Chapter 4 Sporting Stars of the 8th; Desert Campaigns of the 9th; Battle of Ruin Ridge

SIGNALS 8 Aust. Div. was studded with many stars of practically all branches of sport. Some achieved world-wide renown in their different spheres.
SPORTING STARS OF THE EIGHTH
These men carried into war-the most important "game" of all-the same qualities that endeared them in the memories of all Australian sport-lovers. The Adjutant of the unit was Capt. B. A. Barnett. The name of Ben Barnett is known to cricket enthusiasts the world over. His record as Australia's Test and Victoria's Interstate wicket-keeper is known to all. Perhaps not so well known are his exploits as an Australian Rules football player. Ben played as rover and forward for Old Scotch, Melbourne, between 1926 and 1930. He represented Victoria each season during that period and was captain Of the Interstate Amateur League team in 1929.
When football authorities ruled that he was a professional because of his cricket activities, Ben turned to baseball and played for Hawthorn-East Melbourne. One of the greatest scrum-halfs in Australian rugby for many years, L/Cpl Cec. Ramalli played against the famous All Blacks in Sydney and Brisbane in 1938 when he was only eighteen years old. Ramalli was a member of the Australian team which visited England in 1939. In Malaya, he was captain of the successful A.I.F. rugby team. Though he had not played the game before arriving in Malaya, Cec. Ramalli represented his unit in several Australian Rules games. He served as a transport driver in "D" Section. Sgt Aub. Laws was Junior Speedway champion of New Wales. During his short career, he attained great success. Aub. represented Australia in Test matches in England in 1939, in which year he rode for the Wembley Lions He was Lionel van Praag's partner when they carried off the world's championship for the best pair. While in England, he qualified for the world's title but the event in, which there were 150 starters, representative of seven nations, was cancelled because of the war. Aub. also captained an Australian motor-cycle soccer team against America. In this team were Sigmn Jim Ling and Bruce Shiriff, also members of "D" Section. C.Q.M.S. Arthur Robinson was a crack gun shot. "Robbie" took part in many trap shoots with the Melbourne Gun Club, Tottenham, and the Nobel Clay Bird Club. His best shoot was the day be "bagged" nineteen sparrows out of twenty shots; on another occasion, he brought down fifteen pigeons with seventeen shots. This effort won for him the club championship. Before enlisting, "Robbie" was also a keen quail-shooter. In his early days, he was coached by "Calrossie" (J. Sutherland), one of Australia's greatest clay-bird shots. Sgt J. T. Lord was a member of the Craighead Rifle Club. England, which scored 599 out of a total of 600 on a miniature range in the Astor Cup of 1920. At the time, this was a world's record. "J.T." also represented County Durham in the Northern County Championships from 1919 to 1922. One of the keenest hockey players in the unit was Jack McEvoy. He represented Sydney University in the inter-varsity hockey carnival in Adelaide in 1937. In the same year, he filled fourth place in the New South Wales fencing championship and was sixth in the inter-varsity skiing contests. Bernie Kyrie played League and Association football in Melbourne and was in good form in the unit's Australian Rules games in Malaya. Lieut. Doug. Lush took all hurdles ill his stride and was runner-up in the Victorian Championships in 1939-40. He also played interstate hockey for Victoria. H. R. Mills captained Hawthorn-East Melbourne in "A" Grade baseball. By an ironic twist of fate he was once selected to play in a team against the Japanese fleet. One of the best all-round stars in the unit was Sgt Tommy Law who found no difficulty in playing in most games. He played Rugby, Australian Rules and shone at swimming and running. Law, who enlisted in Western Australia, was a member of the Cottesloe Surf Lifesaving Club. He was in the State championship lifesaving team in 1933-34. In 1932, he won the Brennan Cup for the three-quarter-mile ocean swim. The following year, he was runner-up in the State Beach Sprint Championship. Chosen to play for an interstate rugby team, he was forced to withdraw because of business reasons. Law was also sought by an Australian Rules team in the West. Capt. R. W. Savage, the unit's first Adjutant (later transferred to Signals 9 Aust. Div.), was twice Militia rifle champion of N.S.W. and won the championship of the 1st Cavalry Division for five consecutive years. Subsequently, he won the championship of the 1st Division for two years. On seven occasions he reached the final twelve for the Army championship of Australia - a record which still stands. For his services to rifle shooting, he was elected life member of Militia Rifle Clubs' Union. These men are typical of those who played their part with Signals 8 Aust. Div. Sportsmen all. The hope must be expressed that the day is not far distant when they will once more add their talents to the world of sport under happier conditions.

DESERT CAMPAIGNS OF THE NINTH

THE story of Signals 9 Aust. Div. over the past four years is inclined to read like a war travelogue. Capetown, Tidworth, Durban, Palestine, Tobruk, Syria, Alexandria, El Alamein, Lae and Finschhafen are some of the spots on the earth's globe that have seen the unit's color patch.

Memories crowd one upon the other in all fusing fashion when recalling the places seen and the deeds done since the unit and it's spirit were born on the sandy, barren wastes of the Western Desert.

Actually, the unit had a technicolored birth. Among its members are signalmen Born in who have worn at one time technicolor or another the patches of 6th, 7th and 8th Divisions and Corps Signals. Signals 9 Aust. Div. have worked under all sorts of conditions and in such places remote from each other as England, during the Battle of Britain, Tobruk during the siege. Syria, as the army of occupation, El Alamein, when Rommel was finally routed from Egypt, and the New Guinea campaign from Lae -through Finschhafen-to Sio from September 1943 to February 1944.

"Split" Sixth

Many of the present day members of the unit would not be on strength were it not for the fact that the original Signals 6 Aust. Div.-formed in October 1939-was split into two groups. The first flight sailed direct to the Middle East on the 10th of January 1940 under the command of Major J. J. Father. This group subsequently formed the nucleus of Signals 6 Aust. Div. and took part in the first drive through Libya Lip to El Agheila. The remainder of the unit continued their training under Lt-Col. Stevens. On the 4th of May 1940. this "second flight" sailed. The entry of Italy diverted the convoy from the Middle East to South Africa and, eventually, England.

Stowaway

At this stage, a stowaway in the convoy can be introduced-" Peter" the rabbit.

He was smuggled aboard and made his appearance in the troops' quarters a few hours after the ship had sailed. White Angora and perfectly tame, "Peter" remained on unit strength right up to the day he was killed by a dog in Tobruk. This fact was duly noted and cabled home by official war correspondents -with embellishments.

On arrival in England, the A.I.F. was allotted a battle role. Ammunition and equipment were issued and anti-aircraft stations manned. Parties of men were detailed to act as "parashots" as a precaution against invasion from the air. Lines were laid to brigades and regiments. The scene was set.

Invasion warning

On the night of the 6th of September 1940, the "stand to'' warning went throughout the length and breadth of the land.

Rumor suggested that the invasion of the south coast had come at last and, as if to lend realism to the story, the sky was lit with the flashes and glare of a terrific action over Southampton.

But any attempt at invasion was well and truly decimated by the R.A.F. many miles out to sea.

While in Tidworth, the unit had the honor of being inspected by His Majesty the King. An informal visit was paid by the Duke of Gloucester.

The Princess Royal, Colon el-in -Chief of the Australian Corps of Signals, was another visitor. Mr. Churchill also found time to pay a fleeting call.

Australian contingent

Meantime, back in Australia, portions of the 9th Division were being formed. Signal men were transferred from the 8th Division and various

Signal Depots, placed under the command of Major C. L. Southwell and went into training at Bathurst. Equipment was so scarce that the unit could not even boast of a message form. However, Signals 8 Aust. Div. displayed good cooperation and training progressed.

After Christmas dinner in the 8th Division' s lines, the unit prepared to embark that night. The New Year found it on the water, saying farewell to the Australian shore line. On the 27th of January 1941

the first loud cries of "baksheesh" were heard. The orange groves and green hills of the Promised Land lay ahead.

News that the other half of the unit was on its way from England coincided with the settling in" process at Julis.

Thirty-six hours after the fusing of tile two forces, Signals 9 Aust. Div. was oil draft to the Western Desert. At El Gazala. Lt-Col. Veron arrived to assume command. Major Cormack became 2 i/c and Major Woodford O.C. No. 1 Company.

"Benghazi Handicap"

Gazala was only meant to be a base from which to continue training. The now famous Handicap" (1st Division) curtailed all plans. As it was, an advanced detachment had been working forward as far as El Aghella where the previous defence line after the 6th Division's transfer to Greece had been established. Throughout the long retreat, this detachment covered itself with glory. Over fifty per cent were killed, captured or wounded, but at no stage of the retreat were communications lacking between our forces. Lieut. A. H. Dixon received the M.B.E. and Sgt Jack Herrick his commission in the field for their efforts. Sgt Herrick led a party of men back through the German lines. One night they were within fifty yards of raking machine-gun fire, which was directed at them.

The Germans were firing alternatively at waist height and ground level. Standing or lying continuously was out the question. By quick thinking and timing his directions perfectly, Herrick ordered his detachment to stand and lie down in rapid succession to coincide with the appropriate bursts. Lying they dodged the high bursts and standing they could only be wounded in the legs-a smaller target in any case-by the ground-raking fire.

Another portion of the detachment found itself in the middle of all enemy convoy. Swerving to the side of the road, the men pretended to be finding a fault in the engine while the convoy passed on.

Bully beef and bombs

By the 7th of April, the division had scrambled back into the Tobruk fortress and slammed the door be hind it. Though "Big Bad Wolf" Rommel "puffed and puffed", he never succeeded in blowing down the door of Tobruk and it was still firmly shut in his face when the division silently stole out the back way in October. These Australians took with them the honor of being the first troops In the world to crack the nut of German invincibility in this war.

Syria and scenery

After a rest in Palestine where members of the unit spent their first Christmas in the land of The First Christmas, the division moved to Syria-the most scenic country in the Middle East-as occupational troops.

The Divisional Signals Office in Tripoli assumed tremendous proportions. Teleprinters, a sixty-line switchboard, fulllerphones working 200 miles to Aleppo and a 109 set that worked the same distance on R/T kept everyone busy. The D.R.L.S. office, alone, cleared thousands of despatches a day.

Any spare time was spent in rumors about returning home. These were promptly squashed when Rommel's drive took the Afrika Korps to within sixty miles of Alexandria.

Defence, attack and triumph

The Division was thrown hastily into the Alamein box. The Eighth Army consolidated its defence and prepared to attack.

Prior to the big offensive, Signals laid a comprehensive network of "laterals" so that communications could be maintained under any conditions. Linemen were stationed at strategic points to be on the spot if shellfire broke any line. Immediate air support was guaranteed by W/T sets. To overcome earlier line trouble, caused by the tanks tearing the lines to pieces, each line, if it was thought necessary, was buried underground.

Praise must be given to the British 30 Corps Signals. They laid an underground cable from Alexandria to Tactical H.Q. At 2140 hours on the 23rd of October, the terrific, artillery barrage began. The Eighth Army was on the offensive. Twelve days later, the Germans were on the retreat and the Italians were overcrowding the prisoner-of-war cages.

Goodbye to the Middle East

After the smoke had cleared away from El Alamein, the 9th Division was sent back to Palestine where its second -and last-Christmas in the Holy Land was celebrated. On the 27th of January 1943, it set sail for Australia. The convoy sailed into Sydney Harbor on a brilliant sunlit day in February. Ahead lay the immediate prospect of leave and beyond that -new conditions of war in the jungle and a new enemy to be conquered.

CONVERSATION PIECE

" I say, old boy, what's the date today ?"
- "Don't ask me, old boy. I never know. Try Jimmy. He's a well-informed chap first-class honors in history and all that sort of thing."
"Hello exchange. Give me 3999. Hello, Captain Witherfoot please. Oh is that you, Jimmy? I say, what's the date today?"
- "It's the twenty-something. Or is it the nineteenth? If this is Wednesday it's the nineteenth, if it's Thursday it's the twentieth and if it's Friday it's the twenty-first. Of course perhaps it's still only Tuesday. I work seven days a week and all the days are the same, so of course . . ."
"Thanks, old boy. I've heard all that before."
- "Why not try Movements ? They should be able to find out pretty quickly."
"Right. Hello exchange. 4663 please. Hello Movements. Can you tell me the date of today?"
- "You want Air. Extension 3882. Ask for Winterbottom."
"Thanks awfully. Exchange. 3882 please. Hello, is that Winterbottom ?"
- "No, sir; I'm sorry, he's gone to Alex today. Any message?"
"No, don't bother. Blast!"
- "Try Signals. I think they might be able to help.
'*Hello exchange. Give me Signals."
- " 'X' here."
"Can you tell me the date, please ?"
- "Er-sorry-you want the Signalmaster.
"Hello exchange, Signalm aster, please. Is that the Signalmaster ?"
- "No. I'm afraid he's in the Canteen having a cup of tea."
"Well, call you tell me the date?"
- ''Sorry, sir, you want Intelligence. We only keep the time."
"Hello exchange, give me G.S.(1). Hello, who's that?"
- "Captain Smackforth-Brown, G. S. (1) here."
"I say, call you tell me today's date, please?"
- "I'm afraid I can't discuss secret affairs over the open telephone. If you've a request will you put it in writing and send it over in a sealed envelope addressed to me personally".
"Thanks awfully, but this is rather urgent."
- "What about Operations ?"
"Give me 5778 please, exchange. Hello 'G' Ops? I say, Pat, can you tell me today's date ?"
- ''Not off-hand, old boy, but roughly speaking it's around the twenty-first. Try Statistics."
"Hello. 3996. Statistics , can you - can you tell me today's date by any chance ?"
- 'Well, not definitely, but it could be worked out. If you know what day of the week Christmas Day fell on, assuming that to be the 25th of December, you could work it out from that - unless, of course, it was a leap year which would put you one day backwards or forwards as the case may be. "
"I want to know the date now. Is there anyone who knows today's date now?"
- "Have you tried B.T.E.? They could probably get through a special signal to London and you could probably get the answer in four or five hours."
"Oh, Maleesh. It's nine o'clock now and I'm going home. Let's see what's on at the cinemas tonight. Have you got a Mail or Gazette there? Thanks awfully. Let's see now. At the Metro there's ... Good Lord, this is today's paper - it must be the 21st."

THE BATTLE OF RUIN RIDGE

"The death of an Australian Infantry Battalion"

THIS may never rank with the great dramatic stories of the war, but it bears its own imprints of both the tragic and the heroic. It is the story of an unsuccessful attempt to save a battalion from extinction.

The locale was set at El Alamein on the 27th of July 1942. One of Rommel's strong posts and an obstacle to the Allies' advance was a hill known as Ruin Ridge. It was a more than useful observation post for the Germans and consequently had to be captured.

A famous Western Australian battalion was chosen to lead the attack. First, a gap had to be cleared in the minefield guarding the Ridge. Through this the Infantry were to advance and clear a way for the supporting tanks to follow.

A strict time-table was set down for each move. It was a clear, moonlight night. Two minutes ahead of schedule, the battalion had wiped out the outlying opposition and started to file through the gap. When they were safely through, the transport carrying ammunition and supplies started to follow. The leading truck carried ammunition, followed by a jeep to which a 109 set had been attached. The set was operated by two brigade operators-Signalmen Turner and Kelson.

The transport had no sooner started to file through than "Jerry" opened up with everything he had. Two anti-tank guns covered the inner entrance of the gap. One of these scored a direct hit on the leading truck in which the ammunition started a blaze that lit up the scene like daylight. Another shell blew the 109 set in the jeep to pieces. One of the operators was believed to be seriously wounded or killed.

The Germans threw an intense screen of fire across the gap that obliterated everything in its lethal folds. No further transport could pass through and the battalion on the other side was cut off with its communications severed.

Lieut. McNeill, the Signals officer, and CpI Crane, his line corporal, tried to circumvent the gap by laying a line through the minefield. While McNeill held the cable drum, Crane crawled forward with the line and a telephone through heavy machine-gun fire. The concentration of fire became so intense that it was impossible to advance an inch further. All subsequent attempts were frustrated and he was eventually forced to retire.

No word had been heard from the battalion and now the first flush of daylight was appearing in the sky. Daylight came and still no word.

At last it came. At about 0800 hours the operators back at brigade heard faint but clear signals coming over the air in plain language. It was the battalion. The set being used was believed to be an Infantry pack set with its power boosted up by some means or other.

Anxiously they read the first message:

"We are entirely surrounded. Give us arty support." Then followed a map reference.

The Artillery laid down a box barrage round the sorely pressed battalion.

"Rock it in," came back the exhortation.

The Artillery complied with everything they had. The battalion came up again:

Tanks are approaching. Are they yours?

With sorrow in their hearts, brigade had to reply, "No."

"Can we expect tank support?" came the next message.

Again the reply was in the negative.

The heavy German tanks were having a picnic inside the gap. The scene was grimly reminiscent of a cowboys-and- Indians film. Charging round the encircled battalion, the tanks breathed fire and destruction and death as they milled around.

The Artillery fired salvo after salvo. Men of a South Australian battalion outside the gap pleaded to be allowed to make an attempt to rescue the doomed battalion.

Wiser counsel prevailed. It would have been a hopeless attempt.

The battalion's next message read:

"There is not a round of ammunition left."

It was 10 o'clock. Three minutes later came:

"It is the end. Down to a third strength. It is surrender. VA VA VA--and then silence.

The brigade operators recognised the triple VA as a typical Turner trick. He at least was alive at the finish. The fate of Kelson was unknown until messages later came through the Vatican City radio that they were both prisoners.