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Herein lies the history of the 4th Anti Tank Regiment of the Royal Australian Artillery. It is a record of strength and courage that started 60 years ago in 1940 and which has not yet run its full course. Indeed this history will never be complete so long as a single member of the Regiment or a loved one remains and remembers, because that is the nature of both the Regiment and its Association.
This work certainly does not pretend to be all embracing nor definitive; rather it is an attempt to record the part played by a tactically dispersed unit in the defence against the Japanese thrust to Singapore and Australia in early 1942. Most importantly, it acknowledges the sacrifice made by the men of the 4th Anti Tank Regiment both in combat and afterwards, for most, as Prisoners of War of the Japanese.
This history of the 4th Anti Tank Regiment is outlined rather clinically. Some emphasis however, has been placed on the experiences of individual soldiers and in the compilation of the attached nominal roll of those who served. The Australian War Memorial Official History of the relevant areas of World War Two and numerous other sources should be consulted for further, more formal detail of the operational aspects affecting the 4th Anti Tank Regiment.
 Similarly, historians such as Don Wall, Keith Wilson and Hank Nelson are but a few who have chronicled the courage, sacrifice and deprivations attendant to life as an Australian Prisoner of War under the Japanese. These more distressing areas are only touched on and certainly academic analysis is minimised. To do otherwise would be inappropriate as words tail to capture adequately the depth of misery and horror endured by these prisoners, particularly words penned by one who was not there.
The history starts in Melbourne in mid 1940 with the frenetic rush to raise and equip a third division for the 2nd Australian Imperial Force (AIF) to be titled the 8th Division. Approval for the raising of this division was conveyed to the Secretary of the Department of the Army from the War Cabinet on 22nd May 1940. The 6th and 7th Divisions of course had already been raised and were involved in honouring Australia's Treaty commitments with Great Britain and her allies in Europe and the Middle East.
Initially Major General Sturdee was given command of the 8th Division. But, following a tragic air crash in Canberra, which took the life of Sir Brudenell White, Chief of the General Staff, Sturdee replaced White and Major General H Cordon Bennett assumed command of the 8th Division on 27th September 1940.
Part of an Infantry Division is an artillery component together with other supporting arms and services. In the case of the 8th Division the need for an anti armoured artillery capability was apparent in view of recent experiences in North Africa and the growing intelligence of the Japanese tactical modus operandi throughout the Asian continent in the late 1930s. By 1st August 1940 the first three anti tank regiments had been raised for the 6th, 7th and 8th.1 Divisions but operational commitments overseas necessitated the loss of the 8th Division's anti tank regiment. In view of the acknowledged needs and urgency, a further anti tank regiment, the 4th Anti Tank Regiment was raised to support the 8th Division.
 The Commonwealth Gazette promulgated notice of the raising of the 4th Anti Tank Regiment with effect from 17th October 1940. The Regiment was first located in Melbourne's wide tree lined St Kilda Road at Number 466. The newly appointed Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel McEachern, called on the General Officer Commanding 8th Division and was given permission 'to enlist officers from anywhere in Australia but not many from New South Wales'. Although a rather odd constraint, McEachern immediately set to, with the disciplined determination with which he was soon hallmarked, and commenced 'recruiting'.
Among the areas from which McEachern sought his new unit's officers were local Victorian militia units where he obtained the services of young officers such as John English and John Ross from the Melbourne based 5th and 6th Infantry Battalions. Other potential officers like Russell 'Bill' McCure from the 58th Infantry Battalion at Essendon underwent short but intensive courses at Seymour before marching into the 4th Anti Tank Regiment with brand new 'pips up'. Within weeks a complement of officers was acquired with Captain Arthur Brown posted as Adjutant from his position of instructor at the School of Artillery in Sydney. The key non-commissioned appointments of Regimental Sergeant Major and Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant were passed to Warrant Officers Wallis and Warren respectively.
On 25th November 1940 the first ninety Other Ranks, or Gunners to use the correct Artillery terminology, were taken on strength from camps at places like Williamstown and Bacchus Marsh. These men, together with the fledgling Regimental Headquarters from St Kilda Road moved to Puckapunyal military camp near Seymour over the following two weeks. The 4th Anti Tank Regiment therefore started to form in earnest at Puckapunyal in the closing weeks of 1940. Twenty eight years old Gunner NS ('Sleepy') Hollow was quickly promoted to Acting Sergeant for Orderly Room duties and was thus the first promotion recorded in the new unit. Prior to enlisting 'Sleepy' had spent more than five years with the Royal Australian Artillery under the part-time Voluntary Military Training Scheme or the Militia, as it was better known.
With few exceptions the anti tankers were Victorian enlistees in the AIF and were typically in their early twenties with little or no previous military background. Many were city boys, like Wal Deal of Fitzroy who was to die in Thailand and Bob Dawson from Footscray. There were a number of family enlistments like cousins Ken and Bruce Dumbrell, the former going on to become commissioned with the Regiment while the latter was forced to leave the Regiment due to illness but who later accrued a most distinguished service record with the RAAF. Additional family enlistments included the Cooper and McClone brothers and Arthur and Clyde Freake. Other men hailed from distant country areas in Victoria like Harvey Perkins from Mortlake, Des Dawe and Keith McKenzie from around Swan Hill and Evan Dawson from Tallangatta. Only a few, like Reg Eves who hailed from Earlwood, NSW came from interstate.
One group of recruits for the unit comprised the bulk of the members of the Mildura Pipe Band. These men, including Dick Voege, Bob and Dave Powis, Em Clifford, Stan Newton, Jim Oliver, Colin MacDonald and Johnny Hannah served as gunners, drivers and stretcher bearers but most importantly their musical prowess under the Band Master, Staff Sergeant Bill Brown, was to prove of immense value and comfort to the Regiment. In fact the 4th Anti Tank Regiment was unique in the 2nd AIF in that it alone boasted a Regimental Pipe Band.
Another group of recruits known as the 'Nurmurkah Mob' warrants special consideration. Before the war a troop of the 20th Light Horse Regiment had been established at Nurmurkah in central Victoria. Following a three month camp at Torquay in early 1940 a number of the Nurmurkah men in the Regiment discussed the question of enlisting in the newly formed 2nd AIF. As most of the men were farmers it was agreed that, as soon as the wheat crop was sown, those who wished would volunteer for the AIF then destined for service in the Middle East. Their responsibilities on the land were duly completed and a group of fourteen men from the Nurmurkah district headed off for Melbourne in their Militia uniforms, set on enlistment in the AIF.
 The 'Nurmurkah Mob' arrived at Melbourne Town Hall on 28th June 1940 and were treated with great acclaim, being photographed by the Sun Pictorial on the steps of the Town Hall with the Lady Mayoress of Melbourne. Later a Sun Herald photographer captured the men on film in Swanston Street. It was stirring stuff for the Army's recruiting efforts and appealed to the general feelings of the Australian public who were watching the war news in Europe with growing interest and no small amount of apprehension.
The boys from the bush all sailed through their medical examinations and were allocated their VX regimental number indicating Victorian enlistment with AIF status, which could require them to serve overseas. With some temerity the lads then asked for three weeks leave as one of their number was about to get married. It must have promised to be some wedding and remarkably the astonished recruiting officer granted the leave as requested.
Some potential recruits for the 4th Anti Tank Regiment were to spend a month or two at the Royal Park depot before movement to an Infantry Training Battalion at Benalla. Later these men were shifted to Wangaratta and thence to Puckapunyal. Colonel McEachern by now was well established at Puckapunyal with his growing Regiment and he took the opportunity to assess the suitability of new troops for transfer to his unit as they arrived at Puckapunyal. By now the Colonel had earned the respected nickname of 'The Coves' in view of his preference for addressing all and any troops with a like title. The nickname 'stuck' and is used with deference to this day.
As it happened Colonel McEachern inspected the newly arrived ranks of a, recent contingent to Puckapunyal which included the 'Nurmurkah Mob'. 'The Coves' stopped at Private Gerry Shannon, sized him up and down and barked: 'Step out soldier'. Shannon, not being a tall man, shuffled a little and then bravely drew himself further upright; fumbling his words Shannon blurted out: 'I've got about a dozen mates here, Sir'. 'Well get them out too', McEachern retorted. Frank Christie cleared the air from the ranks when he next piped up: 'One in, all in'. So it was that the 'Numurkah Mob' and others commenced a long association with the 4th Anti Tank Regiment which prevails to the present time.
It follows that the behaviour of these men of the 4th Anti Tank Regiment who came from all walks of life, and who quickly formed a cohesive team, in action and later as Prisoners of War is especially noteworthy. Perhaps even more notable is the esprit de corps that continues to prevail among the Association members and their families fifty years later. Clearly it was the experiences of these men, starting at Puckapunyal and for many, finishing in captivity, that forged lasting bonds of friendship and reliance on each other. |
