Lionel Colin Matthews, 1912-1944, a soldier and salesman… Matthews was the third born of plumber, Edgar Roy Matthews and his wife Ann Elizabeth, who raised him in Stepney, Adelaide. He was a public school student educated at East Adelaide Public and a number of Norwood High schools. Matthews then went off to become a salesman in a department store. He was an outstanding swimmer resulting in him being a lifesaver, an ‘Assistant scoutmaster (from 1931)’ in the 1st Kensington Sea Scouts, and was a ‘good amateur boxer’ . At the age of 23 (26th December, 1935) Matthews married Myrtle Lane, a 21-year-old before being involved in social work at Pentridge gaol under the support of the Boy scouts’ Association. Following training in the Citizen Naval …show more content…
Forces as a signal man in April of 1939, Matthews enlisted in the Militia. He was commissioned lieutenant in January of 1940 after being posted to the 3rd Division Signals.
Shortly after on June 10th Matthews was transferred to the Australian Imperial Force until February the following year when he set sail for Singapore through the 8th Division Signals. Matthews was nicknamed, ‘The Duke’ due to his sparking resemblance to the Duke of Gloucester, sporting a clipped moustache alike. Matthews was unquestionably athletically built reaching a height of 6 foot 1 in, and 185 in centimetres. Matthews earned the Military Cross as signals officer of the 27th Brigade while under fire at Malaya, Gemas, and Singapore from Jan-Feb 1942. January of this year ‘The Duke’ was promoted to captain where shortly after on 15th Feb, he was jailed in Changi prison Including Matthews, 1496 Australians who were known as ‘B’ Force were shipped by the Japanese, to Sandakan in British North Borneo, where Matthews was ‘largely responsible for setting up an elaborate intelligence organisation’ . He made contact with an Australian in charge of the nearby government hospital, Dr J.P. Taylor, and with European internees on Berhala Island. In addition to this contact, Matthews and ‘his second-in-command Lieutenant R.G. Wells’ engaged in communications with a number of Asians who comprised of some Chinese and some who …show more content…
belonged to the British North Borneo Constabulary. These men were of great use, giving them a revolver, maps, medical supplies, inside information and parts needed to create a wireless receiver By late 1942, the intelligence network had been largely extended with all information taken back to Matthews and collected for future use.
Matthews got in contact with Filipino guerrillas operating the Sulu Archipelago which resulted in freeing parties of Australians from imprisonment. Though, an unexpected turn of events occurred when the Japanese moved the civilian internees to Kuching in January of 1943, and unofficial control of the armed constabulary was passed onto Matthews where he developed a plan of action to overthrow the Japanese in the event of an allied landing in Borneo, and work on the assembly of a wireless transmitter commenced at the direction of Matthews. In mid-1943, four Chinese-men who were apart of Matthew’s organisation were tortured until they admitted to supplying radio parts. The Japanese arrested men who helped Matthews, Taylor, Wells and the men themselves. They were interrogated, tortured, beaten and deprived of nutrition before being moved to Kuching. Matthews, six Asians, and two members of the constabulary were sentenced to death. Matthews declined a blindfold and was executed on the 2nd March 1944 at Kuching, where he was buried also. Two years later, Matthews was dug up and laid to rest in the Labuan was
cemetery. Knowing full well the consequences of their actions, Matthews had encouraged his fellow accused throughout their actions; however, he refused to ‘implicate or endanger’ their lives. In addition to being known as ‘The Duke’, Matthews was also recognised as a ‘prince among men’ and awarded the George Cross in 1947, after his unfortunate demise. Following in his foot-steps, Geofrey, Matthews’ brother, served in the Army during World War II and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order.
‘’Jeffrey Smart was born on July 1921 and pasted away on the 20th June 2013. He was an Australian painter known for his clear depictions of urban landscapes. Jeffrey Smart was born and educated in Adelaide where he worked as an Art teacher. After departing for Europe in 1948 he studied in Paris at La Grande University and later at the Academia Montmartre with great success. He returned to Australia in 1951, living in Sydney and began exhibiting frequently in 1957.later in his life he moved to Italy in 1971 after a successful exhibition in London, to continue his art career until his death. His art well reflected his art form.
When they were captured, one survivor reports that they were told. ‘You are the guest of the Japanese. You will be spared but not your country. We are going to conquer the world, annihilate your people, and every household will have a white slave.’ (www.riv.conz).
On the 9th of February, three divisions of Japanese soldiers landed in Singapore; a major British military base and presence in the Pacific, under the control of Lieutenant General A.E Percival. Six days later, over 90 000 British, Australian and Indian troops were forced to surrender. It had been believed that Singapore guaranteed the security of Australia, therefore leaving the country seemingly hopeless under the threat of Japanese invasion. The Fall of Singapore in 1942 was significant in affecting the relations between Australia and the United States as the lack of support received from Britain caused, resulting in a drastic movement towards America for protection.
Kelman, Herbert C., Hamilton, V. Lee. “The My Lai Massacre: A Military Crime of Obedience”. Writing & Reading for ACP Composition. Ed. Thomas E. Leahey and Christine R. Farris. New York: Pearson Custom Publishing, 2009. 266-277. Print.
The men rushed to enlist. In the first two weeks 7000 Victorian men volunteered for the first Australian Imperial Force (AIF) and 10,000 in Sydney.” It was a man’s duty to go to war. Most people who lived in Australia felt an obligation to England. England was at war, so Australians wanted to go and help them.
Unfortunately, with most if not all large-scale conflicts, a detrimental aftermath was soon sure to follow. Australia was by no means exempt from this, as made evident by the Australian veterans and
On the 15th of February in 1942 one of the biggest defeats of the British Empire was accomplished by the Japanese, Singapore was surrendered. The Fall of Singapore was relatively destructive to the relationship between Britain and Australia. Australia relied on Britain holding Singapore as it was the last defence against the Japanese and it was feared that Japan would go on and invade Australia if it fell, Australia openly showed that they could not rely on the British for defence by becoming a strong ally with America and asking them to help with the feared Japanese invasion. Australia feared the threat of invasion constantly throughout the war, when Singapore fell the Australian government predicted a certain attack by the Japanese.
The Australian participation in WW2 was similar to that of WW1 in many ways. After the British declared war on Germany on September 3rd 1939, an Australian declaration of war was automatic. Aussie troops were soon sent to different parts of the world to help the British and other allied countries. It was not until late 1941 that they were recalled in order to defend the homefront. Darwin had been suddenly attacked by Japanese planes and small enemy submarines had snuck into Sydney Harbour. Darwin was repeatedly bombed by Japanese planes until July 1941, when along with American troops, the Aussies managed to drive them out of the Solomon Islands and northeastern New Guinea and eliminate a strong Japanese base at Rabaul. Without General MacArthur's troops, the enemy may very well have invaded Australia. This illustrates the importance of alliances.
...ce of ordinary people, fear of retribution from the Japanese underground they still believed to be in existence… (Yamamoto p. 190).” Even after the war, the Chinese were so traumatized by the vile actions that they were still afraid that the Japanese army would return to treat as livestock once more.
Olson, James S., and Randy Roberts. My Lai: A Brief History With Documents. Boston: Bedford, 1998
He was posted back to France in 1918 and was awarded the Military Cross for bravery while in action. He died on the Sombre Canal, a week before Armistice.
Commissioned in the Corps of the Engineers, MacArthur was sent by the United States Army to the Philippines and by 1904 had been promoted to the rank of first lieutenant. Later that year he joined his father who was serving in Far East before becoming aide-de-camp to President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906.
lieutenant. The Red Cross brought him to the front lines of the war in Italy.
“For the first few months the POWs at Changi were allowed to do as they wished with little interference from the Japanese. There was just enough food and medicine provided and, to begin with, the Japanese seemed indifferent to what the POW’s did at Changi. Concerts were organised, quizzes, sporting events etc. The camp was organised into battalions, regiments etc and meticulous military discipline was maintained. In Easter 1942 the attitude of the Japanese had changed. They organised work parties to repair the damaged docks in Singapore and food and medicine became scarce. More pointedly, the Japanese made it clear that they had not signed the Geneva Convention and that they ran the camp as they saw fit.For this reason, 40,000 men from the surrender of Singapore were marched to the northern tip of the island where they were imprisoned at a military base called Selarang, which was near the village of Changi. The British civilian population of Singapore was imprisoned in Changi jail itself, one mile away from Selarang. Eventually, any reference to the area was simply made to Changi.”(1).”The appalling suffering of these POWs was witnessed by British and Commonwealth prisoners held in separate compounds. At Stalag VIIIB alone, in Lamsdorf, eastern Germany, over 40,000 Russians perished. In total, three million Russian POWs died in German
The Japanese leaders had different methods of killing that were instructed to the soldiers. However, the prisoners of this “City of Blood” soon found their liberation and their justice was served. The Japanese saw China as the place to spread their imperial and expansionist objectives. A rough estimate of 300,000 Chinese men and women died in the six weeks after December 13, 1937 (Jones). Around 20,000 women from ages 8 to 70 were raped by Japanese soldiers (Scarred).