Some time ago my brother Bruce and l were talking about our time growing up at number four Parker street Beaufort.
Bruce mentioned about one of our neighbours, Thomas Stewart Johnston, he said our father Eric had told him that Tom was on the island of Ambon during the second World War and had escaped making his way back to Darwin. Maybe Tom and my father had spoken with each other about their experience during World War two my father was on the island Morotai before and after the Japanese Imperial force surrendered. Those of you that have not heard of Ambon, it is an island approximately 1000 kilometres north from Darwin, the island is synonymous with the bloodiest of war crimes committed by the Japanese Imperial Force. Of the total number of Australians in Gull force, 1150 men just over 300 of them lived to tell of their time on Ambon. The death rate on Ambon was a staggering 77 per cent of all those men held in captivity, that in itself is another story, but this story is about Tom.
Tom like so many other Australian men and women volunteered in the Australian Imperial Force on the 1/7/1940 enlisting at Caulfield in Melbourne. Tom was assigned to the 2/21st infantry Battalion of the 23rd Brigade, 8th Division, that would be called Gull Force. Tom was trained as a Signalman; Gull Force was made up of men mainly from Victoria and some from NSW. They first camped at the showgrounds at Shepparton then onto Trawool on the banks of the Goulburn River near Seymour. Their next camp was Bonegilla, close to Albury, it was decided that the men would march the 250 kilometres to Bonegilla to improve their physical fitness. lt took eleven days and has been described as the longest military manoeuvre in the history of Australia. Then in early 1941 they were herded aboard a train to Alice Springs; next they were on the Stuart Highway making their way to Darwin. Lieutenant Colonel Len Roach was the officer in charge of Gull Force and for the next nine months began training his men for war. Little did the men know what lay ahead of them on Ambon.
The reason for Gull Force being sent to Ambon came towards the end of February 1941, when the Dutch pledged to provide air back up in the Defence of Malaya should the Japanese Imperial Force enter the war, in return for a commitment by Australia to protect Timor and Ambon which was part of the Dutch East lndies. Lieutenant Colonel Roach and two senior Officers went to Ambon on a reconnaissance mission, and they had real concerns that with the number of men and equipment they had, would be no match for the Japanese Imperial Force. These concerns were ignored by Army HQ and the men embarked for Ambon on the 13th of December 1941 aboard three ships arriving at Ambon on the 17th of December 1941. There they joined 2500 Royal Netherlands East lndies Army troops. Once on Ambon, Roach was still trying to convince Army HQ that they should not be on Ambon.
The army sent Lieutenant Edgar Tanner an intelligence officer to Ambon to see first hand what Roach was complaining about, his verdict was if Gull Force was not evacuated there will be a diaster in the futile sacrifice of valuable men, this was again ignored by Army HQ. Without a clear brief from Army HQ, Gull Force had a problem, and it didn’t help that there was a difference of opinion in the defence plans between Colonel JRL Kapitz Commander of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army and Lieutenant Colonel Roach. In the end the two sides made their own plans. Roach had doubts that the Dutch would be able to man all the posts and defences allotted to them. The Australians were positioned both east and west of the island with a scattering of Dutch units in between. The Japanese started their air raids on the 6th and 7th of January 1942, warships started pounding the island as well.
On the 13th, Lieutenant Colonel Roach sent a signal to Army HQ advising them of the overwhelming enemy force stating that Gull Force wouldn’t be able to hold out for more than a day, his requested for the immediate evacuation of the combined force was denied. By now Army HQ was growing tied of Roach’s complains and he was recalled to Australia on the 16th of January 1942 and replaced by Lieutenant Colonel William Scott the same day, that proved to be a poor move on behalf of Army HQ. Scott had very little knowledge of Ambon, the men under his command found Scott aloof and arrogant, he impressed few of the officers and none of the men, who respected Roach .The Japanese Imperial Force, land invasion started on the 31st of January 1942, depending on want l have read there was between 20000 and 25000 Japanese soldiers invading Ambon by land.
There was approximately 4500 troops, 1150 Australians, 2500 Dutch and about 850 indigenous soldiers The Dutch expected the Japanese to attack in certain places, but they didn’t, both the Australians and the Dutch appeared to be taken by surprise. Lieutenant Colonel Roach’s warning to Army HQ was unfolding, Gull Force had no chance of repelling the might of the large Japanese invasion. There were acts of bravery during the invasion by two Australians, Bill Doolan who refuse to leave his position, and guarantee his party a successful withdrawal. Bill was killed, in a rare act after the surrender the Japanese agreed for Bill to be given a proper burial where he fell, it would appear that they had respect for his courage.
Alex Hawkins aimed his machine gun at a Japanese minesweeper that was in the bay, the ship was moving trying to get out of the machine gun range in doing so it hit a mine that was in the water exploded and sank. Most of the hundred strong crew died. Unfortunately, the sinking of the ship would have severe consequences for the men defending Laha air base. The Dutch surrendered after one day, the Australians agreed to a ceasefire on the 2nd of February 1942, and the signing of the surrender took place on the 3rd of February 1942. Once the Australian and Dutch soldiers became POW’s defeat, hunger, disease, bashings and for many death was the result. For the men who were now POWs at Laha air base their fate was sealed, in reprisal for the loss of men aboard the Japanese minesweeper about one hundred crew, the survivors demanded three allied soldiers for every Japanese sailor who had been killed. Between the 5th and 20th of February 1942, approximately 300 soldiers mainly Australians, but some Dutch soldiers were beheaded. The other Australian and Dutch soldiers now POW ‘s at Tantui on another part of the island had no idea this had happened. And would not be discovered until after the 2/9/1945 when the Japanese Imperial Force surrendered.
There were a number of successful escape parties that took place from 2/2/1942 before the surrender and the 17/3/1942 being the last after the surrender, from the information l was able to research there were a total number of forty eight men that escaped from Ambon.
l was not able to find Tom on any list, but on Tom’s record he is recorded as missing on the 2/2/1942. and the next entry he is back in Darwin. l have listened to three hours of interviews with Lieutenant William Jinkins that were recorded on the 10th of April 1984, Jinkins and six other men escape from Tantui POW camp at approximately 7.15 pm on the 17/3/1942. Jinkins said without the help of Bill Gasper and his family his escape may not have happen, Bill was the local police chief and was Ambonese. Once outside the camp they were met by 3 locals that had been prearranged, they were guided to the village of Narku, were they were provide with three canoes and six male paddlers. There next stop was the island of Haruku, Jinkins was aware of two Australians that had escaped from Tantui POW camp, he named them as Amor and McPherson and knew they were on Haruku, he made contact with them, one had malaria and was unfit to travel, so they both remained, but they said they would try to catch up with his party latter.
Locals again helped with providing a sailing boat of about 22 feet in length. Their next stop was the island of Saparua followed by Amahai that is 96 kilometres from Ambon there is many small islands in that region, and they refer to it as island hopping until they arrived at Amahai. He mentions meeting two more Australians there, who he names as Johnston but could not remember the name of the second man, I have tried to find who was with Johnston at Amahai but l have been unable. It would not have been easy for the two of them to arrive at Amahai, most of the way there would have been by boat. The local Ambonese have been reported as being very helpful to the Australians but the Muslims would report you to the Japanese, and Jinkins was very aware of this, Amor and McPherson who were on Haruku had made there way to Amahai, and made contact with Jinkins.
They all boarded their boat and set off towards Australia, Jinkins said from about Tehoru they ran into very bad weather, Johnston became very ill, and said Johnston would have preferred to have died. Johnston with his mate were put ashore, Jinkins said he doubts if Johnston would have survived by himself. Johnston and his mate said they would walk and try to meet them at a latter stage, if you look at a map of this region it is possible to walk some of the way. Jinkins and his crew of now nine men set sail their next stop was the small island of Geser, where they were met by a Dutch controller. Jinkins was told that Johnston and his mate were on the island of Seram that is southeast of Geser and that they were in a bad way, every Muslin village they had passed through, they had been stoned. The Dutch controller sent a detachment of police by fast boat to Seram and collected the two men and brought them back to Geser, Jinkins described them as being in bad shape, while on Geser they were both put into hospital and treated.
They needed more diesel fuel and the Dutch controller arranged for more diesel fuel to be brought to them that took about 2-3 days to arrive. While they were at Geser, nine Dutch soldiers arrived that escaped from Ambon. When it was time to leave they tried to start the engine of the boat it would not start and there were other issues with it that would have been a problem. Jinkins put the word out that he was willing to buy a boat and two arrived one was purchased and one was chartered. They left Geser, Jinkins crew along with Johnston and his mate in one boat and the Dutch soldiers on the other boat they island hoped towards the Kai islands. The Dutch soldiers went in another direction and Jinkins did not see them for the next three days.
Both Landed at the port of Tual, just on dusk they could. see six armed men coming towards them which they thought were Japanese soldiers. Jinkins and his crew armed themselves thinking they may be in for a fight, they had come this far and there was no turning back, but the six men were Ambonese and friendly. They left the nine Dutch soldiers at Tual and then sailed for Saumlaki. Jinkins calculated they had travelled about 400 miles with another 800 miles to go on the course they had chosen. When coming into Saumlaki they passed over a reef and damaged the rudder of the boat, at Saumlarki they were met by friendly locals and stayed there for the next three weeks.
The Dutch controller was described by Jinkins as helpful. There was a 250-ton boat in the harbour that had a crew of thirteen men, and permission was granted that Jinkins could have the use of the boat. Jinkins and his men were shown how to operate the boat. There was not enough fuel to get them back to Darwin, but they still decided to go in the hope that the Hudson aeroplanes they had seen at different times flying over them would see them and send help. They set sail at dusk, Jinkins and the ten other men, they encountered rough seas and decided to return to Saumlaki but unfortunately the boat hit a reef and became stuck. They stayed on board the boat for the next 36 hours, hoping the boat would free itself, but the boat remained stuck, they lowered a lifeboat and rowed back into Saumlaki. While back on Saumlaki a forty to forty-five feet boat arrived in the harbour with the nine Dutch soldiers they had left behind at Tual. Jinkins asked for permission to use the boat, but it was not granted, Jinkins tried to negotiate to get permission to be given the boat, but the answer remained no.
Then a change of mind, they could have the boat, but they would have to leave two Australians there as a guarantee that the boat would be returned, Jinkins would not agree to their request. Before the final meeting where he tried to get permission to use the boat again, Jinkins had placed one of his men in each corner of the meeting room, each man was wearing a ground sheet or a great coat. If the answer was no, by prior arrangement with his men a signal would be given by Jinkins, and that signal was that he would remove his hanky and blow his noise. The signal was given and the men removed their ground sheets or great coats and showed that they were armed. The boat along with the crew was taken at gun point, the skipper was told he would navigate the boat to Darwin. If he went off course by 5 degrees, he would be shot and thrown overboard. Also, the engineer was told that if the engine faulted, he would be shot and thrown overboard. Wether this was a bluff or not l don’t know but these were desperate times and Australia was at war.
There was not enough diesel fuel in the boat to take it to Darwin, so the Dutch controller sent out a message to every village within the area to produce coconut oil and bring it to the boat. Jinkins said for at least the next seven days 100’s of natives brought in coconut oil in hollow pieces of bamboo 6-9 inches in diameter and 6-8 feet in length. It was strained through hospital bandages into 44-gallon drums. A small quantity of aviation fuel was added to the coconut oil then pumped into the fuel tanks of the boat. Jinkins said this was not uncommon for the locals to use this mixture of diesel fuel, aviation fuel and coconut oil to be mixed together. The motor would be started on diesel then switched over to the coconut oil mixture and this worked well. It was the custom of the Japanese to fly over Saumlaki every day at about midday with one or two Zero aeroplanes as low as fifty feet, but there were no issues. They were now ready to leave Saumlaki and sail into the Arafura Sea, Darwin would be their next stop, Jinkins and the ten Australians, the nine Dutch soldiers and the crew of the boat. Jinkins stayed with the skipper at the helm for the next 72 hours, the original six members of his escape party were posted around the boat to make sure everything ran smoothly.
Using a compass and the stars they set their course to the east, when they first sighted land, they expected to be west of Bathurst Island. But as they got closer, they could see they were not going to the west of Bathurst Island but rather heading down the centre of it. They knew that between Bathurst Island and the next island there was a navigable channel which they sailed into, heading toward Snake Island. They changed course a number of times around Bathurst Island and it was a matter of guess work. It was dark there was no moon to set a course and for about 1- 1/2 hours the bottom of the boat was hitting coral reefs. Jinkins described it as a very trying time for everyone on board, and that the sea was also the enemy for them. Daylight came and deeper water, they could now tell they were on the right course for Darwin. They sailed at full speed all day down the west coast of Bathurst Island towards the Darwin harbour arriving about 5.00pm Jinkins said they arrived on the 4th or 5th of May1942, his Army records show he arrived on the 13/5/1942.
The Australian War Memorial advised me that entry dates for events are recorded when they are written in not necessary when they occur. Jinkins arranged for the Australian and Dutch soldiers to be taken care of along with the crew. Jinkins was sent to Melbourne to report to the Director of Military Intelligence at the Victorian barracks, were he recorded details of his escape. I cannot find any details of the other Australian men who were with Jinkins that arrived at Darwin, l would be of the opinion that they would have been debriefed or faced a court of enquiry. I have tried to get access to certain documents but unfortunately, they are classified as restricted. l previous mention that Army HQ sent Lieutenant Edgar Tanner to Ambon in early January 1942, to see firsthand what Lieutenant Colonel Len Roach was complaining about. He recommended that the troops be evacuated otherwise there will be a diaster in the futile sacrifice of valuable men, and that is exactly what happen. This maybe the reason why l cannot get access to certain documents because Army HQ made a mistake in sending men to Ambon. Tom Johnston was transferred to the 34th Infantry Battalion and served out the remainder of the war within Australia, he was discharged on the 26/10/1945.
l have spoken with Tom Johnston’s daughter Joy and son Richard, they both live in Beaufort, they both gave permission for this article to be printed about their father. They both told me that they knew very little about their father’s time in the Army, and when he was on the island of Ambon. My research for this article has come from what little knowledge l had of Ambon, the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the National Archives of Australia, the Gull Force Association, three hours of recorded interviews with Lieutenant Jinkins done on the 10th of April1984. Ambon by Roger Maynard and a thesis by Paul Rosenzeig, for the Northern Territory University. l have checked and rechecked names and dates and hope that everything l have written is a true account of what happened to Tom. With regard to the person who was with Tom when they met up with Jinkin’s at Amahai, l have a name but some parts do not match up therefore, l have referred to him as Tom’s mate. Tom like most other men that have served their country in a theatre of war overseas never spoke about his experience with his wife or family.
For those of you that have taken the time to read this article especial the people than knew Tom, try and think what it must have been like knowing you were out numbered by the Japanese Imperial Army, knowing you had no chance. Tom Johnston and his mate were 2 out of 48 men that escaped from Ambon, they were lucky to be picked up by Lieutenant Jinkins at Amahai and made it back to Darwin. Tom’s journey took around fourteen weeks. With the constant fear of being spotted by a Japanese Zero aeroplane, and if captured they would probably have been executed. l am sure because of what Tom had went through, Tom like so many other men and women who have served their country in a theatre of war suffered the rest of his life in silence. The last time l seen Tom alive was when his wife Ruby came to my parents house and asked if my father Eric and l would go back with her and help the two ambulance officers get Tom up off the kitchen floor were he had collapsed. Tom was then place onto a trolley and then into the back of the ambulance. Tom passed away on the 30/8/1974 he was 66 years of age, RIP Thomas Stewart Johnston, Lest we Forget.
Written and researched by Colin Lofts.
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