‘Look at those Aussies!’ Stunned US airmen at the Battle of the Bismark Sea
They are the last of the many. The veterans of World War II who will be at Anzac Day services tomorrow to remind us of the sacrifice their generation made to give us peace.
NSW
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Former RAAF wireless operator Bruce Robertson did not talk about his time with 30 Beaufighter Squadron in some of the biggest battles of World War II until his 90th birthday.
For years he took his children to Mascot on Sundays to watch the planes taking off and landing but it was only after he began to speak about the war that his daughter Judy understood his connection with flying.
“He never spoke about it until after his wife Beryl died when he was 90,” Judy said.
What came out was an extraordinary military career that included flying Beaufighters over Kokoda in New Guinea to strafe the Japanese in support of Australians troops toiling through the jungle below.
“The Japanese were reinforcing their army in Lae in New Guinea and we were called in to attack the convoy,” Mr Robertson said.
What followed became known as the Battle of the Bismark Sea. “The Beaufighters came in a line abreast and opened fire with their cannons,” Mr Robertson said.
The Japanese, thinking the Beaufighters were carrying torpedoes, turned their ships to face the oncoming fighters which wreaked havoc, strafing their exposed sides with heavy cannon fire.
“I could hear the American bomber crews waiting to come in shouting on the radio ‘look at these Aussies down there.’ There was no stopping the Beaufighters,” Mr Robertson said proudly.
Most of the Japanese convoy was destroyed and attempts to reinforce the army severely hindered. “The whole thing was over in just 28 minutes,” he said.
“I didn’t talk about it for a long time except on Anzac Day with my mates,” the 105-year-old veteran said. “But most of them have fallen off the perch now.”
Fellow RAAF Beaufighter navigator Ronald Leckie will celebrate his 103rd birthday on Anzac Day, proudly wearing his medals at the front of the march for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
“It is a day we remember,” Mr Leckie said. “I still recall the first day as a navigator being introduced to the plane and the pilot. This guy who you really hoped knew what he was doing.”
For Mr Leckie, whose navigational prowess saw him lead a squadron of American planes to Japan, the anniversary has several important messages.
“We stood firm against the enemy and I believe that spirit is still there,” he said. “For me I was glad to be back when others didn’t.”
But most importantly he urged the current generation to “not let it happen again”.
Bill Nolan was serving as an RAAF signaller in Bougainville when his mate ran out with word of the Japanese surrender in the middle of the night.
“The place went mad, the guys were firing Tommy guns into the air,” recalled Bill. “The CO called for calm, opened the canteen and gave us all a bottle of beer.”
Back in Australia Bill regularly attended the RSL with his mate Geoff, his wife Val and daughter Trish, who was 25 years younger than Bill.
“It was my parent’s fault, they kept asking me along to make up the foursome,” said Trish. “It shocked the family when we started going out.
“I wasn’t allowed to marry until I was 21 but dad did eventually agree to walk me down the aisle,” she said. “But his mateship with Bill never really recovered.”
Bill is now 99 and Trish 75. “I think after 55 years of marriage we have shown that we were right for each other,” said Bill. They will be together on Anzac Day in Byron Bay.
Another veteran celebrating her birthday, this time with a message from the King to mark 100 years, is Australian Army veteran Shirley Sartori.
Ms Sartori, from Barham in the Riverina, joined the Australian Army in 1944 and reached the rank of Corporal before being discharged in 1946.
She completed training at Camp Darley located about 5km north of Bacchus Marsh, Victoria before being transferred to Fishermans Bend where she worked in a disposal depot for army surplus.
Ms Sartori’s older sister, Nancy, who died last year, also served with her.
“Anzac Day is not only about my birthday, it’s about honouring and commemorating those who served in the local community and for our country,” she said.
“I will be having a celebration with my family and relatives on April 26, I’m really looking forward to it,“ she said.
Ms Sartori makes the most of every day because she knows so many others from her generation did not come back from the war and have the chance to live in peace.
“I played tennis and lawn bowls when I was younger,” she said. “I was also a volunteer in my local community and active in my local church for 40 years.”
Like so many veterans she embodies the words of former President Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower, supreme commander of the allies in Europe, who said: “Let us solemnly remember the sacrifices of all those who fought so valiantly, on the seas, in the air, and on foreign shores, to preserve our heritage of freedom, and let us reconsecrate ourselves to the task of promoting an enduring peace so that their efforts shall not have been in vain.”
Ms Sartori said: “I feel so thankful to have lived such a fulfilling life with my family and friends.”
Originally published as ‘Look at those Aussies!’ Stunned US airmen at the Battle of the Bismark Sea
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