Chapter 3 7th in Syria; Signals in Malaya;

WHEN Signals 7 Aust. Div. came into being early in 1940 all states in the Commonwealth were represented. The original Commanding Officer, Lt-Col. B. T. R. Chadd, was given the task of raising and then training the unit's personnel. A start was made on the 13th of May that year when the advance party of four officers and nine men marched into camp at Seymour and proceeded to set up Unit H.Q. Just over a month later all sections were concentrated in Victoria and solid training got under way. In the middle of October the whole unit, less "C", "G" and "K" sections went aboard a huge luxury liner lying in Sydney Harbor. On the 19th of the month, a rousing send-off was given by the legion of small craft in the harbor when the mammoth liner weighed anchor and headed for parts unknown.

Eastward bound

The trip to India was uneventful and quite an enjoyable week was spent at the British Army Hill Station at Deolali famous for its hawks and hawkers. From then on the luxury of the huge liner was exchanged for the cramped quarters of a smaller troopship. Movement was confined to the minimum as H.M.T."XYZ" sweltered her way up the Red Sea. A diversion occurred when the air-raid siren sounded off the coast of Italian Somaliland but nothing was seen of the enemy and the uneventful trip was continued until Kantara was reached in mid-November.

Not long after arrival in Palestine the unit was inspected by Sir Thomas Blamey in the midst of serious training at Qastina. On Christmas Eve, No. 1 Company received its first role and took over the running of the Gaza Signals Office from Corps Signals. The early staff there formed the nucleus of Base Area Signals.

The urge to be "in the show" was satisfied not too long after. The rapid advance of 6 Aust. Div. in the Western Desert stretched the lines of communications longer than a giraffe's neck. No. 1 Company handed Gaza over to No. 3 Company and went post haste across the Sinai, through Egypt and Cairo, to Sollum on the border of Libya.

Co-operation with the Tommies

At this stage, the Italians had been pushed back to Benghazi and beyond and No. 1 Company found itself responsible for Signal Offices at Sollum, Bardia, Tobruk and Derna - plus a 300 miles D.R.L.S. from Sollurn to Barce. No. 1 Company worked in close co-operation with No. 4 L. of C. and 13 Corps units of the Royal Corps of Signals who were encountered later in the year in Syria. The Tobruk detachment had a taste of war when enemy planes "did over" the company's "Q" store and left no stone or F200 unturned.

A sudden return to Palestine was called. The Derna detachment moved first, picking up the, others on the eastward trip until the whole company got together again at Sollum. Rumors of Greece were in the air. A hurried refitting in the Promised Land was followed by another long convoy back through Ikingi Maryut. Rommel was on the prowl again and Greece faded out of the picture when the unit moved back to Mersa Matruh, taking over Fortress Signals Offices with their extensive underground armored cable layouts and anti-aircraft and searchlight installations.

Syrian campaign opens

The stalemate at Sollum resulted in another trek back across the Sinai through - the green fields of Palestine to the Syrian border. Syria was ripe for Axis agents and it was necessary to forestall any German move there. Divisional H.Q. was established at Nazareth with one brigade at Arama and another twenty miles to the south. Both brigades launched their attacks on the 6th of June and communications were spread from the coast to the Merdjayoun Valley. Little wire was found that had not been cut by the enemy or torn by our shellfire. Cable detachments working with the brigades and line sections from 13 British Corps Signals did a big job in restoring and maintaining such P.L. routes as could be used. Owing to the mountainous nature of the country, wireless communications were intermittent and the lack of lateral roads added to the difficulties.

"Mad Mile"

The burden of carrying communications in the early part of the campaign was borne to a great extent by the despatch riders. At one stage, a battalion near Jezzine was separated from its brigade by less than two miles across a steep ravine over which line-laying was impossible. The only means of
communication was a 55-mile D.R.L.S. which included the famous "Mad Mile".

On more than one occasion, the riders maintained their schedules by using roads still under enemy occupation. Message-dropping from the air was also employed. One brigade section had the misfortune to have its O.C. killed and 2 i/c wounded on the same day, but otherwise the unit
escaped with amazingly few casualties. On the cessation of hostilities, elements of Signals marched through Beirut with the 16th Battalion at the official handing over of the country to the Free French.

On the completion of the occupation of Syria, two men received the Military Medal and one the British Empire Medal, while three officers were mentioned in despatches. Unit H.Q. moved to the hills above Beirut where the local population did much to make life comfortable. When winter came, Divisional H.Q. moved to Tripoli and No. 1 Company was billeted in the picturesque village of Dedde, which commanded a fine view of both the coast and the Lebanons. Other sections were spread around Aleppo and the Turkish border. The snow was both a novelty and a nuisance. The already long distances of the D.R.L.S. increased as roads became more difficult, while the maintenance of snow-broken lines made the line crews long for the desert once more.

Farewell to the East

Early in January 1942, communications were handed over to Signals 9 Aust. Div. and the unit moved back to Palestine, ac companied by rumors that varied between Libya and

Burma. They increased when the Suez was crossed and camp made six miles north of Port Said. Embarkation orders were issued and after marching with full equipment to Tewfik, transports were boarded and the convoy sailed down the Red Sea. Four days out from Colombo, the ship's loudspeaker system announced that Australia was the destination. A fast, enjoyable trip reached its climax when shouts from. the top deck heralded the first glimpse of Adelaide. The Seventh had arrived home.

SIGNALS IN MALAYA

ON the evening of the 15th of February 1942, after a silence of several days, Singapore's air-raid sirens sounded a long "all clear''. This was the signal to "cease fire". Singapore had surrendered and some 700 men of one of the finest units of the Australian Corps of Signals had become prisoners of the Japanese.

The majority of these men enlisted during those dark days of 1941 when the German armies were over-running France. During June and July 1940 they were selected in Recruit Reception Depots all over Australia from Brisbane to Perth and early in August they were concentrated in Liverpool Camp.

There they met their first C.O., Lt-Col. J. H. Thyer, and received their first big surprise. They had imagined that they would immediately start training as linemen, despatch riders, operators and technicians. The C.O. pointed out that they had to learn to be soldiers first.

For eight weeks there was no mention of signalling in their training. They drilled on the parade ground, went on long route marches, learnt to handle arms and to fight as Infantry. This was followed by specialist training in Signals trades and later by section and unit training. However, through all the months of preparation for battle both in Australia and abroad, Lt.-Col. Thyer kept them at their Infantry training - learning to fight the enemy with the weapons they were given. This training later stood them in good stead in Singapore.

In December 1940 the unit was in camp in Bathurst, doing section training and just beginning to find itself as a Signals unit. Suddenly, it was called upon to supply Officers and men to form half of Signals
Aust. Div. and within a few weeks those had left to join the rest of their new unit overseas. The loss of so many comrades, mixed with dashed hopes for an move overseas, left many heavy hearts in Signals 8 Aust. Div.

However, the gaps in the ranks were filled with new reinforcements-good material that had been languishing in training depots almost as long as the unit had been formed-and final leave came at Christmas.

On the 3rd of February 1941, with playing and leaving a crowd of small boats bobbing in her wake, one of the world's largest liners sailed through Sydney Heads with the main body of Signals 8 Aust. Div. aboard.

Fifteen days later, after lectures on malaria and other tropical diseases, the men disembarked at the naval base at Singapore. From there, an eight hours trip in the train took them to their new training camps.

These camps were all on the mainland of Malaya. Unit H.Q. and No. 1 Company themselves on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur 230 miles north of Singapore. The 22nd Brigade Signals Section was with it's brigade at Port Dickson, fifty miles south of Kuala Lumpur, and the 2/10th Field Regiment Signals Section was with it's regiment at Malacca, ninety miles south of Kuala Lumpur and 140 miles from Singapore.

All were in areas protected against malaria - a tremendous advantage for troops new to the country, as it enabled them to complete their anti-malarial training and become acclimatized at the same time without suffering casualties through initial mistakes and inexperience.

Equipment and transport arrived and were unpacked, but all packing cases were carefully stored against the day when the unit would move on to the Middle East and the "real war".

Then commenced a period of intensive training, interspersed with occasional periods of "standing to" - known as "flaps". The first serious "flap" occurred in March 1941 when Thai troops were gathering on the northern border. At that time, the 11th Indian Division was guarding the north-western approaches to Thailand, and the main body of its Signals unit had not arrived. Signals 8 Aust. Div. sent a detachment (comprising about a third of No. 1 Company) north to Kedah, where it helped provide the communications for this division during "manoeuvres" on the border. Meanwhile the remainder of the unit accompanied 8 Aust. Div., acting in the role of a mobile reserve, in a dash to the east coast of Johore. The " flap" was soon over and the unit back in Kuala Lumpur, but some lasting friendships had been made with the men of British units, such as the Leicesters and the East Surreys.

During the next few months, unit and divisional exercises took Signals 8 Aust. Div. all over Malaya. They crossed the great mountain ranges on the borders of Pahang where the air was clear and cool as on a September morning in southern Australia, and then on into the broad plains beyond where the small noises of the steaming jungles were broken by the chatter of monkeys and the thunder of mighty rivers. Some of the more fortunate, with kind words and suitable bribes, were able to entice the timid jungle men, the Sakai, to demonstrate their skill with the blow pipe, or to point out the tracks where the elephant, "Gajah", had passed silently in the night. In the monotonous half light of the mosquito-ridden rubber plantations in Selangor and Negri-Sembilan, through the colorful padi fields of Malacca, in pleasant coconut plantations by the sea and in the filthy black swamps of western Johore, the men learnt to adapt themselves and their equipment to a new type of warfare. It was known that in the event of an attack on Malaya the enemy would have air superiority for some time and every Signals Office and wireless station had to be dug in.

In August 1941, another brigade group arrived from Australia and 8 Aust. Div. took over the defence of Johore. One brigade was stationed at Mersing, on the east coast eighty miles north of Singapore, and the newly arrived brigade was in reserve near Segamat in the west. Signals 8 Aust. Div. moved down from Kuala Lumpur and took over the communications. At this time, Lt-Col. Thyer was promoted to colonel and became G.S.O.1 of the division and Lt-Col. Kappè, who had been G.S.O.(II). took his place as C.O. of the unit.

The anti-malarial training of the previous months paid dividends. Previously the men had spent much of their time in protected areas and detachments were rarely in a malarial area for more than ten days at a time. Eastern Johore, however, included some of the most highly malarial areas in Malaya, and from that time on the majority of the Signals offices, wireless stations and lines installed and operated by the unit were in these areas. With brigades over a hundred miles apart and smaller isolated detachments manning vulnerable points all over Johore Bahru (at the northern end of the Causeway to Singapore Island), advanced Divisional H.Q. was in a rubber plantation on the fringe of the jungle, about eighteen miles west of Mersing.

The 22nd Brigade was at Mersing and the 27th Brigade near Segamat, a hundred miles to the west. Signals offices with line and wireless communications were provided for detachments at Endau, some twenty miles north of Mersing, and at Bukit Tiga, where an Infantry group was manning a boom defence across the Sedili River, five or six hours in a motor boat from the road that formed our main line of communication to Singapore. Other Signals centres were established at Kluang, fifty miles west and at Ulu Sedili and Kota Tinggi, twenty and forty miles south of Advanced Divisional H.Q. respectively.

This task was naturally beyond the resources of a Divisional Signals unit and so it was reinforced by some Corps Signals sections, which became No. 4 Company. Additional assistance in the heavy permanent line Construction and maintenance tasks was provided by Malaya Command, who placed line sections of the Royal Corps of Signals under the command of Signals 8 Aust. DIv. At various times.

27 Line Construction Section and 74 and 75 Line Maintenance Sections worked with the unit-and very fine sections they were.

The months of preparation of Johore were also notable for the final "hardening" of the unit under Lt-Col. Kappe's vigorous direction with long route marches and treks through the sweltering plantations and jungles, and intense Infantry training for all ranks and trades.

Five days before the outbreak of way with Japan, all units "stood to" and moved to their battle stations. When news came of the attack on Kota Baru and the bombing of Singapore, the 22nd Brigade had a very hot reception prepared for the Japanese at Mersing where, with good beaches, a direct road to Singapore (only seventy miles away) and another road across the peninsula to cut communications between Singapore and the main British forces ill the north, the Japs were expected to make their main assault.

However, the enemy preferred the 600 mile drive down the west of the peninsula, and while the 11th Indian Division bore the main weight of the attack in the northwest, the A.I.F. was left, at first hopefully and later resignedly, manning their long prepared positions and replacing mines and booby traps that had been set off by monkeys and wild pigs.

Early in January, the 11th Indian Division had fought an unequal battle with the main Japanese forces in a 300-mile withdrawal, continually pounded from the air and outflanked by sea. One of the two A.I.F. brigades, together with a newly arrived Indian brigade and the remaining parts of the 9th Indian Division, took over the task of stopping the Japanese advance down the west of the peninsula. This force was placed tinder command of G.O.C. 8 Aust. Div. and Signals 8 Aust. Div. were called upon to provide the communications.

It would be impossible to give a detailed account of the work of Signals 8 Aust. Div. during the rest of the campaign. Doing the work both of Divisional and Corps Signals, and with fighting going on at Endau on the east coast, at Gemas and Segamat in the centre, and at Muar on the west coast - each separated by a hundred miles of jungle - their resources were extended to the limit. However, communications were maintained to the end.

The 45th Indian Brigade had been destroyed in the Muar area and its H.Q. wiped out. The 2/19th and 2/29th Australian Battalions, who had been sent to help, had been cut off and surrounded. An "A" Section wireless, detachment joined tip with the surrounded battalions and established communication with Divisional Emergency Control Station. When the identity of the station had been checked it was feared that the battalions had been destroyed - they maintained communications for five days as the group fought its way through the Japanese Imperial Guards.

In the end, with one of the three operators killed and another wounded, they received the last message ordering the remnants of the force to disband and return through the Japanese lines. Two days later they reported back to the unit. For their devotion to duty, the N.C.O. in charge, Cpl. Bingham, was awarded the D.C.M., and the other surviving member, Sigmn. Bernot, the M.M. Signmn. Ward did a magnificent job as a despatch rider with this force. Lieut. Phillips had been attached to the 45th Brigade as Signals Officer. After doing everything possible, and some things almost impossible from the Signals point of view, he led the Indians in counter-attacks against the Japanese. He was finally killed when the brigade H.Q. was wiped out in a heavy bombing attack.

The maintenance of lines, alone, was a colossal undertaking. They were all long and under continual enemy air attacks. To keep them through became the job not only of the line sections, but also that of the operators and despatch riders. The farsighted training laid down by Colonel Thyer and Lt-Col. Kappè proved itself. It was their policy that a man should be proficient in at least two jobs. Thus, when operators and despatch riders went out on a line there was never any doubt, irrespective of the length, as to their ability to find and rectify the fault. The story of the retirement of the troops under Malaya Command back to Singapore has been written many times. It is a story of unopposed air attacks, a fighting withdrawal against an enemy whose control of the sea and air gave him unrestricted freedom of manoeuvre and enabled him to outflank any defended position by moving down the coast in small boats by night. The successful and orderly evacuation over the causeway to the island was an outstanding feat, impossible without perfect Signals coordination.

In the final stand on the island of Singapore, Engineers, Ordnance and Signals held part of the A.I.F. perimeter. They installed every conceivable weapon. Vickers guns, various pieces of Artillery and Bren and anti-tank rifles were called into service. Signals scored a triumph when some of their attached L.A.D. knocked out a Japanese tank by shooting the driver through his vision slot. On the island it was a case of maintaining communications with ever moving troops. Communications were held to all Australian units right up to the hour of the capitulation.

It was a sad blow to the Australian Corps of Signals to lose Signals 8 Aust. Div. Right up to the fateful day in February 1942, they lived up to their motto, "Through", which they had adopted very early in their Australian training days.