Department of Veterans' Affairs
Transcript
Joining the navy and training
It was before I was 17, I applied for the Navy 'cause you can join the Navy when you're ... In 1943, I joined the Navy and was drafted to HMAS Penguin, on the 13th of April 1945 ... '43, I mean, 13th of April '43. It was quite, very interesting, but we had the ...
The first three weeks we had the playground instructions and we had a Petty Officer called, Petty Officer Grimrod, and bloody hell was he grim! But he was so efficient. I nearly poked a bloke's eyes out behind me when we had to fix bayonets one day and he scared the hell outta me. I didn't drop my bayonet after that.
Leave
Being 17 you could pass as a boy in the Navy. Oh, yes. Before you go on weekend leave, and you want a ride in, you had to tell the Navy where you're going to be, otherwise you couldn't go ashore. You had to name your host for the weekend. I'd gone ashore and two of my mates wanted to go down to Swanston Street and two of them would peel off and go to the pub, and I'd go to my billets. That was hard, but I had a more comfortable weekend I'm sure than they did.
Rifle range
Well, I always think ... On the rifle range, we had to go across to an island in Crib ... What's the name of the harbour there? It's out of Crib Point ... Off Crib Point, there's an island where we did gunnery. We learned how to shoot with our 303 rifle, a Vickers machinegun, and a Lewis machinegun, and a Bren gun. The Bren gun had just come out then. That was the highlight. It was like a picnic. We had a good meal, good home meal ... cooked. That was the highlight of my rifle practice on this island off Crib Point.
Crashing a car into the Swan River
The radar station at Fremantle when I got my call out to Sydney to do the radar mechanics course. One of the seaman, friends of mine, he was a leading seaman, he was going over to do a new course on radar control. He was able to get a hold of a car to drive us around.
The bloke that usually drives the car came with us and I remember my leading seaman mate saying, "Can you drive the bloody thing?". He said, "Yeah." So, my mate drove around and we made sure he could drive it off and we went around the bend from Leeuwin, we had to go to Leeuwin.
He seemed to be doing alright. About an hour later, we saw the car being towed back by naval towers, water dripping from it. He ran the bloody truck into the ... the utility into the Swan River. I don't know how 'cause the road goes practically alongside the Swan, near Fremantle. That was a bit of a laugh.
Troop train and railway workers
We had straw palliasses in the cattle trucks. When we would stop at anywhere when it was scran time we call it in the Navy. If you're gonna have scran, it means you're gonna have a meal. When scran time was on, trying to stop our soiling ... The cooks would get all this stuff out and cook on the side of the rail car, on the railway line. We were given things to eat and cutlery.
When we started off the trip ... The train that had the cattle trucks that went from Parkes just out of Kalgoorlie to Adelaide. No, we had to change trains at Port Pirie Junction. I went from Parkes 'cause it was standard gauge and when we go to Port Pirie Junction, it was broad gauge. So many railway workers died of heart trouble during the war because they were overworked.
I know my World War I uncle, he was a yard master at Port Pirie Junction and I know they had to work pretty hard. So many railway men died during the war you don't hear of, because they were overworked. There's nothing about it. I went in summer and winter. In summer, it was intolerable. It was so hot.
You’ve got, you know, straw’s so fine, if somebody dusted out their carriage ... Their truck driver ... Their truck carriage in front, you get it all in your truck if you're behind them. It'd come in. That was a hell of a mess. So that was hard to put up with, but it was only two days. You needed a good bath when you got there.
The Yanks. I'll tell you one episode. They took it in turns. The Yanks took it one time to get in the cattle trucks and our Army and our Navy and our Air Force. Well, one time I was coming across, it was the second time I think ... No, the third time. The third time, it was the Yanks’ turn to take the cattle trucks. We had the good carriage. They didn't like it. They didn't have any need from it. They didn't have any utensils. The cooks used to give them empty cans at the stops so they could eat their food. I felt sorry for the Yanks then.
But anyhow, it was below the Yanks to have to ride in cattle trucks, so when the train started, they uncoupled. Only half the train went off. The Yanks were left there in their cattle trucks. I think there were some other cattle trucks we were in too. But they had quite a few of them. They back the train back, coupled up. It happened again, they uncoupled and the train went off. So, the third time the Yankee military police came along and made sure they didn't uncouple and they hopped on the train as it was going slowly. That was the only way the train got going. With the MPs supervising and preventing the yanks from uncoupling the train.
Leave and the Millionaires’ Club
On Hyde Park, the Comfort’s Fund had a free meal. We get a free meal there. We called it the Millionaire's Club. The Army had a special place you could have a meal for about a shilling, but this was entirely free. If you got there late, you're lucky to get anything.
They only got bloody green food if you got there late. Or you get to the sprout, and some ham. Just, you know, just a smorgasbord thing. Enough to fill your tummy. Didn't cost anything, 'cause we were terribly paid, you know, three-pound one fortnight and two pound ten the next. You got free board of course. See, the Yanks got more pay than that so they ...
That's why they got more girls than what we did because they could afford the girls. That's why they got more girls. We were convalescing in this invalid place. A naval rehabilitation and recovery place. The sisters used to grab a couple of us, and we'd play golf on a Sunday morning instead of going to prayers.
Treatment of engineer officers
If you're in the upper deck, you're a seaman but if you're a stoker. Never occurred with me, but I know some guys used to look down on stokers, and I know they wouldn't salute a stoker or an engineer officer. The officers were called engineers, not stoker officers ... Engineers’ officers. A lot of guys wouldn't salute an engineer officer.
Comparison of British and Australian officers
Lot of officers didn't know how to handle men. I found the British officers were far better officers than our men. You know what the nickname of our officers are? Has anybody told you? Pigs. We called them pigs. I don't know whether ... I haven't read it in many history books, but they're known as pigs. Which is terrible. I thought it was terrible. I still think it's so terrible.
Because they didn't know how to handle men. I mean they pick you out for the least little thing, whereas I was attached to the Royal Navy, only for about two months, and I found all the officers were good. You didn't have to go and salute them at sea or any of that stuff. You did that in our navy, I can tell you. I mean it wasn't passers ... As soon as I went on this British cruiser, I had to report to the radar officer and I gave him a smart salute. He says, "All right, Dietman. There’s no passers on this ship."
They made me ... when we were in port I became what we call the SDA officer. Signal Distributing Officer. We just had to take all the signals around to all the officers, and other any signals that came in. And you go up to the skipper on the quarterdeck and if you didn't salute the skipper in our Navy, you'd be doing jankers.
Whereas you go up to the skipper on this cruiser, you wouldn't have to salute him, you just stand to attention of course. Handing the message to a random guy. That's what I found out about ... I found out the English officers were better trained, and they understood their men better. They could handle men better than our men.
Death of his brother
Well, I was a radar operator on the HMS Sussex. Then tragedy hit. My brother got killed in the Air Force. He was only 19 and three quarters. He was a rear gunner at Lancaster. That was on the 22nd of February 1944, when I was still on the Sussex. I asked the skipper, "Could I go home to my parents for leave?"
I wanted to stay on the ship, but he says, "Unfortunately Dietman, we gotta draft you off." 'Cause they got about an hour's notice to go to sea. He had to draft me off the ship. Otherwise, I would've stayed on the ship. I liked the ship. But I thought my parents ... He was my only brother. My parents were pretty well upset. So was I, for that matter, I couldn't comprehend it ... 19 and three quarters, killed.
Returning from a ride over Stuttgart and he's returning from an air raid over Stuttgart, and they crashed. That must've ... They were shot at so much they crashed. He's buried in England. I haven't been to England. I would've made England for D-Day had I stayed on the Sussex, but I couldn't. I had to be drafted off and I thought my parents came first.
