The voyage of the Blue Star’s MV Empire Star

On 10/11 February 1942 LAC Geoff Crompton, of 151 Maintenance Unit, was ordered to take either a Ford 3 tonner, containing paper rather than a spare Merlin engine, from RAF Seletar to Keppel Harbour, a distance is approximately 13.5 miles (21.7km). General Wavell, C-in-C Far East, had ordered the immediate transfer of all remaining Allied air force personnel to the Netherlands East Indies (NEI). However, when ordered to return for a second load he disobeyed orders and knocked the sergeant into the water. Right: A Ford three tonner in RAF livery

Above: A map of Singapore showing Geoff's escape and the Japanese invasion

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It was on this voyage that Dad told of the ship being hit by a bomb and of his having to swill human remains from the bomb damaged dental surgery. John Dodd’s account of the death of LAC McDermott bears graphic testament to this experience.

As they neared Keppel Harbour ¹ in the vanishing twilight, an astonishing sight greeted the survivors. Flames from the conflagration along the quayside tinged the tropical night with a blood-red hue, while overhead the pall created by burning oil from the storage tanks on the north shore had been driven seawards where it had merged over the city with clouds of smoke pouring from burning buildings. The docks themselves were in chaos after another bombing raid. Smoke and flames belched from the godowns [Malay - warehouse], and fire fighters struggled vainly to quell the infernos. Bodies were trapped in the wreckage of bombed buildings and ambulances fought their way through the traffic to take the latest casualties to hospital. ¹ … The city itself was rather badly bombed but not the central business portion and Raffles was still intact. Fire stations were still functioning. The wharves had suffered severely but the buildings along the waterfront were not touched. There was not a great deal of shipping in Keppel Harbour. Apparently, there was no labour to discharge cargo, most of the discharging being done by troops. ²

Grabbing a few possessions, the Richardsons [Lieutenant James Richardson of British Intelligence] dashed down to the battered, smouldering docks, where the Chief Officer of MS Empire Star, JL Dawson, told them that passages in his ship were obtainable from the Sea Transport Officer. The Empire Star was a I7,000-ton freighter of the Blue Star Line built in Belfast in 1935. She had survived the evacuations of British and Australian troops from Greece and Crete in 1941, and had arrived in Singapore on 27 January 1942 with a cargo of trucks, weapons and a large number of late Christmas presents. James Richardson organised passages for [his wife] Doris and her friend Grace Harral and the following day saw them safely on board ship, in the company of more than 2,000 RAF personnel, British, Australian and Indian nurses, and women and children³

The accounts of the voyage of the MV Empire Star suggest that Geoff and some of the remaining personnel from Seletar, escaped on this ship.

All that day a steady stream of evacuees had climbed the gangplank. Room had been found for 35 children, more than 160 women, including civilian passengers and the nurses of the 10th and 13th Australian General Hospitals. However, Keppel dockside was still crammed with hopeful women, children and soldiers. In this situation, it is easy to see why Geoff chose not to collect his second load of RAF papers. Right: MV Empire Star as it may have been at Kepple

By the time she sailed on 11 February 1941, the MV Empire Star, was a crowded ship. According to her Master, Captain Selwyn N. Capon, OBE, she carried more than 2,160 people, of which 1573 were RAF/BEF personnel, together with equipment and stores. As no accurate muster could be made, this was probably an under-estimate.

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In her account of the voyage, Diana Norman describes the experiences John Dodd would have shared with Geoff.

The next evening, February 11, he stood among the remnants of the RAF, pressed against the rail on the deck o£ the cargo steamer Empire Star, looking down at the crowds of women, children, nurses and soldiers packed on to the Keppel dockside, hoping that the ship, which was crammed, could still take a few more. He and the others had spent the night on the docks and had been among the first to file aboard in the morning. A steady stream of people had been coming up the gangplank all day.

It was the turn of a young European woman clutching her child, a boy of about three, and two suitcases. Having made the decision between leaving her home or staying she was now desperate to get away. The checkers were ordering her to leave her luggage behind. Confused and bewildered, she was crying.

Out of the crowd behind her suddenly surged about twenty armed Australian soldiers. It took a minute or two for John to realise that they were deserters, ⁴ as desperate in their way as the young woman. But they were armed. The checkers, who tried to stop them, were knocked out of the way with rifles and they marched up the gangplank.

In order to avoid any more incidents like that the Captain of the Empire Star ordered the gangplank to be raised immediately. He had 1254 (sic) souls on board a ship, which, in peacetime, had accommodation for sixteen passengers.

John saw clearly — he would always see it — the face of the young woman as they told her she could not now go aboard. ⁵ […]

The Australian deserters created a problem on board Empire Star.

[...] there was some doubt that the ship would sail at all. Chief Officer Dawson said, 'During one period I was called to the gangway because of panic at the shore end of the gangway and on investigation found that a large number of Australian troops were panicking to get on board. I went to the gangway and told the troops that there was no need to panic and that this ship was reserved for RAF personnel, women and children. Eventually, these Australian troops quietened down and we were able to proceed with the work of getting our own people on board. During the day I noticed that Australian troops were climbing up the mooring ropes on board to the afterdeck and by any other means they could find. ⁶

The Empire Star had been scheduled to sail on the afternoon of the 11th, but a heavy bombing raid on the harbour delayed her departure. 'I watched it from ashore, little knowing that one of the targets was the Empire Star,' Richardson says. On board, Doris and Grace were packed into one of the lower holds with other women and children for safety during the bombing. The ship, however, was badly damaged and one of its two Burmeister & Wain engines was disabled. Twenty-four people, mostly crew and service personnel, were killed. ⁷

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At half past six, on the evening of 11 February 1942, under a sky painted pink and gold and adorned with an emerald setting sun, the ship left Keppel Harbour’s deep- water wharves and pulled out into the stream and anchored in Keppel Road. By this time it was too late for Captain Selwyn N Capon OBE, of the Empire Star, to negotiate the harbour's minefields. At 06:30 the next morning, on a calm and very blue sea, Empire Star weighed anchor under the escort of the cruiser HMS Durban and the armed merchantman HMS Kedah to begin its journey to Batavia and safety.

Above: The armed merchantman HMS Kedah 8

From the stern, evacuees would have seen Singapore burning: the orange explosions pierced the palls of oily smoke, from the burning oil tanks, hanging over the city. Waves lapped against a crashed and wasted Hurricane on the shore of Palau Blakang Mali Island (Sentosa), to the south of Keppel Harbour. By 9 am, she was receiving the attentions of more Japanese bombers. Explosions around the ship's bows were so enormous that she seemed to jump out of the water, but even with one engine out of action she caught up with Durban's convoy. ⁹

Empire Star was the last ship to sail successfully from Singapore.

Early on the 12th, [VG] Bowden [the Australian Trade Commissioner cabled Canberra, 'All merchant shipping under British naval control has already left Singapore and naval and other offices for dealing with it including Harbour Board have been closed. Except as a fortress and battlefield Singapore has ceased to function.' ¹⁰

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The Japanese attack Empire Star

[Empire Star] sailed from Singapore for Batavia with evacuated naval, military and RAF personnel, together with civilian refugees; men, women and children. The Empire Star, which carried a considerable amount of RAF equipment and stores, was a crowded ship. According to her Master, she carried more than 2,160 people, though as no accurate muster could be made this was probably an under-estimate. Apart from 35 children, room had been found for more than 160 women, including civilian passengers and the nurses of the 10th and 13th Australian General Hospitals.

Air attacks were fully expected, and the presence of enemy aircraft was first reported at 8.50 a.m. as the convoy was about to clear the Durian Strait, south of Singapore. 11 The first attack on the Empire Star was made twenty minutes later, when six dive- bombers came hurtling down out of the blue. The guns of all the ships burst into action. On board the Empire Star machine-guns and gunners of the RAF were used to supplement the vessel's normal armament.

Above: Map showing Straits of Durian

One plane was brought splashing into the sea, to disappear in a sparkle of red flame and a pyre of curling black smoke. Another was hit to break off the action with smoke pouring from its tail. [...] The Empire Star sustained three direct hits, which killed 14 people and severely wounded 17 others, besides inflicting great damage and setting the ship on fire in three places.
		Right: The starboard side of Empire Star 23 August 1941 with 4inch gun (right aft) and 12 pounder anti-aircraft gun above AWM 303256

[...] [Controlling the fires] was a difficult and dangerous job in a ship thronged with people. Intermittent attacks by enemy aircraft continued for the next four hours. They were high-level attacks from 7,000 to 10,000 feet carried out by twin-engined heavy bombers [Nell], as many as 57 being counted. A large number of bombs were dropped, some of which missed the Empire Star by no more than 10 or 20 feet. One lifeboat, which had already been damaged by blast during the first dive-bombing attack, was struck and completely demolished. The final attack was made by a formation of nine aircraft at 13:10, and once more the vessel, to use Captain Capon's own words, "miraculously escaped with a series of extremely near misses on both sides.". Throughout these attacks, Captain Capon took violent evasive action. ¹²

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After one of the attacks Geoff was ordered to swill out the ships dentist's cabin, which had suffered damage, removing blood and body parts.

John Dodd recalls the voyage

The next morning, out of an eggshell-blue sky, two rapidly moving dots appeared astern. Somebody with binoculars on the bridge yelled out: "Junkers eighty-eights”. (sic)

The order came: "All those with armaments remain on deck. Everyone else below".

Like a clamp John's hand came down on his tommy-gun as the decks cleared with magic swiftness. He'd often wondered how he would react in action and was pleased to find himself breathless but moderately calm.

On his part of the top deck only two others remained with him, both RAF men he knew — Corporal Evans and LAC McDermott. As the Junkers (sic) came swooping down all three fired until the planes were so low they could see the markings on the bombs in the open bays. Then Evans leaped for the port side and took cover behind a lifeboat, McDermott dived for the lifeboat to starboard and John, for no reason he could think of, made a rugby tackle for the ship's spare propeller which had been lashed to the deck. It afforded the least cover of the three. The noise became appalling, the ship lurched and the sky went red and black.

John opened his eyes. His propeller was buckled and twisted but intact. Over on the port side, blood was pouring out of the corporal's legs. Where the starboard lifeboat had been there was a hole and the only recognisable thing left of McDermott was his identity tag.

[...]

The Junkers (sic) kept up their attack all that day and the next, and John remained on deck the whole time. At one point, during a lull, one of the Australian nurses tried to persuade him to go below. "No thanks," he told her, "I get frightened down there". It was true. A non-swimmer, he found the bombs and bullets that swept the deck healthier than the effect of the near-misses down in the hold. ¹³

If the deserters had lowered the image of Australians, the 63 Aussie nurses who stayed on deck also through the attacks, bandaging those wounded in the earlier attacks and comforting, getting killed, put it right back up again.

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Staff Nurse Margaret Irene Anderson was attached to the 2/13 Australian General Hospital based in Singapore on 20 November 1941. Four days before the fall of Singapore, she was one of a party of nurses who, on 11 February 1942, reluctantly boarded the Empire Star to be evacuated, effectively abandoning some of their patients. During the bombing raid, the cabin in which Staff Nurse Anderson and other nurses were tending the seriously wounded, began to fill with smoke and fumes. Anderson and her colleagues moved the patients on to the open deck but the enemy returned and machine gunned the ship. During these attacks she remained on deck sheltering her badly injured patients with her body. Right: Sister Margaret Anderson with GM ribbon AWM ART22211 Below: Margaret Anderson's GM AWM REL24178.001

For her bravery she was awarded the George medal on 22 September 1942.
In October 2015, on a visit to the Australian War Memorial the guide showed us the George Medal won by Staff Nurse Margaret Irene Anderson whilst on Empire Star. Perhaps, Dad saw the Australian nurses.

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Down below in the holds, passengers suffered terribly from the reverberation of exploding bombs, one girl having both eardrums ruptured. The Empire Star suffered three direct hits in which 13 men were killed and 37 others badly wounded. 14 Right: Empire Star Captain Capon at sea 12 February 1942 15 The transcript of Captain Capon's hand written letter to the mother of one of the survivors confirms the number of RAF personnel, the date when his ship was the last to leave Singapore and that the RAF personnel disembarked in Batavia on 14 February.

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When, on February 14, a blackened and torn Empire Star limped into Batavia harbour on Java, the 1240 (sic) people who filed ashore — fourteen had been killed during the voyage — felt that they had survived through a miracle, and looked forward to a more well-ordered war. ¹⁷

After emergency repairs, she berthed at Fremantle on 25 February 1942. ¹⁸

Following his Singapore experience, Geoff supported the Salvation Army by buying War Cary and remembering them in his will. At this moment, what support The Army gave Geoff is unknown.

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End notes

1. Thompson p.403
2. ibid p.433
3. ibid p.455
4. Australian troops were climbing up the mooring ropes on board to the afterdeck and by any other means they could find. (TNA ADM 267/138, Mr J.L.Dawson, chief officer, MV Empire Star) The 135 AIF soldiers on board were disarmed and marched ashore, where they were turned over to an army guard. After being held in a civilian prison for a few days, they were released without charge. (HMS Durban Secret Report No 0180/615, paragraphs 38 and 40, 21 February 1942, to Commodore Commanding China Force. Both quoted in Thompson)
5. The Empire Star was indeed the last ship to make a successful escape from Singapore. Admiral Spooner's little armada had come to grief soon after leaving Keppel Harbour. 'I regret to have to report that the flotilla of small ships and other light craft which left Singapore on the night of 13-14 February encountered a Japanese naval force in the approaches to the Banka Straits,' Percival says. 'It was attacked by light naval craft and by aircraft. Many ships and other craft were sunk or disabled and there was considerable loss of life. Others were wounded or were forced ashore and were subsequently captured.' (Thompson p.478) As John Dodd noted:

   Vyner Brooke was due to sail the following day and that [the woman displaced by the Australian deserters] would probably get accommodation on that. Long after he heard that the Vyner Brooke was bombed and sank off Banka Island. Many passengers, mostly women and children were drowned, and the rest slaughtered by the Japanese after they had struggled ashore. (Norman p.35)

   Sister Vivian Bullwinkel survived.
6. Blue Star MV Empire Star 2
7. Thompson p.458
8. HMS Kedah, though a small costal ship of the Straits Shipping Company was, at 2,499 gross tons, its largest vessel. After many adventures HMS Kedah, loaded with possibly about 750 men, women and children at Singapore even when coming under heavy artillery fire from land based Japanese, sailed in the early hours of Saturday 14 February 1942. For three hours, she came under heavy attack from both the Japanese Airforce and Navy but Captain JL Sinclair DSO was able to manoeuvre Kedah out of Singapore and reach Batavia safely.
9. Thompson p.459
10. ibid p.458
11. Blue Star MV Empire Star 2
12. Norman ibid pp.35-38
13. Australian War Memorial (AWM) P01117.003
14. Thompson p.459
15. Blue Star MV Empire Star 2
16. Norman p.38
17. ibid p.38
18. The Empire Star was sunk by a German submarine north of the Azores on 23 October 1942. Twenty crew, including Captain Capon, six gunners and six passengers were lost.

Sources:

• Blue Star MV Empire Star 2 (Accessed: 08 September 2021)
• Museums Victoria Collections (Accessed: 08 September 2021)
• Norman, Diana, Road from Singapore, Hodder and Stoughton, 1970
• Thompson Peter, The Battle for Singapore, Piatkus, London, 2006
• The Story of Keppel Bay (Accessed: 09 September 2021)

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Batavia on the Dutch East Indies island of Java

There is little to explain what happened to my father between landing in Batavia on the Saturday 14 February 1942 and his departure on HMT Orcades, at an unknown date, bound for Ceylon. Meanwhile Empire Star sailed on to Fremantle and Sydney, Australia for bomb damage repairs. All Dad mentioned about Batavia was being billeted on a Dutch air field and missing the cinema 'liberty' lorry that was shot-up with people killed.

At the time, the 2/2 Australian Pioneers defended Batavia. Their unit history confirms the existence of the Dutch air force base and frequent strafing raids.

John Dodd’s account confirms the arrival at Batavia, the general confusion and the rapid turn round of the RAF personnel.

Batavia seemed slightly more tawdry than Singapore, but it had the same frenetic gaiety and disorganisation that prevailed in the Fortress city. All incoming air force personnel were billeted in a big office building near the dock area in a compote of nationalities.

Tired Australians camped down between the beds of Dutch flyers. British queued for the washroom with Americans. Orders were posted up on boards and then countermanded. Equipment, rifles and canned food lay in disorganised piles on the barrack floors. Discipline was lax and men wandered in and out of the building more or less at will.

Most of the RAF who had been evacuated from Singapore were moved out almost immediately, some to rest stations, leaving only a minimum in Batavia, of which John Dodd was one.

One evening the sort of quiet that only means bad news fell over the building. "What's the matter?" John asked of a Dutchman who had gone to find the cause of the lull.

"Singapore has fallen," he was told, "and the Japs have crossed over to Sumatra and are beginning an invasion of Bali". ¹

The autobiographical blog of Frank Planton ², from the Operations Room of 224 Group Fighter Control at RAF Kallang, gives an indication of the RAF personnel experiences in Batavia. He too arrived in the Empire Star convoy on HMS Kedah.

We were detained on board for a time whilst a discussion took place as to whether we should continue our journey and sail for Australia. Eventually we were told to disembark. We boarded trucks and were taken to a school in Batavia where Javanese workmen were making beds for our use. These they were making entirely of bamboo, the slats, post and binding, all cut from seven foot lengths with machetes.

[…] I had very little kit with me and what I did have contained no toiletries whatsoever. I was too aware of my unkempt appearance and filthy clothes. Food arrived, rice with meat and green beans, unusual but I was starving. That disposed of, I then sought out my mate Bill. I suggested that we took a walk and try to find some shops where we could purchase some soap and razors for starters.

The temperature was high and felt humid. The streets were lined with trees which provided some shade as we walked. We could find no shops and the few people we encountered spoke no English, so we were unable to make ourselves understood.

Frank Planton remained on the island of Java until his capture.

It is possible that, for a short period before evacuation, Geoff was billeted in or around the Royal Dutch Air Force base east of Tjiliitan. ² At 09.30 on 22 February, the enemy unleashed the first of a series of savage air attacks when 27 Japanese Zeros strafed the aerodrome for 35 minutes. On 24 February at 16.00, there was a further violent air raid on Tjiliitan aerodrome. It may have been one of these Zero raids that 'shot-up the 'liberty' lorry that Geoff missed. Between air attacks, the role of 'A' and ‘'D' companies of 2/2nd Australian Pioneers ^{3 3} was to defend the aerodrome against paratroopers, covering an area originally allocated to a whole Battalion. In very heavy rain, the companies dug in to improve their extended position. The gaps were 'filled' by a platoon of 50 men from the inexperienced reinforcements, many of whom disserted their posts. When the CO told the reinforcement draft how serious the position was 52 men declared they would not fight. ⁴

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Above: 1894 map of Batavia with the airfield probably in the bottom right corner

Above: Map of Jakarta Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport 2015 with Tjiliitan, now Cililitan, marked

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GR Rubin records that:

[...] the port area of Tandjong Park [in Batavia] resembled that of Singapore in the sense that disorganised chaos reigned, with goods, equipment and motor vehicles all piled or parked higgledy-piggeldy. […] Some of those who disembarked were RAF evacuees from Singapore who were to constitute a new Rear Headquarters party to be based in Java. But the number of airmen reaching Java now exceeded requirements […]. Some members of 151 Maintenance Unit, for example, boarded the Orcades, which took them to Colombo. ⁵

It is suggested that Geoff was one of those RAF personnel who 'were moved out almost immediately', being surplus to needs. It is not know when the HMT Orcades sailed from Batavia, 6 but it has to assumed that it was before the Japanese invasion of Java on 01 March 1941.7 Had Geoff still been in Batavia between 01 March and 05 March, when Batavia was captured, he would have either joined the general retreat south or have been captured. Right: RMS Orcades c.1937

After 28 February, the more direct northerly sea route between Sumatra and Java was closed. It is more probably that HMT Orcades, newly arrived with the 2/2 Pioneers took the safer south-easterly route through the Bali Sea as Geoff stopped off at the Cocos Keeling Islands on his way to Ceylon.

End notes

1. Norman p.38
2. Tjiliitan, now Cililitan, is a suburb in the south-east of Jakarta. The airfield is now known as Halim Perdanakusuma Airport, the former international airport for Jakarta 18km south of the docks.
3. 2/2 Australian Pioneers was commanded by the husband of Geoff’s second cousin once removed, Lt.Col. Nelson Frederick Wellington DSO, MC, until he was wounded in a Battalion action in Syria In early 1942. 2/2 personnel and stores were evacuated from Syria on separate ships: the stores went to Australia and the personnel were diverted to Batavia.
4. On 02 March, the Japanese arrived at Rangkasbitung and continued towards Buitenzorg. At Leuwiliang 15 miles (24 km) west of Buitenzorg the 2/2nd Pioneer and 2/3rd Machine Gun Battalions, positioned along a riverbank, put up a vigorous defence of a bridge on the road south. In Java, the Battalion suffered 34 battle fatalities and 865 prisoners of war. Of these 258 died in captivity, 177 on the Burma-Thailand railway.
5. Rubins p.125
6. HMT Orcades arrived Batavia with 2/2 Pioneers midday 17 February 1942. Aitken p.109
7. At 23:20 on 28 February, Japanese troops landed at the port of Merak and at Bantam Bay (Banten) on the north-east tip of Java. On 1 March, the invaders set up their headquarters at Serang. This would have effectively cut off the direct shipping routes to Ceylon between Sumatra and Java. Batavia was 52 miles (84km) from the invasion area.

Sources:

• Aitken, EF, The story of the 2/2nd Australian Pioneer Battalion, 2/2nd Pioneer Battalion Association, Melbourne 1953
• Imperial War Museum List of RAF Personnel Evacuated from Singapore, including 151MU at Seletar, February 1942, ref: Documents.13175, (To be followed up)
• Operational Records 151 Maintenance Unit, The National Archives, Kew, London. Ref: AIR 29/1052
• RAF Seletar & Tengah Association (Accessed: 11 September 2021)
• Rubin, GR, Durban 1942: A British Troopship Revolt, Consortium, 1992 pp.124-5 (Accessed: 11 September 2021)

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Ceylon bound

Geoff’s unit left Batavia, by sea. It is believed his ship anchored at the Cocos Keeling Islands on its way to Colombo, Ceylon. His official RAF record makes no mention of a posting to the Cocos Keeling Island.

Above: Geoff Crompton's journey to Ceylon

From this visit, he brought home a ‘bag’ of illegal Cocos Keeling Islands ⁴ coins made from a white plastic ‘Ivorine’. John Sidney Clunies-Ross IV, ¹ the owner of the islands, introduced and ‘minted’ seven ivorine coin denominations to the islands known as the Cocos rupee. Each had a different shape and size. The obverse was imprinted with the words Keeling Cocos Islands, the island arms and motto ‘Pro patria’ and the date 1910; the year Clunies-Ross IV took over control of the islands. On the reverse, is the date 1913, being the year in which the tokens were first issued. The 1913 coins were minted in units of 1000, 2000, 5000 and each had a unique serial number on the reverse. Clunies-Ross' workers were paid in his currency that could only be redeemed at the company store, preventing the islanders from purchasing products being sold from passing ships.

All but two of the coins were burn whilst living at Hornsea because Dad left them laying about and wouldn’t look after them. The two remaining are:

Right: Geoff's coins 0bverse 1913 oval C.5 s/n 795 in black letters. 5,000 were ‘minted’ of which s/n93 classified as 'fine/scarce' was valued at £235 (A$445) in September 2021. S/n 1912 in red letters and near perfect was valued between £424-£455 (A$800-$860) 1

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1913 square C.25 s/n 4591 in red letters. 5,000 were ‘minted’ of which s/n 3932 classified as extra fine was valued at £144 (A$272) in September 2021. S/n 1551 is classified as extremely rare mint was valued at £120.44 (A$226.80). Right: Geoff's coins Reverse Note: the different date from the Obverse, which is correct

Ceylon

RAF Koggala

According to Geoff's records, on 28 February 1942, he was posted to RAF Koggala, on the south-west tip of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) as an equipment assistant. This is believed to be an 'administrative' date as Geoff was still likely to have been in Batavia. It is likely Geoff followed 205 Squadron from Singapore to Batavia and then to Koggala, where it was reformed on 23 July 1942. It was involved in anti-submarine and air-sea rescue. After the loss of Singapore, the lake at Koggala was used for maritime patrol and the vital seaplanes on the Imperial service to Perth Australia and Calcutta. By April 1942 RAF Koggala consisted of 800 personnel, mainly ex-Singapore, to demarcate a water runway with slip to take the 'boats' out of the water. The largest flying boat base in the east was established with the RAF flying eight Consolidated PBY Catalinas of 205 Squadron and Short Sunderlands of No 230 Squadron from February 1944. Right: A map of Ceylon showing the RAF, Royal Navy bases and hospitals

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Left: Sunderland landing at Koggala Source: BBC

Geoff enjoyed sailing, probably learning in his youth on Hornsea Mere, and would no doubt have enjoyed sailing on Lake Koggala. Right: 230 Squadron Sunderland Mk III, ML865 'J' at its mooring on Lake Koggala with off-duty RAF personnel enjoying some sailing Source: IWM CI881

Whilst at Koggala, Geoff had problems with a mastoid in his left ear, which appears to have started whilst swimming at Hornsea before the war. At 10.20 on 23 November 1942 he reported to and was admitted to 35 British General Hospital (BGH), at Mount Lavinia, Colombo 124km from Koggala, 2 by Major Simpson. Three days later Major Simpson 3 examined him again stating that an operation was necessary. Despite having no pain in his ear, Geoff was given no option with Major Simpson saying he would operate on Monday 30 November. On the 29 November, Geoff had half his head shaved by Sister Phelan and then bandaged. The next morning, after a 5am breakfast of a cup of tea and two slices of bread, he was given a morphine injection at 9.30 and again at 10.00 and collected by stretcher at 11.00. He was returned to the ward at 12.15 and came to at 15.20 with a heavily bandaged head padded with cotton wool and, despite feeling sickly, was able to look round the ward. The following morning and feeling pretty fit, the wound was dressed with adhesive tape. Right: An inflamed mastoid bone

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Seven stitches and the drains were taken out on 4 December and new dressings applied for the next three days. Despite not being in pain, he was not let out of bed until 8 December. On 15 December, Geoff was discharged from 35BGH and travelled to the convalescent camp at Diyatatawa arriving there at 18.00. Geoff described the food as terrible, with nothing to do but wander round a very free and easy camp in very pretty surroundings but he would have much preferred to have been at Koggala. On 16 December, he saw a 'terrible film', in the Wavel Cinema. ⁴ This operation left him with hardly any ear drum, partial hearing, a need to keep clean because of discharge and the need to swim using a side-stroke. He was entitled to a disability pension . It is said he failed a commission interview because of the mastoid operation.

On 15 December 1942, Geoff was transferred to No.5 BCD, probably Koggala and discharged on 29 December 1942. He was later admitted to No.55 IGH (India General Hospital) Koggala on 28 June 1943 and subsequently discharged on 7 July 1943. ⁵

Above: A modern aerial map of Lake Koggala showing the modern Sri Lankan landing strip This area was devastated by the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami 5. Sri Lanka experienced 35,322 confirmed deaths.

Geoff recalled the story of the BBC correspondent landing in a Catalina in the lagoon in the days before a water landing strip was formed.

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R&R

In January 1943 Geoff went on leave to the tea plantations of a Trimmer, possibly AEH Trimmer of Mahawale Plantation at Madolsima, a modern 4 hours 15 minutes north- east from Koggala. Right R & R at the Trimmers dated 2 February 1943 ready to leave for the bus. Left to right: Geoff, Mr Trimmer, Mrs/Ms Trimmer, Wilf and Kitchy Source: Family photograph

Family hearsay says Trimmer was the uncle of the actress Deborah Kerr-Trimmer, known as Deborah Kerr star of the 1953 film 'From here to Eternity'. In 1951, the Trimmers visited Geoff at Albert Hill, Settle.

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RAF China Bay

On 21 October 1943, Geoff was posted to SHQ China Bay, which had a maintenance yard, perhaps following 205 Squadron which was located at China Bay. Slipways, for the Catalinas were on the south side of Malay Cove

RAF Station China Bay, established in March 1942, was located 4.3miles (7km) south-west of the Royal Navy base of base Trincomalee, the fifth largest natural harbour in the world, and located on the north-east coast Ceylon. It is overlooked by terraced highlands, with its entrance guarded by two headlands. The Portuguese, the Dutch, the French, and the English, each held it in turn, and there have been many sea battles nearby.

Above: Map of Trincomalee Source: Royal Navy Research

On 31 December 1944, Geoff was promoted corporal and given a very good conduct and a double 'Sup' proficiency grading. ⁶ Geoff recalled the story of being on Trincomalee fire picket and being called out to burning cinema. He had been an auxiliary fireman at Hornsea prior to enlisting. Shortly after the war whilst in Settle, he found that his future brother-in-law, Leonard Grimshaw, had started the fire.

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Above: Geoff at China Bay in the colours of Preston North End - September 1945

Homeward bound

At an unknown date, Geoff sailed on the Union Castle MV Stirling Castle, perhaps from Colombo. En route, the ship visited Cochin (Kochi) Kerala in southern India, a 'very smelly' Bombay, Cape Town (~21 May 1945), the island of St Helena and Freetown in Sierra Leon. On VJ day, 15 August 1945, he was crossing the Bay of Biscay. Right: Source: MV Stirling Castle in 1949 (Accessed: 19 September 2021)

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For helping in bar, Geoff was given small silver cup with the badge of the Union Castle line. Left: Geoff's Stirling Castle cup Author

Sydney Ashby recalls the same voyage on MV Stirling Castle

There was a wait of about two weeks before I embarked on the MV Stirling Castle which set out for the UK. As the war in Europe had ended there was no convoy. [..]

The Stirling Castle was also a Union Castle Line ship […] At the time I boarded her [Stirling Castle ] she bore little or no resemblance to the glory of her passenger liner days. She had been converted to a troopship. I, with some 80 other SNCOs was accommodated in what had formerly been the first class swimming pool. We each had what was known as a standee bunk. These were rectangular frames of tubular steel with canvas strung to the ends and sides. Six such bunks were stacked at about 18 inch intervals from floor to ceiling. When all six were occupied it was impossible to turn in your bed unless the other five turned at the same time. There was just sufficient space to walk between each stack of bunks. We were packed in like sardines […].

The Stirling Castle called at St Helena and Freetown and it was while the boat was between these two places that the Japanese war ended. In late August 1945 we docked at Southampton. ⁷

Conclusion

In their escape from Singapore, my father, the men of 151MU and those from RAF Seletar not evacuated earlier, endured a horrific journey, fraught with dangers. Perhaps, forty or so years later, that fortunate journey became an adventure to be retold to receptive ears. Fortunate because:

• Wavell’s order withdrawing all remaining RAF personnel from Singapore, which means my father did not desert.
• He was at the docks at the right time to board Empire Star.
• The Empire Star avoided being sunk by bombing and strafing, unlike many other ships.
• He missed a liberty lorry in Batavia
• Once in Batavia they were surplus to requirements and shipped to the safety of Ceylon.
• John Dodd, allegedly the last serviceman captured in Java, spent the rest of the war in Changi and Frank Planton survived hard labour in Hakodate Shipyard, Japan.
• And the sergeant Geoff knocked off the Keppel docks into the water …….?

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From Ceylon onwards, Geoff enjoyed his service during the final years of the war. After disembarking at Colombo, Ceylon, Form 543 records his posting to RAF Koggala, on 28 February 1942. Lake Koggala, a mere sand bar from the sea, harboured the largest World War II seaplane base, including 205 Squadron’s Catalinas. Then, following 205 Squadron, it was on to RAF China Bay, next to the Royal Navy base of Trincomalee. His final posting, in August 1945, was to look after the bomb dumps at 219 MU RAF Settle, where he met and married my mother. On Geoff’s discharge on 12 February 1946, Wing Commander JB Stewart wrote in his ’Service and Release’ book: This airman is a very sound worker, Equipment Assistant by trade in the RAF, good a clinical work. Has wide experience in Grocery Trade. Right: Geoff Crompton Carnaby January 1946

End notes

1. All conversation rates at 11/09/21. In 2013 with a possible value of £564 (2013 eBay) (an Antiques Road Show subject). A 1913 round C.10 s/n337 red letters classified aVF-rare is valued at AU$975 (£524.75) 28/12/13
2. Now possibly Colombo South Teaching Hospital, Kalubowila, the second largest teaching hospital in Sri Lanka.
3. In August 1945, Major Simpson performed a mastectomy on his mother Jane CROMPTON at Hull Royal Infirmary.
4. This account is taken from Geoff's record probably kept for his disability claim.
5. Service record.
6. ibid Geoff's first proficiency grading was 'Sat' for satisfactory so it is assumed that 'sup' is shorthand for superior.
7. WW2 People's War - BBC (Accessed: 20 September 2021)

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Keppel Harbour Pre-war Keppel comprised of King's Dock, West Wharf, Main Wharf, Albert Dock and East Wharf. It is not known where MV Empire Star was docked or which channel she took to the sea. Located at the southern point of Singapore Island, Keppel was the trading harbour and the furthest from the attacking Japanese. While the deep and calm waters made the natural harbour, it was not the safest. Due to the passing of cargo between China, India and Europe, many pirates anchored themselves in the Straits. Chinese junks returned to China empty-handed, with only tales of ambush to take home. These tales tend to share similar narratives where fleets of hundreds encircled them, leaving them no choice but to surrender their goods to the pirates. In 1832, Midshipman Henry Keppel came to Singapore and helped to clear the Straits of pirates. Later, whilst based at Singapore, he discovered the deep water anchorage that came to be called by his name. Keppel later returned to Singapore as the Captain of a British Royal Navy frigate, the Meander, as part of colonial efforts to clear the Straits of pirates. Armed with 44 cannons, the Meander and its massive sails was a clear threat to the pirates. It was in May 1848, aboard the Meander that he discovered the deep water anchorage that made the waters of Singapore a natural harbour. His survey of the waters around Keppel Bay also formed the foundation of the plans for a new harbour of Singapore. Above: Map of Keppel Harbour 1945 showing the several wharfs and the two exit channels

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Hoverbox Photo Gallery - Keppel Harbour 1941- 1942 Source: Museums Victoria Collection This feature does not function correctly on phones and tablets 1. Boat on Keppel Harbour MVC M112271 2. Keppel Harbour landscape and harbour - MVC M112272 3. Pom-pom anti-aircraft guns point skywards as HMAS Perth departs Keppel - MVC M112273 1   2   3   Keppel had a long association with Singapore, having visited the island on several occasions up to 1903. He surveyed the new harbour of Singapore, which was formed based on his plans. In 1855, Captain William Cloughton, William Paterson and William Wemyss Ker purchased Pantai Chermin from Temenggong Daeng Ibrahim, the Temenggong of Johor. In 1859, Cloughton built the first dry dock known as Number 1 Dock. In 1868, the second dock, Victoria Dock, was inaugurated by Sir Harry George Ord, Governor of the Straits Settlements. The Albert Dock was opened in 1879. The harbour was completed in 1886. From the late 19th century Keppel Harbour became a thriving maritime gateway for international trade. It was originally known as New Harbour and was renamed in honour of Admiral Henry Keppel in 1900 by the Acting Governor, Sir James Alexander Swettenham, on 19 April 1900 when Admiral Keppel visited Singapore at the age of 92. New Harbour Road was also renamed Keppel Road. However, it was in the 1900s when the docks of Keppel Bay saw its golden age. In 1913, Singapore announced to the world the 'largest dock East of the Suez' , the King’s Dock. From 1939 to the early 1940s, Allied soldiers came through this harbour to strengthen the defence of Singapore and the rest of Malaya. Thousands of civilians and troops made their escape through Keppel Harbour before Singapore fell on 15 February 1942. Right: Keppel Harbour East Wharf and Albert Dock In the 21st Century, Keppel Bay's, shipyard activity has been shifted to Tuas and these docks are no longer around. Keppel Bay has evolved from a busy shipyard to a luxurious hide away at the fringe of the city centre. Luxury waterfront condominiums have been raised on the very grounds where seamen once stood and the docks of a past century have blended themselves into modern Singapore. The Caribbean at Keppel Bay stands on where Dock no. 2 used to be.

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Above: Keppel Harbour West Wharf (left) from the Sentosa cable car above Palau Blakang Mati and showing Pulau Brani (centre) Author: 04 December 2015 Right: Bra Keppel 2015 showing one of the routes to the sea and ships in the Singapore's Keppel Road Author: 04 December 2015 Below: A 2015 aerial view of Keppel showing Sentosa Island and the modern wharfage at Keppel and Brani Terminal with only one access to the sea

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Escape from Singapore: the autobiographical blog of Frank Planton RAF Frank Planton worked in the Operations room of 224 Group Fighter Control at RAF Kallang on the south of Singapore. His vivid account of his escaped on HMS Kedah further illustrates Geoff's experience on the Empire Star. Towards evening [of 11/12 February 1942] a flight of Japanese bombers flew over but did not drop anything. We assumed it was because there were no ships in harbour to be bombed and secondly, they had no wish to damage the quay, as they themselves would shortly have use of it. Darkness eventually came but the shelling continued and the fighting was getting closer. Time hung heavily until at 2.00 a.m. two ships glided in out of the darkness, lit only by the flames of the still burning warehouses. The total silence of their arrival was amazing, they were well within our sight before any sound could be heard, needless to say, a very welcome sight. A Chief Petty Officer appeared at the side of the ship saying loud enough for us to hear 'lively lads', we needed no encouragement, the ship represented freedom. We embarked in complete silence, each man boarding the ship nearest him, the one I boarded was an armed merchantman named HMS Kedah, the other a cruiser HMS Durban. We stood on deck silently watching the shell fire and flames recede as we slid out of the harbour leaving Singapore behind us. We made very little progress and eventually stopped. Mines had been laid and it was too risky to proceed in darkness. We spent the night chatting and wandering about the blacked out desk, occasionally trying to rest. Daylight came and we continued our journey, picking our way through the minefields. We had just eaten a makeshift breakfast when the ship's alarm sounded. The Captain spoke over the loudspeaker system asking his airmen passengers to be helpful and try making themselves useful in the forthcoming action, or get below decks out of the way as we would be under air attack within the next few minutes. I decided to try to be helpful and walked over to a sailor I had noticed standing by a Lewis gun mounted at the ship's side. At his feet were several loaded drums of ammunition. He was busily scanning the horizons as I asked him, "Would you like me to load for you?", "I would be very pleased", was his immediate reply. It was a glorious day, a brilliant morning sun in a cloudless sky, the time was around 8:30 a.m. We recently caught up with two merchant ships that had left Singapore the day before us. One of them was crowded with airmen and had aircraft refuelling tankers on deck. I recall seeing the name Empire Star on its stern. Our ship heeled over as it went into open sea behind these two ships, the cruiser HMS Durban which had been alongside, sailed to the front. It was agreed that I kept a look out for enemy aircraft to the left whilst the sailor I was assisting searched the sky to the right. Suddenly there was a shout of "There's one" from him, I turned and saw a plane coming towards us at about fifty feed above sea level, with flashes coming from a single gun on each wing as the plane rushed towards us. The sailor open up with his gun as the plan seemed to be making a direct line for us, emptying one drum which I immediately changed, the plane passed over with a roar. The noise was now deafening, shell bursts everywhere, bombs exploding in the sea around us and aircraft attacking from all directions. The ship was vibrating and sailing at maximum speed as we changed direction frequently to try to evade our attackers, a trail of black smoke marking our course. As suddenly as the attack had started, so it ended with no apparent damage being done.

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Escape from Singapore: the autobiographical blog of Frank Planton RAF My sailor companion and I discussed the attack, he telling me he was happy to be in the navy and on a ship as it was manoeuvrable whilst under attack. I told him I preferred to be on land as I couldn't walk on water and an airfield didn't sink. Lookouts were scanning the sky as we waited for the next attack. The other ships were all steaming on as if undamaged. It didn't seem likely we would be left to continue out journey unhindered. There obviously wasn't another squadron waiting to move in to carry on the attack, so I pondered how far the planes had to go to bomb up and refuel. The alarm sounded again, then we heard the aircraft engines and saw shell bursts high in the sky. Around the shell bursts were the planes and as I watched, some of the aircraft started to dive. We resumed our erratic course and as the aircraft came within range the multiple pom poms from the deck above filled the path of the dive bomber with exploding shells. The tactics were a success, the bomb missed us, falling into the sea. The aircraft, their bombs gone, resorted to low level attacks with cannon fire and machine gun, before flying off. I began to see the sailor’s point of view as we seem unscathed apart from small dents and chipped paintwork. Buckets of tea began to appear, which was a welcome sight. The tension eased as we took a break and enjoyed a cup of tea. It was now three and a half hours since the first air raid had begun and Singapore was well behind us. We kept watch and waited, prepared for another attack, wondering if the Jap's would give up, leaving us still afloat. Our answer came soon enough, as another alarm sounded. We had obviously moved out of range of the previous aircraft as now, high in the sky was a formation of large twin-engine bombers. Now, after the noise and commotion of the low level flying and the continuous firing of the smaller guns, it seemed uncannily quiet, only the larger guns went into action and were firing at what seem longer intervals, there were only two on our ship that could reach the altitude required. The planes were keeping high and continued flying towards us with no apparent damage to them from our gunfire. As I watched I saw some bombs glint in the sun as they left the aircraft and as they whistled through the air, it looked as if they might hit us. There was silence on board except for the guns, which kept up their fire, then, as the sailor and I stood gazing up, we heard course alterations being shouted out from the deck above, the ship immediately heeled over onto a new direction as four bombs crashed into the sea where we would have been. The ship felt and sounded as if a giant had hit us with a very large hammer, there were four rapid blows as large geysers of water with bright orange centres went skyward. I wondered how much of this can a ship take before the riveted steel plates sprang and began to leak water. My sailor friend was quite happy, he had been through it all before and had great confidence in his Captain who, he explained was lying on the above deck keeping watch on the planes through binoculars, waiting for the bombs to leave the aircraft, deciding where they were likely to fall, then taking what evasive action was necessary. He was quite rightly, proud of his Captain, also, regarding the closeness of the bombs, the ship's hull could stand plenty of that treatment. There might be some joints that leak steam and light bulbs may be broken in the engine room where most of the damage would occur.

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Escape from Singapore: the autobiographical blog of Frank Planton RAF The raid continued with the aircraft using their bomb singularly. They had no doubt observed our Captain's actions, as with the next attack, as one plane dropped his bombs, the ship changed course, turning to the right, another plane dropped his bombs into the area we were turning into. Our Captain had no choice but to turn back in the hope we would be between the two sticks of bombs. Those to the left of us exploded first only yards away. The noise was deafening as the ship seem to stop dead before plunging on into the next concussing noise of the bombs to our right. This time there was damage in the engine room with burst pipes, but the ship still moved forward and we were all alive. It was almost 1:00 p.m. when the last planes departed. We had endured and survived four and a half hours of attacks. The Empire Star had been hit twice [sic] and suffered casualties as had the cruiser Durban. We maintained our position at the rear as we continued on our way and now at half speed due to the damage inflicted on the ship during the bombing. The rest of the convoy gradually sailed out of sight as we gradually made our way to Batavia, now know as Jakarta on the Island of Java. Source: Air attack at seas - part 1 (Accessed: 11 September 2021) Air attack at seas - part 2 (Accessed: 11 September 2021)

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2/2 Australian Pioneers in Java On 01 February 1942 the 2/2 Pioneers steamed out of Port Tewfik, now Suez Port to the west of the Canal, on the overcrowded HMT Orcades bound for an unknown destination. The baggage trucks containing the men’s kitbags had not reached the ship so the Battalion embarked in marching order wearing winter dress, carrying 50 rounds of ammunition and 1000 rounds for each Bren gun. By midday 09 February Orcades entered Colombo harbour. The next day, under escort from HMS Dorsetshire, she set sail with HMS Dorsetshire being replaced by HMAS Hobart the next day. At 11.00 that day, it was announced that the ship would make port on 15 February. Soon after breakfast, Orcades dropped anchor in the harbour of Oosthaven, Sumatra, now Bandar Lampung at the southern tip of north Samatra, and 300 miles south of the Japanese landing. Despite being in no condition to fight, as stores had not accompanied the ship leaving some units without arms at all, transport and ammunition, the 2/2 disembarked for a brief period. With the Japanese eleven miles from the port, the Battalion was ordered to embark just before midnight to sail to Tandjoeng Priok, port for Batavia. Orcades arrived at 14.00 on the 16th and disembarked her troops at midday on the 17th. Finally Dutch army lorries transport the Battalion to the Tjililitan (now Cililitan) aerodrome where they moved into the hangers for the night. Between air attacks, the role of ‘A’ and ‘D’ companies was to defend the aerodrome against paratroopers, covering an area originally allocated to a whole Battalion. Despite being without transport, supporting weapons and stores, twelve Bren gun carriers, five assorted armoured cars and ten miscellaneous vehicles were acquired. In very heavy rain, the companies dug in to improve their extended position. The gaps were ‘filled’ by a platoon of 50 men from the inexperienced reinforcements, many of whom disserted their posts. When the CO told the reinforcement draft how serious the position was, 52 men declared they would not fight. At 09.30 on 22 February, the enemy unleashed the first of a series of savage air attacks when 27 Zeros strafed the aerodrome for 35 minutes. On 24 February at 16.00, there was a violent air raid on Tjililitan aerodrome. After the raid, men resumed their wide dispersion. From then onwards air-raid alerts were almost continuous. At 23:20 on 28 February Japanese troops commenced landing at the port of Merak and at Bantam Bay (Banten) on the north-west tip of Java. On 1 March the invaders set up their headquarters at Serang. On 02 March, the Japanese arrived at Rangkasbitung and continued to Leuwiliang, 15 miles (24 km) west of Buitenzorg where 2/2 Pioneer and 2/3 Machine Gun Battalions were positioned along a riverbank at Leuwiliang and put up a vigorous defence. (Aitken pp.101-117) At the beginning of the Java campaign 2/2 Pioneers could muster 788 men. On 9/10 March 1942 the Battalion surrendered to the Japanese. (Aitken p.137) During the Java campaign 2/2 Pioneers lost 34 Killed in Action casualties. More alarming was the number of the battalion who died as prisoners of war: 170 in Burma-Siam (railway?) ; two in Japan; three in Java; nine lost at sea near Nagasaki and 55 lost at sea between Singapore and Japan. In total 273 deaths possibly resulting from the action in Java. (Aitken - Roll of Honour)

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Cocos Keeling Islands The Clunies-Ross were a remarkable pioneering family whose Scottish ancestors first settled the remote island paradise of Cocos Keeling Islands, tiny specks in the Indian Ocean, closer to Indonesia than Australia. In 1857, they became part of the British Empire, and later Queen Victoria granted the Clunies-Ross family exclusive ownership. In the early days the family made its wealth by mining the rich phosphate deposits on nearby Christmas Island. With the vast fortune, a family mansion was built on the Cocos, and Malay workers were imported to develop the copra plantations. John Sidney was 41 when he became Tuan of the Cocos Keeling Islands in 1910. He was unmarried but had three children from his relationship with a local girl. Genetically, he was three quarters Malay, taller than his father, and regarded himself as "head of the clan". When a cyclist unthinkingly rode past him without stopping, Clunies-Ross made him carry his bike back to where he came from, and then as he approached the second time, dismount and give the proper salutation. Britain declared war on Germany in 1914 and later that year the German warship the Emden was destroyed by HMAS Sydney off North Keeling Island. The war tightened the Clunies-Ross financial position and John Sidney's main source of income was dividends from the Christmas Island Phosphate Company. After the war copra prices soared and John Sidney built new houses for all his labourers. He travelled to England in wintertime to the colder climate of Scotland and the Shetland Islands. In 1925 at the age of 56 he married Rose Nash, a 22 year old cashier at his favourite London restaurant. In 1928 she returned to London to give birth to John Cecil, the son and heir John Sidney had been hoping for. In 1936, on one of his visits to Britain, a tabloid newspaper headlined a story about John Sidney, "Rules 1500 with a little stick". He was quoted as saying, "when my stick is ineffective a whip is sufficient to restore order". The remark caught the attention of Anti-Slavery society and in 1937 a British official was sent to Cocos to report on conditions. "From all that I saw and heard," he wrote, "I am quite convinced that the Islanders form a happy and peaceful community, quite contented with their lot. Any suggestion of cruelty or exploitation strikes me as ridiculous." During the Second World War, the British military took over control of Home Island until John Cecil Clunies-Ross returned to the Cocos on 6 July 1946. The Cocos islands served as a major base for the Royal Air Force and the cable station. John Sidney Clunies-Ross died of a heart attack during a Japanese bombing on the islands in August 1944. During the war John Sidney's family had moved to Britain and his children were educated in English schools. Shortly afterwards, John Sidney died in his sleep of a heart attack. In 1945 over 6000 military personnel and their equipment arrived on the islands to build an airstrip. Control of the islands was put into the hands of a military administrator. Britain passed sovereignty over the Cocos Islands to Australia in 1955, and almost immediately, Canberra began a war of attrition with Clunies-Ross. John Clunies-Ross and his family lived in the mansion for 150 years until their idyllic existence was shattered by a succession of Australian governments. The last ‘king’, John Clunies-Ross, was a feudal leader who walked the islands barefoot with a dagger in his belt, and had total control over the lives of his Cocos Malay workers. The title to the islands was claimed by the Ross family until 1978, when John Cecil Clunies-Ross (born 29 November 1928), under threat of expropriation by the Hawke government, known as Tuan John,[10] sold them to the Commonwealth of Australia for £2.5m ($4.75m) With the exception of his house on Home Island. This was eventually purchased by the government in 1993. The Commonwealth had already been administering the islands since November 1955, with the proclamation of the Cocos (Keeling) Island Act 1955. John C. Clunies-Ross eventually went bankrupt after the Australian government refused to give any business to his shipping line company. He then moved to Perth with his wife. During the 1984 referendum, he campaigned for independence but the majority of the islanders chose full integration with Australia. Source: Clunies-Ross dynasty (No longer available) Wikipedia

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Koggala tsunami The Indian Ocean Tsunami on 26 December 2004 caused a devastating disaster on Sri Lanka’s east coast. Even in the southwestern coastal areas of the island, which the tsunami did not strike directly, suffered severe damage with an average tsunami wave height of 5m, based on the result of field survey. Three tsunamis waves struck the southwest coast, with the highest being the second, which came 30 minutes after the first tsunami at Moratuwa in the western coast. Various types of damage were found as follows: (1) the flat low-lying coastal land far from the shoreline was inundated by seawater. (2) The wooden and brick houses were almost destroyed by the tsunami of 2-3m but concrete buildings had less destruction. (3) A number of vessels were washed away, lifted onto the land and lost. (4) The railway and roads in the coastal area and ports and harbours suffered damage. (5) Large-scale scouring was found around the buildings and so on. At Koggala, the height of the tsunami was between 9.1m and 9.6m. Around Koggala Airport, many trees damaged by seawater were found in places that were 3.8m high and 64m from the beach. The height of discoloured leaves was 9m. A watermark of 15cm above ground level was also found on the exterior wall of a house located approximately 300m away from the shoreline. The supporting rods of a wire netting fence for security of the airport fell sideways 200m from the shore. Source: Tomita, Imamura, Arikawa, Yasuda and Kawata, Damage caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami on the south-western coast of Sri Lanka, Coastal Engineering Journal Vol. 48, No.2 World Scientific, 2006 (No longer available online)

This page was created by Richard Crompton and maintained by Chris Glass		Version A2 Updated 04 June 2023