The Northern Territory's first Long Service Medal.

Dick Butler was a prominent Northern Territory sportsman and was, for some 18 years, Head Gardener at Government House in Darwin. His life encompassed almost every aspect of Top End history, from Kahlin Compound to the Bombing of Darwin and Cyclone Tracy. In addition, he was a soldier for 23 years, with the unique distinction of being the first to cam the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal for service performed solely in the Northern Territory.

Dick Butler was born in Katherine in 1908 to a Wugularri/Jawoyn Aboriginal and a European father, George Butler. With his two brothers, Ta-Digin and Merengbet, like so many of their era, Dick was taken away and brought to Darwin as a baby to be raised in Kahlin Compound. As a young lad, he was fortunate enough to secure the position of 'horse-boy', grooming and watering the horses of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs, in their stables which stood where the Darwin Hospital was later established. He was then houseboy for the Government Secretary, Colonel Charles Barnett-Storey, while he subsequently worked as a bucket-boy on the Katherine-Larrimah extension of the railway line. Like the noted Charlie Talbot, Butler was also a capable boxer and trainer, and an established lightweight champion in his own right, and was particularly renowned for his performance in an illegal bare-fisted 'grudge' fight against Timmy Angeles in the Darwin Botanic Gardens in 1929, in the area where the rock pond is today, although they remained good friends for the rest of their lives.

At Christ Church Cathedral on 1 July 1931, Dick married Louisa Fanny Spain, daughter of Anastasio Petro Spain and his wife Fanny (nee Chapman). Louisa was a niece of Catalino Spain, an employee of the Commonwealth Railways who worked at the Darwin wharf. On 19 February 1942, he was one of the labourers of No.3 Gang attending to the passenger ship MV Neptuna, a vessel of 6,000 tonnes loaded with explosives and depth charges, and was killed during the first Japanese bombing raid on Darwin on that morning.

Keen to defend his country, Dick Butler enlisted in 1939 and served as a Gunner in the Darwin Mobile Force (DMF), serving with a number of others from the Northern Territory of Aboriginal descent including Willy McClennen, Samuel ('Smiler') Fejo, Juma ('Jim') Fejo, Stewart Kurnoth, Bill Muir and Victor Williams. Raised in Liverpool, NSW in November 1938, the Darwin Mobile Force had arrived in Darwin on 28 March 1939, establishing itself in the disused Vestey's Meatworks overlooking the harbour. It comprised artillerymen tasked with providing mobile protection for the Headquarters of the Army in the Northern Territory, known then as the 7th Military District, which was established as an independent command in October 1939 (the military presence in Darwin had until that time been administered by the headquarters of the 1st Military District in Brisbane). The DMF gunners were armed with 18-pounders, 3-inch mortars and medium machine-guns, and there was also a rifle group giving the unit a surveillance capability, with the additional responsible for guarding the Naval fuel tanks.

This Naval Oil Fuel Installation was a strategic asset which had been a long time in coming to Darwin. In 1891, an Imperial Defence Commission had recommended that a naval coaling facility be located in Palmerston, as Darwin was then known, to help counter the perceived threat from Russia but this facility was instead sited at Thursday Island (2). After the Northern Territory came under Commonwealth control in 1911, the Fisher Government brought Admiral Sir Reginald Henderson to Australia, who again recommended that a naval base be established in Port Darwin, as did Lord Jellicoe in 1919, but this Far Eastern base was instead established at Singapore. Darwin was identified to be a supporting base, and with Australian and imperial navies converting from coal to oil fuel, Vice-Admiral Sir William Clarkson RAN proposed that oil storage tanks be built in Darwin. Over a five-year period, nine tanks (each of 8,000 tons capacity) were built--the first six were completed by 1934, and the remainder by 1941 (capable of holding a total of 62,401 tons of oil). To defend these above-ground storage tanks were coastal guns and the small military garrison of the DMF.

Under the command of Captain Francis, Dick Butler's band of Aboriginal coastwatchers were based at Peewee Camp at East Point and called themselves 'the Australian Black Watch'. The 'Black Watch' comprised members of mixed racial backgrounds, their common bond being their dark skin colour, from which they drew their title (3). The DMF was reorganised in September 1940 and renamed the Darwin Infantry Battalion, although in November 1941 this was absorbed into the 19th Battalion which was given AIF status. Butler was on duty at the Naval Oil Fuel Installation and narrowly missed death at the time of the first Japanese raid, and was witness to all subsequent raids. In addition to the Defence, War and Australian Service Medals, the battalion's members were also eligible for the Returned From Active Service badge even though many, like Dick Butler, had only served within Australia.

On 12 December 1941, the Northern Territory Administrator had received a cipher message from the Prime Minister's Department informing him that Cabinet had approved the immediate evacuation of women and children from Darwin. The cipher also advised that the Army and Navy would give all possible assistance. Four days later the first part), of women and children were evacuated. Butler's wife Louisa and their four children, plus Louisa's mother Fanny Spain, were amongst the many who were evacuated from Darwin over the ensuing weeks. It was not until June 1948 that they returned to the Top End, living in a "Sidney Williams" house at Salonika, where Dick Butler ran a boxing camp, training such locals as Reggie McLennan, Jimmy Fejo, Fred Bush, Ponyo Cubillo and William Clarke, later a heavyweight champion of the Northern Territory.

After the war, Butler applied and was accepted for service in the Permanent Military Forces, and he continued to serve in Darwin with Northern Territory Command with the rank of Gunner until 1961. During World War 2, the 7th Military District had been replaced by Northern Territory Force (1942-46), which had assumed responsibility for the area from the Kimberley to Mount Isa, and that part of the Northern Territory north of Alice Springs. The 7th Military, District was again established in the Northern Territory in 1946 but during the 1950s and 1960s it was redesignated Northern Territory Command.

During this time, when Army formation insignia were worn on the uniform, the insignia of Northern Territory Command was a black buffalo head, within a yellow circle on a green square. For decades, the water buffalo has been the emblem of the Northern Territory--symbolising the Territory's remoteness, rugged independence and traditional links with the Asian region. The stylised buffalo head is to be found throughout the heraldry, iconography and marketing symbology of Darwin and the Northern Territory, from business logos to official crests. The traditional 'Darwin Stubby', for example, had a buffalo head in relief as an intrinsic part of the bottle. The Northern Territory Command shoulder patch was worn on the upper sleeve of each shoulder, and can clearly be seen in a contemporary photograph of Gunner Dick Buffer. By 1961, Dick Buffer had attained the distinction of being the first soldier to earn the Australian Regular Army Long Service and Good Conduct Medal for service completely within the 7th Military District.

On taking discharge from the Army in 1961. Dick Butler was employed by Parks and Gardens. succeeding Charlie Talbot as Head Gardener at Government House in Darwin. He first worked for the Honourable Roger Nott, 8th Administrator of the NT, a shearer turned farmer and grazier and then ALP Member for Liverpool Plains in the NSW Legislative Assembly (1941-61). Butler had two busy years in the gardens, as he prepared for the visit by Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh. who visited Darwin in March 1963--the first visit to the Northern Territory by a reigning monarch. Butler's gardens provided the perfect backdrop to a Royal dinner party hosted by His Honour the Administrator and Mrs Nott on 17 March, with two bands in attendance, the Pacific Islands Regiment Band and the Royal Papuan and New Guinea Constabulary, Band.

One of Butler's tasks during his early years at Government House, which had been carried out by gardeners for decades gone by, was the ritual watering of the drive-ways and carriage-loop to keep the dust down. While most of Darwin's dust), streets had been scaled between 1938 and 1941, the Government House carriage-loop and driveway were not sealed over with bitumen until the late 1960s. Dick Butler is readily recalled for his impromptu performances with the mouth organ, particularly during corroborees held in the Botanic Gardens.

After nearly eighteen years as Head Gardener at Government House. Dick Buffer finally retired in 1978. At this time the Administrator was Mr John England ED CMG, who had seen military service as a volunteer citizen-soldier with the Australian Garrison Artillery (1929-34). 15 LHR (1935) and 6 LHR (1934 and 1936-41), and the AMF from 23 June 1941 (1st Anti-Aircraft Brigade, and commanding the 110th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment from 2 February 1942). England was particularly noted however, for his command of the 52nd and then the 2/3rd Composite Anti-Aircraft Regiments in Dutch New Guinea and on Borneo, in which capacity he was Commander North East Borneo Force in October 1945, overseeing 'Sandakan Force', one of five forces accepting the surrender of the Japanese in northern Borneo. In recognition of Dick Butler's long service at Government House, His Honour the Administrator and Mrs England hosted a party to mark his retirement, and he received gifts from both the Administrator and his Parks and Gardens colleagues. He was later invited back as a guest at the official reception held annually to commemorate The Queen's Birthday.

Dick Buffer died in Darwin on 24 August 1987. He had come to be so well respected while he was Head Gardener that, on the morning of 28 August, his funeral cortege detoured en route to Darwin General Cemetery in Jingili and the hearse was driven to the gates of Government House. The gardeners and those staff who had known Dick lined up outside the front gate, and the House Manager Mr Jim Farrell placed a wreath on the coffin on behalf of all the staff of Government House. Friends and family were especially pleased at this tribute to a man who had spent so many years, through the terms of five Administrators, maintaining the lush tropical garden in perfect order, which established Government House as a Territory landmark and had led to the award of a Civic Commendation on 30 June 1982.

A Territorian in every sense of the word, Buffer had grown up in difficult times made harder by his part-Aboriginality. He struggled through life at Kahlin, the Depression and the 1937 cyclone. His early life certainly toughened him and made him a notable boxer and football player (with Vesteys, later the Buffaloes) while the Government Secretary, a retired Army Colonel, had undoubtedly directed Dick towards a military career. He had suffered personal tragedy at the time of Cyclone Tracy when his wife Louisa was killed, and her name is commemorated on a memorial plaque outside the Darwin City Council offices which was unveiled by The Queen on 26 March 1977 during Her Majesty's Silver Jubilee tour.

Dick Buffer was a life member of the NT Football League and Darwin Football Club, and a member of both the RSL and the Royal Australian Artillery Association. He had lived for many years at the old East Point camp and, together with Vic Williams, was one of the founders of the East Point military museum He was survived by his ten children, 24 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren His name is today commemorated by Buffer Place running off the Stuart Highway in Darwin's outer suburbs, and a display of Dick Butler's service medals and photographs was donated to Government House in Darwin by his family in December 1993.

In November 1999, Deployed Force Support Unit-Darwin (DFSU-D) was raised to support Combined Task Force 645, the International Force in East Timor (INTERFET) (4). DFSU-D was raised to receive, process and Wain Australian individuals to facilitate their effective deployment on Operation Warden. From the very beginning, the logo of DFSU-D was based on the old Northern Command insignia as worn by Dick Butler, the water buffalo head. Following the transition to a UN peace-keeping force, DFSU-D continued to conduct force preparation of individuals, units and United Nations Military Observers deploying for service with the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET), and then with the United Nations Mission of Support in East Timor (UNMISET) following East Timorese independence. In late 2001, DFSU-D was redesignated as Force Preparation Squadron-Darwin (FPS-D). The logo of DFSU-D, and then of FPS-D, incorporated the head of a water buffalo superimposed over an outline of the Northern Territory and Kimberley region of Western Australia.

The water buffalo has long symbolised Northern Territory Command and the 7th Military District (now Northern Command) and the Northern Territory, in which the forward mounting base for Timor operations was established. It also represents a tangible link with the nearby South East Asian region, and the upward sweep of the buffalo's right horn graphically represents the operational deployment of Australian force elements to East Timor. A photograph of Dick Butler in uniform, wearing the Northern Territory Command shoulder insignia, was displayed in the foyer of the FPS-D headquarters in Darwin, demonstrating the origins of the water buffalo insignia in the insignia of Northern Territory Command. In further recognition of these links, a replica set of Dick Butler's service medals was given to FPS-D, for display on long-term loan, by his family in June 2001.

The Butler military heritage was perpetuated by Dick and Louisa's fifth child, their fourth son, Arthur Wallace Butler. The older Butler boys had served in the CMF after WW2 and underwent training at Peewee Camp near East Point, but later Arthur travelled to Queensland and put his age up to enlist in the Army. He ultimately served in South Vietnam with the 7th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment in 1967-68, and a period portrait of Buffer is in the collection of the Australian War Memorial, showing him as a fit, muscled soldier compared to the skinny boy he bad been before leaving Darwin. When a younger sister first saw Arthur on his return from Vietnam she asked, "Who's this fat man who looks like a Malaysian.?". 'Darkie" Butler later participated with Peg Saunders in the travelling exhibition 'Too Dark for the Light Horse' which displayed aspects of Aboriginal service in the Australian Defence Force.

On 19 February 2002, four of Dick Butler's surviving children gathered in Darwin where a combined service was held. Firstly, there was a public ceremony at the Cenotaph to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the first Japanese raids on Darwin. Former Governor-General Sir Zelman Cowen spoke of the two Japanese air attacks on 19 February 1942 which, "brought war to the Australian mainland for the first time" (5)--attacks which were responsible for 292 known deaths (6). Other speakers, with political correctness, spoke of the actions of "the enemy" on that fateful day--only Zelman Cowen who, as a young Naval officer, had himself been present in Darwin in February 1942 referred more specifically to the bombing raids conducted by the Japanese and what their intent was believed to be. There are those who would say that much of the Territory's economic growth since 1945 could be seen to have 'risen from the ashes' of the devastation of those first Japanese raids, calling to nominate 19 February, as a public holiday for the Northern Territory. Concurrently with this commemoration, there was a reunion of those evacuated from Darwin at the end of 1941 and early 1942. Dick Butler's two sons, Lionel and David, each proudly wore the Evacuee Reunion badge to represent their childhood evacuation from Darwin, while just as proudly they wore a replica set of their father's medals to recognise his service under enemy fire in the defence of Darwin and Australia.

(2) The Northern Territory Times and Government Gazette, 24 July 1891.

(3) It was not comprised solely of Larrakia Aboriginals, as is suggested by the commemorative plaque in Darwin's Smith Street Mall.

(4) See 'Deployed Force Support Unit-Darwin'. The Australian Reservist, November 2000, pp.24-26; 'Deployed Force Support Unit-Darwin: Transformational Management'. In The Australian Army in Profile. Centenary Edition 2000, Directorate of Public Affairs-Army, pp. 130-131.

(5) The Rt Hon Sir Zelman Cowen AK GCMG GCVO QC DCL, address for the commemoration service at the Darwin Cenotaph, 19 February 2002.

(6) Rosenzweig, P A (1995) Darwin 1942: a reassessment of the first raid casualties. Sabretache, XXXVI (April/June): 3-15.

References

Butler, G, Land Rights News, January 1994.

Hansard (Northern Territory Parliament), 26 May 1988.

Butler family photograph album and papers, and information kindly provided by Miss Diana Butler (Darwin) and other family members.

Paul A Rosenzweig (1)

(1) Paul Rosenzweig was Aide to the Administrator of the Northern Territory, 1991-97, and Executive Officer of Wildlife Management International Pty Ltd, 1997-99. He has a Master of Arts in Southeast Asian Studies, and is a member of the Military' Historical Society of Australia, the Naval Historical Society of Australia, and the Historical Society of the Northern Territory. He has published three books on military history and biography--most recently, the regimental history of the North West Mobile Force, Ever Vigilant.