzac Hall at the Australian War Memorial has renewed interest in the Japanese midget submarines. Brisbane historian Jack Ford believes he has located the third Japanese midget, missing since the attack on Sydney Harbour in 1942. Dr Ford believes a submarine that was sunk off the south coast of New South Wales on 4 June 1942 by a Dutch bomber from 18 Squadron NEI contingent of the RAAF, near Moruya was the a midget, and not a full size submarine, as previously believed. Comparison between Japanese records and US do not show any large Japanese submarines in the area at the time. (Camaraderie, Journal of the Regular Defence Force Welfare Association, first edition 2001).

Army Reserve Sergeant John Land, a member of the Army History Unit under our Federal President, Roger Lee, has recently completed a master's degree in applied sciences. His final project was the restoration of a rare British-built, Navy- pattern, wheeled Gatling gun. The Gatling, which is held in the Royal Australian Infantry Corps Museum, may have been used in the Boxer Rebellion. (Intrep, Newsletter of the ACT Branch, September 2000).

Have you seen the Australian War Memorial's Online Encyclopedia at web site www.awm.gov.au? The Research Centre in response to the thousands of requests made each year about military history and the Memorial has developed it itself. From A for ANZAC, through G for GEORGE to Z Special Unit, it gives website visitors quick answers. (Volunteers' Voice, publication for War Memorial Volunteers, November 2000).

Inter-operability of ANZAC forces arose as a problem on Day One of the Gallipoli campaign. The NZEF were armed with the single-loading MLE `Long Tom' Mk1 rifle, which required a special set of 1908 webbing pouches to accommodate the ammunition that was tied in packets of 10, wrapped in brown paper. The top 1908 pouch held 5 `ready' rounds in specially sewn loops. NZ commanders had told their troops that Australian ammunition would not fit their MLE rifles. After the Auckland regiment went ashore about 11.30am on 25 April, one NZ officer reported: "someone tried to pass a box of Australian ammunition forward ... it did not fit our long rifles". The fact is that the Australian ammunition was .303 but of a later mark and higher velocity. It could still have been fired in NZ rifles. Within months of the landing, most photographs of NZ soldiers show them carrying the SMLE rifle, no doubt recovered from Australian dead and wounded in an effort to match the rates of fire of the charger-loading rifles of their allies (and the Turks). While the SMLE was to be the weapon of NZ soldiers in France from 1916 onwards, and of the NZ Mounted Rifles in Sinai and Palestine, the "Long Tom" remained in use by the NZ Home Guard in WWII. Some were convened to the Charlton machine gun and early NZ-manufactured 9mm Sten guns. (The Volunteers, Journal of the NZMHS, July 2000). The author of the article, Major Noel W Taylor, ED (retd) is now President of our Sister society: Joe.

Before 1906, the only building near Victoria Barracks in St Kilda Road, Melbourne was the Hoadleys Jam factory. The label design on the jam tins was remarkably similar to the design of the second pattern of the Rising Sun badge. The title on the label emblem was `The Rising Sun'. One exterior wall of the factory displayed a large image of the jam tin label. Large quantities of this jam were issued to the Australian troops in South Africa (`one tin for four men, twice a week'). The nickname Hoadleys Horse was often given to the troops because of the similarity of their badge to the label. Since the introduction of the first badge in 1902, the Australian Army badge has always been referred to as the Rising Sun. However, it has never been officially called the Rising Sun badge. It was originally called Badge, Commonwealth and more recently Insignia General Service or General Service Badge. (Voluntary Guides' Backgrounder, publication of the Australian War Memorial, March 2001, quoting among other references Rick Grebert's Rising Sun Badge Origin and Theories (ISBN 0 646 205129).

Pat Porteous, VC has died aged 82. He was a captain in the British Commandos when he won the VC leading a bayonet charge on a major German gun battery during the disastrous Dieppe raid in WWII. During the early morning of 19 August 1942, 5000 Canadians, 1000 British commandos and 50 US Rangers crossed the pebbled beaches in front of the German-occupied Channel port of Dieppe in France. Porteous went ashore with Lord Lovat's 252-man No 4 Commando Unit, which had been ordered to silence a six-gun German battery on cliffs above the beaches. More than half the Allied troops in the Dieppe raids were killed, wounded or captured; the operation achieved few of its objectives. (Obituary, Sydney Morning Herald, 23 October 2000.)

The VC to Samuel Meekosha of the West Yorkshire Regiment in 1915 was sold at Sotheby's, London in May 2001 for more than 100,000 pounds sterling ($250,000+). His granddaughter, Helen, of Sydney, decided to sell the award after her father, Samuel's son, left it to her. (Sunday Telegraph, Sydney, 6 May 2001).

The C E W Bean Foundation is seeking to establish a register of all Australian war correspondents (journalists, photographers, war artists and camera crews) who worked for Australian media or were engaged in recording conflict in which Australia was involved. If any members know of (or have examples of the work of) less-well known people who meet the criteria, please contact the Foundation. Write to P O Box 3584, Manuka, ACT, 2603 or ring Jacqueline Rees at [phone] or 0411 679 550 (Adelaide Advertiser, 7 May 2001).

Harry Browne, a Maori soldier of the Wellington Mounted Rifles, wrote an account of what he called `The Battle of Anzac': Chunuk Bair 6 - 10 Aug 1915. He was one of the few New Zealand survivors of the battle of 9 August and this must be one of the only first-hand accounts of the battle. He wrote his story on 5 June 1917, en route back to New Zealand. He died in the Wellington Hospital on 23 August 1928 and his manuscript lay in the `family trunk' until August 2000. Harry's story, `I will now endeavour to put on paper', is published in full in Volume 26 No 3 of The Volunteers, Journal of the NZMHS (Copy received April 2001). Joe says: If any member has a particular interest in NZEF activities at Gallipoli, I can photocopy the article and send a copy. Contact the Federal Secretary).

I know we have at least one Cyclist Corps buff out there. For him and all the others who may be pedalling away at the back, some sad news: the Swiss Army Cycle Corps is to be disbanded! As part of plans to modernise the Swiss Army and cut down the length of compulsory military service, the Swiss Defence Minister wants to phase out two-wheeled soldiers by 2003. The Swiss Army began using cyclists in 1891. Their present role in battle is to fortify a flank, hold a position or watch over strategic points. Of the 1000 who apply each year, only 200 are selected; they must be able to run 3km in 121 minutes and pass the Swiss national fitness test at the highest level. The present Swiss Army bicycles weigh 22kilos and trained soldiers must be capable of riding 200km with full gear of 23kilos. (The Canberra Times, 1 May 2001, reprinted from The Independent, London).