Voices from the Air (35 page)

I think that poetry is the thing that I should have stuck at all through. The result is I've got a small body of verse which I'd stand by . . . But I very much regret that I haven't written a great deal more.
³²

Talbot Duckmanton's brief time reporting the war crimes trials at the end of the war closed the circle on his war years that had
begun as a young ABC broadcaster reporting from the Sydney Harbour Bridge during the first national blackout. He spent much of the war as a pilot in the RAAF and never lost his love of planes and flying, but his great skill was as a broadcaster.

After the war he continued his career as a field commentator and announcer, and in the late 1940s he also hosted a weekly music program,
Starlight and Serenades
, featuring many of the famous American bands and performers of the time. He was a commentator for the Empire Games and was part of the BBC radio commentary team for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth, broadcasting from the Victoria Memorial outside Buckingham Palace.

Other skills came into play as he began taking on senior management roles in the ABC. He was the ABC manager overseeing the introduction of television in 1956 and became an international adviser on television to several other countries through the Colombo Plan and UNESCO. He rose to become a long-serving general manager of the ABC, from 1965 until 1982.

His work as a war correspondent was brief and was overshadowed by his later career at the top of the ABC; and his time in the field, mostly at Morotai, was dominated by its role as a reception and staging point for POWs and as the site of the first war crimes trials. He had no opportunity for the shared experience of battle with the soldiers in the field as did other correspondents, but he was immersed in the tales of the POWs and the crimes of the Japanese on trial at Morotai and his reporting was an important concluding chapter to the ABC's coverage of the war.

I
find that I have trodden well-travelled ground in researching Chester Wilmot – tracing the chronology of Wilmot's movements and his coverage of the war through his scripts, letters and diaries has inevitably traversed many of the same highlights and anecdotes first unearthed by Neil McDonald in his excellent book,
Chester Wilmot Reports
. However, the stories of Wilmot's colleagues – the other ABC war correspondents – are largely unknown.

A very useful source has been Frank Legg's book,
War Correspondent
, which has provided wonderful detail about reporting from the field and about Legg's own assignments, and I have drawn on it liberally throughout. The primary sources for this book are the document and sound archives of the ABC, the National Archives, the Australian War Memorial, the National Library and the State Library of New South Wales. I have also had the co-operation of the correspondents' families and they have generously provided access to family documents. It has been a privilege to work with them on this fascinating journey of discovery and would not have been possible without them.

My grateful thanks go to:

Jane Wilmot Crane, Rosalind Hinde, Richard Legg, Dudley Leggett, Rob Leggett, Lorelei Kerr, Dr John Lennard, Joanne Lennard, Brendan Lennard, Elizabeth-Ann Crossing, Moira Marien, Frank Marien, Merrick Marien, Claire Simpson, Julia Golding-Kostopoulos, Gregory Pikler, Julian Hailes, David Hailes, Peter Hemery, Lyndie Hemery, Peter Thompson, Meredith Stokes, Jonathon Stokes, Tony Fawcus, Wendy Fawcus, Anne MacFarlane, Fiona MacFarlane, Geoffrey MacFarlane, John MacFarlane, Suzanne Skira, Chris Edwards, Diana Chick, Vivienne Benton, John Benton, Jon Paull, Fay Barnes, Christine Lowndes, Robert Lowndes, Craig Duckmanton, Susi Bayes, Kim McKenzie.

At ABC News, thanks to Gaven Morris for his support, and to Michael Reid and Gordon Lavery for both support and feedback on the manuscript. Jane Benson was my partner on the original history of the ABC's foreign correspondents many years ago. Guy Tranter of ABC Archives provided generous assistance and patient advice over the years. Thanks also to John Spence and Mary-Jane Stannus, and to Ali Edwards of ABC Rights Management for her great kindness in reviewing the manuscript during her holidays. Peter Cave for his generosity in sharing information about John Elliott. Michele Harris for final fact-checking. Katie Stackhouse and Lachlan McLaine at ABC Books. The staff at the National Archives and Sue Ducker and her team at the Australian War Memorial. And Gillian most of all, who has edited this book through all versions from start to finish.

Introduction

1
      
Neville Petersen,
Policy Formation in the ABC News Service, 1942–1961
, University of Sydney, 1978

2
      
Regulations for Press Correspondents Accompanying a Force in the Field, 1940, NAA

Chapter 1

1
      
Attributed to Albert Einstein (disputed)

2
      
Broadcasting in Australia
, Ian K Mackay, Melbourne University Press, 1957

3
      
Note from GB Shaw's Secretary to Arthur Mason 20 September 1933, NAA

4
      
Airmail letter from GH Morison to ABC 27 August 1937, NAA

5
      
RT Peyton-Griffin cable to ABC, 16 January 1938, NAA

6
      
Commentary by Peter Russo 8 July 1940, NAA

7
      
Guenther Stein script,
Hong Kong Today
, 17 November 1938, NAA

8
      
Letter from ABC General Manager Charles Moses to Arthur Mason 7 October 1938, NAA

9
      
Hugo Jackson commentary from London, 16 April 1939, NAA

10
    
Arthur Mason cable to ABC, 1 September 1939, NAA

11
    
Article by Arthur Mason September 1939, NAA

Chapter 2

1
      
NBC Mobile Units promotional pamphlet, attachment to NBC letter to TW Bearup, 19 May 1938, NAA

2
      
Wireless World
, 19 April 1935

3
      
TW Bearup, memo to the ABC, 25 August 1938, NAA

4
      
Memo from Dudley Leggett to the General Manager, 16 December 1939, NAA

5
      
Cowra Leader
, 4 December 1939, NAA

6
      
BBC Observers at The Front, note in ABC files, 20 February 1940, NAA

7
      
Policy Formulation in the ABC News Service
, Neville Petersen

Chapter 3

1
      
Chester Wilmot diaries, 22 September 1940, NLA

2
      
Chester Wilmot diaries, 22 September 1940, NLA

3
      
Chester Wilmot script,
The Nazi Party Rally at Nuremberg
, 30 August 1939, NLA

4
      
Chester Wilmot diaries, 30 August 1940, NLA

5
      
Chester Wilmot diaries, 30 August 1940, NLA

6
      
Memo from ABC GM, Charles Moses, 15 January 1940, NAA

7
      
Chester Wilmot diaries, 30 August 1940, NLA

8
      
Edith Irwin telegram to Chester Wilmot, 31 August 1940, NLA

9
      
Chester Wilmot diaries, 2 September 1940, NLA

10
    
Chester Wilmot letter to Edith Irwin, 13 September 1941, NLA

11
    
Lawrence Cecil letter to the ABC, 15 October 1940, NAA

12
    
Chester Wilmot letter to his family, 29 October 1940, NLA

13
    
Gazette issue 30813, UK Force War Records

14
    
Chester Wilmot letter to his father, Derna, 2 February 1941, NLA

15
    
Chester Wilmot diaries, 3 November 1940, NLA

16
    
Chester Wilmot diaries, 4 November 1940, NLA

17
    
Official History – Australia in the War of 1939–1945
, Series 1, Vol 1, AWM

18
    
Chester Wilmot diaries, 7 December 1940, NLA

19
    
Chester Wilmot letter to his family, 30 November 1940, NLA

20
    
Chester Wilmot letter to his family, 30 November 1940, NLA

21
    
Chester Wilmot report, The Right to Send Press Cables, 26 January 1942, NAA

22
    
Chester Wilmot,
Tobruk
, Viking, 2007 edition, p 4

23
    
Chester Wilmot script,
Australians in the Frontline
, 26 December 1940, NAA

24
    
Lawrence Cecil script,
How Recordings were Made and Despatched the Libyan Campaign
, NAA

25
    
Lawrence Cecil letter to the ABC, 27 December 1940, NAA

26
    
Lawrence Cecil letter to the ABC, 27 December 1940, NAA

27
    
Chester Wilmot script,
Australians In the Frontline, Sollum
, 26 December 1940, NAA

28
    
Chester Wilmot script,
Australians In the Frontline, Sollum
, 26 December 1940, NAA

29
    
Lawrence Cecil,
How Recordings were Made and Despatched During the Libyan Campaign
, 1941, ABC Archives

30
    
Frank Dixon diaries, 4 January 1941, NAA

31
    
Chester Wilmot script,
The Capture of Bardia
, 10 January 1941, NAA

32
    
Chester Wilmot script,
Bardia Falls
, NAA

33
    
Australian War Memorial - https://www.awm.gov.au/military-event/E222/

34
    
Lawrence Cecil,
How Recordings were Made and Despatched During the Libyan Campaign
, 1941, ABC Archives

35
    
Lawrence Cecil letter to the ABC, 13 January 1941, NAA

36
    
Chester Wilmot letter to his father, Derna, 2 February 1941, NLA

37
    
Chester Wilmot letter to his mother and father, 20 January 1941, NLA

38
    
Chester Wilmot script,
What I Saw At Tobruk
, 24 January 1941, NAA

39
    
Chester Wilmot script,
What I Saw At Tobruk
, 24 January 1941, NAA

40
    
Chester Wilmot script,
What I Saw At Tobruk
, 24 January 1941, NAA

41
    
Frank Dixon diaries, 22 and 23 January 1941, NAA

42
    
Chester Wilmot letter to his family, Cairo, 25 February 1941, NLA

43
    
Lawrence Cecil script,
How Recordings were Made and Despatched During the Libyan Campaign
, NAA

44
    
Chester Wilmot script, Derna, 30 January 1941, NAA

45
    
Chester Wilmot letter to his father, Derna, 2 February 1941, NLA

46
    
Chester Wilmot letter to his father, Derna, 2 February 1941, NLA

47
    
Chester Wilmot letter to his father, Derna, 2 February 1941, NLA

48
    
Chester Wilmot letter to his father, Derna, 2 February 1941, NLA

49
    
Lawrence Cecil script,
Hitch-hiking in the Desert
, March 1941, NAA

50
    
Chester Wilmot script,
The Road to Bengasi Part 1
, 8 February 1941, NAA

51
    
Chester Wilmot script,
The Road to Bengasi Part 1
, 8 February 1941, NAA

52
    
Chester Wilmot script,
The Last Round Up in Cyrenaica
, 7 February 1941, NAA

53
    
Alan Moorehead,
The Observer
newspaper, 17 January 1954,

54
    
Chester Wilmot script,
All Quiet on the Western Desert
, 17 February 1942, NAA

55
    
Chester Wilmot diaries, 30 August 1940, NLA

56
    
Chester Wilmot diaries, 6 March 1941, NLA

57
    
Chester Wilmot letter to his family, 25 February 1941, NLA

58
    
Chester Wilmot script,
A Letter from the Front No 1
, March 1941, NAA

59
    
Chester Wilmot article, ‘Field Unit's Escape from Greece',
ABC Weekly
, 8 May 1941, NAA

60
    
Frank Dixon memo to McCarthy, 4 April 1941, NAA

61
    
Chester Wilmot article, ‘Field Unit's Escape from Greece',
ABC Weekly
, 8 May 1941, NAA

62
    
Chester Wilmot letter to Edith Irwin, 3 April 1941, NLA

63
    
Chester Wilmot script,
A Letter from the Front No 2
, 16 April 1941, NAA

64
    
Chester Wilmot script,
Blowing the Road
, April 1941, NAA

65
    
Chester Wilmot article, ‘Field Unit's Escape from Greece',
ABC Weekly
, 8 May 1941, NAA

66
    
Chester Wilmot script,
Monastir Gap
, 17 April 1941, NAA

67
    
Chester Wilmot script,
Monastir Gap
, 17 April 1941, NAA

68
    
Chester Wilmot script,
Monastir Gap
, 17 April 1941, NAA

69
    
Chester Wilmot script,
A Letter from the Front No 3
, 5 May 1941, NAA

70
    
Chester Wilmot letter to Edith Irwin, 7 July 1941, NLA

71
    
Chester Wilmot letter to Edith Irwin, 7 July 1941, NLA

72
    
Chester Wilmot letter to Edith Irwin, 7 July 1941, NLA

73
    
Chester Wilmot letter to Edith Irwin, 7 July 1941, NLA

74
    
Chester Wilmot letter to Edith Irwin, 7 July 1941, NLA

75
    
Chester Wilmot letter to his family, 5 May 1941, NLA

76
    
Lawrence Cecil report to the ABC on the Field Unit's operations in the Middle East, April 1942, NAA

77
    
Chester Wilmot script,
Air Power and the Greek Campaign
, 5 May 1941, NAA

78
    
Chester Wilmot script,
A Letter from the Front No 6
, 8 June 1941, NAA

79
    
Chester Wilmot diaries, 3 June 1941, NLA

80
    
Chester Wilmot diaries, 3 June 1941, NLA

81
    
Chester Wilmot diaries, 3 June 1941, NLA

82
    
Chester Wilmot report to the ABC, Re: Withdrawal of My Accreditation, 10 November 1942, NAA

83
    
Chester Wilmot letter to Edith Irwin, 30 May 1941, NLA

84
    
Chester Wilmot letter to his parents, 13 May 1941, NLA

85
    
Chester Wilmot letter to Edith Irwin, 30 May 1941, NLA

86
    
Chester Wilmot script,
HMAS Perth in the Mediterranean
, 12 June 1941, NAA

87
    
Chester Wilmot article,
ABC Weekly
, 9 August 1941, ABC Archives

88
    
www.navy.gov.au/hmas-perth-i

89
    
www.awm.gov.au/unit/U56059/

90
    
Chester Wilmot script,
The Surrender of Sidon
, 24 June 1941, NAA

91
    
Chester Wilmot script,
The Surrender of Sidon
, 24 June 1941, NAA

92
    
Chester Wilmot letter to his mother, 26 June 1941, NLA

93
    
Chester Wilmot script,
A Letter from the Front No 8
, 23 June 1941, NAA

94
    
Chester Wilmot script,
Queenslanders Attack Merdjayoun
, 25 June 1941, NAA

95
    
Chester Wilmot script,
Queenslanders Attack Merdjayoun
, 25 June 1941, NAA

96
    
Chester Wilmot script,
Queenslanders Attack Merdjayoun
, 25 June 1941, NAA

97
    
Chester Wilmot diaries, 26 June 1941, NLA

98
    
Chester Wilmot letter to Edith Irwin, 6 July 1941, NLA

99
    
Chester Wilmot script,
Hard Fighting at Damour
, 9 July 1941, NAA

100
  
AWM – www.awm.gov.au/military-event/E282/

101
  
Lawrence Cecil letter to ABC, 16 July 1941, NAA

102
  
TW Bearup letter to W Macmahon Ball, 29 September 1941, NAA

103
  
ABC Records Messages Home, film footage, September 1941, Damien Parer, F01148 – AWM

104
  
Lawrence Cecil letter to the ABC, 19 August 1941, NAA

105
  
Chester Wilmot,
Tobruk
, Viking, 2007 edition, p.100