Post by rubberduck on Jul 30, 2007 8:33:24 GMT 12
Farewell Sandy, 107, a quiet bloke who fought two wars
29th July 2007, 8:30 WST
For much of his long life he seldom spoke about his World War I service and his experiences at the hands of the Japanese in World War II.
It was only after gentle prodding by his eldest granddaughter that William Alexander Smillie Young, at the ripe age of 102, poured out his life story.
Her decision to record his memories prompted a cannonade of anecdotes, including one tale about a lucky escape from death when a German shell exploded 3m from where he was positioned in France, tearing strips off his jacket but narrowly missing his chest.
Now, his death at the impressive age of 107 last week has robbed us of any more of his untold tales.
Scottish-born Sandy, who will be buried next Friday, died peacefully in his sleep at Regents Garden in Lake Joondalup on Tuesday and was the last known veteran of the Royal Flying Corps.
It was a day of profound emotion for his only son Alan, who lives in Nedlands with his wife Morwenna.
Yesterday, the 71-year-old paid tribute to a brave man, known as Sandy by his mates, who went about his days with quiet efficiency when he arrived in WA in 1948 to set up a tannin factory in Toodyay.
“He was a fairly quiet sort of a bloke and he didn’t really talk about World War I at all,” Mr Young said.
“I don’t have a great deal of memories as I didn’t know much about it until he spoke about it at 102 when my elder daughter wanted to write down the story of his life.”
Mr Young was astonished to hear the stories of World War I when his father narrowly escaped a shell blast as a radio operator for the British in the trenches at Marques and later how he survived capture by the Japanese in World War II.
Trained as a wireless operator, Sandy’s task was to take down Morse code messages from spotter planes about enemy targets and relay the information to British artillery crews.
In his memoirs, he said: “Our duty was to man the Morse code receiver and I was trained to read and send it at a high speed. I had to be quick and accurate, there were no wireless communications for the spoken word.
“Everybody got lice — that was the worst thing. The seams in our trousers were too wide, maybe a quarter of an inch, so whenever we had time we undid the sewing, killed the lice and sewed them back up again, smaller and tighter, so no more lice could get in.”
He added: “The rats were terrible, too. I used to cover up my head at night-time in the trenches but I could feel them running over me.”
After the end of the war Sandy returned to Britain and became an industrial chemist before he was sent to Borneo as the manager of a tannin company.
One of Mr Young’s earliest memories of his father was in Borneo, when Sandy arranged for his wife and son to flee on a coastal steamer, then by Dutch flying boat to Balikpapan and eventually to Darwin.
When Japan invaded, Sandy refused to leave, instead staying to sabotage the works to disadvantage the invaders.
“I was about five and I have a very vague memory of seeing him standing at the edge of the jetty waving us off as we left,” Mr Young said.
“It was a little bit dubious because he didn’t really know if the ship we were on would reach safety while the Japanese were bombing.”
Sandy was captured and interned by the Japanese until the end of the war, where they gave him printed postcards three times a year and force him to write: “I am well. The Japanese are friendly.”
Mr Young said his father refused to talk about some aspects of his scarred history, while his wife added: “He did say he was punished once and put in a cave and beaten, but he only mentioned it once”.
KATIE HAMPSON
origin-www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=77&ContentID=35898
29th July 2007, 8:30 WST
For much of his long life he seldom spoke about his World War I service and his experiences at the hands of the Japanese in World War II.
It was only after gentle prodding by his eldest granddaughter that William Alexander Smillie Young, at the ripe age of 102, poured out his life story.
Her decision to record his memories prompted a cannonade of anecdotes, including one tale about a lucky escape from death when a German shell exploded 3m from where he was positioned in France, tearing strips off his jacket but narrowly missing his chest.
Now, his death at the impressive age of 107 last week has robbed us of any more of his untold tales.
Scottish-born Sandy, who will be buried next Friday, died peacefully in his sleep at Regents Garden in Lake Joondalup on Tuesday and was the last known veteran of the Royal Flying Corps.
It was a day of profound emotion for his only son Alan, who lives in Nedlands with his wife Morwenna.
Yesterday, the 71-year-old paid tribute to a brave man, known as Sandy by his mates, who went about his days with quiet efficiency when he arrived in WA in 1948 to set up a tannin factory in Toodyay.
“He was a fairly quiet sort of a bloke and he didn’t really talk about World War I at all,” Mr Young said.
“I don’t have a great deal of memories as I didn’t know much about it until he spoke about it at 102 when my elder daughter wanted to write down the story of his life.”
Mr Young was astonished to hear the stories of World War I when his father narrowly escaped a shell blast as a radio operator for the British in the trenches at Marques and later how he survived capture by the Japanese in World War II.
Trained as a wireless operator, Sandy’s task was to take down Morse code messages from spotter planes about enemy targets and relay the information to British artillery crews.
In his memoirs, he said: “Our duty was to man the Morse code receiver and I was trained to read and send it at a high speed. I had to be quick and accurate, there were no wireless communications for the spoken word.
“Everybody got lice — that was the worst thing. The seams in our trousers were too wide, maybe a quarter of an inch, so whenever we had time we undid the sewing, killed the lice and sewed them back up again, smaller and tighter, so no more lice could get in.”
He added: “The rats were terrible, too. I used to cover up my head at night-time in the trenches but I could feel them running over me.”
After the end of the war Sandy returned to Britain and became an industrial chemist before he was sent to Borneo as the manager of a tannin company.
One of Mr Young’s earliest memories of his father was in Borneo, when Sandy arranged for his wife and son to flee on a coastal steamer, then by Dutch flying boat to Balikpapan and eventually to Darwin.
When Japan invaded, Sandy refused to leave, instead staying to sabotage the works to disadvantage the invaders.
“I was about five and I have a very vague memory of seeing him standing at the edge of the jetty waving us off as we left,” Mr Young said.
“It was a little bit dubious because he didn’t really know if the ship we were on would reach safety while the Japanese were bombing.”
Sandy was captured and interned by the Japanese until the end of the war, where they gave him printed postcards three times a year and force him to write: “I am well. The Japanese are friendly.”
Mr Young said his father refused to talk about some aspects of his scarred history, while his wife added: “He did say he was punished once and put in a cave and beaten, but he only mentioned it once”.
KATIE HAMPSON
origin-www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=77&ContentID=35898
