Paul (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} fremantlebiz) wrote,@ 2006-02-20 05:06:00 |
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Hec Waller and “Skip” Barron - Two RAN heroes remembered
I had an email on the weekend from a reader wanting to know about a little-known Fremantle hero "Skip Barron." I wrote the following article for the Australian Association for Maritime History Newsletter in March 2000:
The September AAMH Newsletter revealed that with the commissioning of submarine HMAS Waller, the navy had missed an outstanding opportunity to involve the many sea scouts who operate from Camp Waller on Perth’s Swan River. A hostile letter was sent to this editor by a senior WA navy PR officer demanding to know why I had not informed the navy of the existence of the group.
It is astonishing that the navy did not remember that one of its greatest heroes had been honoured in this way by Western Australian youth for so long. Of course the navy used to keep a tab on these things and certainly knew about the sea scouts in the past.
Indeed they had official representation at the opening ceremony for Camp Waller and presented the group with an Australian flag. And it is only a few years ago that the Camp Waller group gifted back to the navy a rare wooden cutter for the navy’s historical collection, a matter mentioned at the time in the AAMH Newsletter.
Captain Hector M.L. Waller entered the RAN College in 1914, graduating with the King’s Medal in 1917. He then served on HMS Agincourt, Resource and Brazen. He commanded on the latter and guarded British interests in the Mediterranean during the Spanish Civil War. In 1939 he took command of HMAS Stuart, again serving in the Med. Distinguished service there gained him the DSO and promotion. Engaging enemy destroyers at point blank range and surviving, Waller gained a reputation for courageous enterprise in 'The Battle of Matapan' and received more awards.
In Captain Waller took command of HMAS Perth and again distinguished himself in the 'Battle of the Java Sea.' On 28 February - 1 March 1942 Perth was sunk by the Japanese in the 'Battle of Sunda Strait.' Waller and 355 others perished.
The naming of Camp Waller at East Fremantle was the idea of the late Lieutenant Commander Eric J. Barron, VRD, RANR(S) who was himself something of an unsung hero - like so many others who have served with Australian defence forces. For him, Captain Waller had been an inspirational figure.
Born in Tavistock, Britain in 1900, “Skip” Barron as he eventually became known to all and sundry, had long been connected with the scouting movement - since 1909. According to Skip’s son John (70) his father had been one of Baden Powell’s original scout leaders.
Skip Barron served in the Great War on sailing ships, and eventually came to Australia in charge of a four masted barque Vimerra. As a member of the naval reserve, the outbreak of WW2 saw him back into active service on 2 September 1939.
He added to his proud record during his Australian wartime navy service, commanding HMA ships Warrnambool from 1941-43; then Kybra in 1943, then Launceston in the period 1944-46. Launceston and Warrnambool were corvettes. Kybra was a merchant vessel which had been pressed into auxiliary service. When in command of Warrnambool, he recorded in his 'Letter of Proceedings' that he had in the first year of the ship's commissioning steamed 36, 000 miles, carried out five evacuations or troop rescues, been present in 18 air raids, ferried 4,000 troops to New Guinea, and landed part of 'Plover Force' in Timor.
According to Tom Lewis who provided some of the service details for this article, the ship was narrowly missed on two occasions, and Barron judged they had been very lucky not to have been hit. Warrnambool assisted in the evacuation of personnel from the destroyer Voyager, when it was ultimately destroyed by its own company whilst under enemy fire. Warnambool also evacuated civilians from Java. On Launceston in 1945, Barron participated in various British Pacific Fleet operations.
Incidentally, under command of someone else after the war Warnambool carried out minesweeping and anti-piracy operations from Hong Kong, then was sunk in 1946 while sweeping a minefield off Queensland.
Immediately after WW2 Skip revived the 69th Sea Scouts in downtown Fremantle. The group later moved to the first of two sites on the riverside at East Fremantle and became known as the 1st Fremantle Sea Scouts.
It is difficult to imagine a more appropriate person for the task. He was a man of enterprise with connections in the right places, and on more than one occasion the sea scouts benefited from his acquisition of various bits of useful equipment “surplus to official requirements.”
All manner of nautical skills were taught and young scouts learned how to splice rope and wire, and to sew their own canvas kitbags under his patient tuition. Periodically the group would all sail to offshore Garden Island for weekend camps. Their transport was an ex-navy cutter named Albatross. It had been acquired by the enterprising leader in about 1950.
They were of course halcyon days before the austere HMAS Stirling naval base was established.
When Skip reached the mandatory retirement age for scout leaders in 1980 he was awarded Australian Scouting’s highest honour, The Silver Kangaroo. Nevertheless, his scouting links continued through his dedication to maintaining the variety of boats belonging to the group, but eventually failing eyesight obliged him to give that up too. He died in Fremantle on 13 September 1987.
The 1st Fremantle Sea Scouts have photographs of him, Captain Waller, and HMAS Perth mounted on the wall alongside their most important ceremonial pennants.
© MMVI Paul R. Weaver.
About the writer
Check out each month's subject index on the Calendar Page for my "common-man" monologues about survival in 21st century Australia – plus a little history occasionally. An original essay is added most days as part of an undertaking to write a million words.
I had an email on the weekend from a reader wanting to know about a little-known Fremantle hero "Skip Barron." I wrote the following article for the Australian Association for Maritime History Newsletter in March 2000:
The September AAMH Newsletter revealed that with the commissioning of submarine HMAS Waller, the navy had missed an outstanding opportunity to involve the many sea scouts who operate from Camp Waller on Perth’s Swan River. A hostile letter was sent to this editor by a senior WA navy PR officer demanding to know why I had not informed the navy of the existence of the group.
It is astonishing that the navy did not remember that one of its greatest heroes had been honoured in this way by Western Australian youth for so long. Of course the navy used to keep a tab on these things and certainly knew about the sea scouts in the past.
Indeed they had official representation at the opening ceremony for Camp Waller and presented the group with an Australian flag. And it is only a few years ago that the Camp Waller group gifted back to the navy a rare wooden cutter for the navy’s historical collection, a matter mentioned at the time in the AAMH Newsletter.
Captain Hector M.L. Waller entered the RAN College in 1914, graduating with the King’s Medal in 1917. He then served on HMS Agincourt, Resource and Brazen. He commanded on the latter and guarded British interests in the Mediterranean during the Spanish Civil War. In 1939 he took command of HMAS Stuart, again serving in the Med. Distinguished service there gained him the DSO and promotion. Engaging enemy destroyers at point blank range and surviving, Waller gained a reputation for courageous enterprise in 'The Battle of Matapan' and received more awards.
In Captain Waller took command of HMAS Perth and again distinguished himself in the 'Battle of the Java Sea.' On 28 February - 1 March 1942 Perth was sunk by the Japanese in the 'Battle of Sunda Strait.' Waller and 355 others perished.
The naming of Camp Waller at East Fremantle was the idea of the late Lieutenant Commander Eric J. Barron, VRD, RANR(S) who was himself something of an unsung hero - like so many others who have served with Australian defence forces. For him, Captain Waller had been an inspirational figure.
Born in Tavistock, Britain in 1900, “Skip” Barron as he eventually became known to all and sundry, had long been connected with the scouting movement - since 1909. According to Skip’s son John (70) his father had been one of Baden Powell’s original scout leaders.
Skip Barron served in the Great War on sailing ships, and eventually came to Australia in charge of a four masted barque Vimerra. As a member of the naval reserve, the outbreak of WW2 saw him back into active service on 2 September 1939.
He added to his proud record during his Australian wartime navy service, commanding HMA ships Warrnambool from 1941-43; then Kybra in 1943, then Launceston in the period 1944-46. Launceston and Warrnambool were corvettes. Kybra was a merchant vessel which had been pressed into auxiliary service. When in command of Warrnambool, he recorded in his 'Letter of Proceedings' that he had in the first year of the ship's commissioning steamed 36, 000 miles, carried out five evacuations or troop rescues, been present in 18 air raids, ferried 4,000 troops to New Guinea, and landed part of 'Plover Force' in Timor.
According to Tom Lewis who provided some of the service details for this article, the ship was narrowly missed on two occasions, and Barron judged they had been very lucky not to have been hit. Warrnambool assisted in the evacuation of personnel from the destroyer Voyager, when it was ultimately destroyed by its own company whilst under enemy fire. Warnambool also evacuated civilians from Java. On Launceston in 1945, Barron participated in various British Pacific Fleet operations.
Incidentally, under command of someone else after the war Warnambool carried out minesweeping and anti-piracy operations from Hong Kong, then was sunk in 1946 while sweeping a minefield off Queensland.
Immediately after WW2 Skip revived the 69th Sea Scouts in downtown Fremantle. The group later moved to the first of two sites on the riverside at East Fremantle and became known as the 1st Fremantle Sea Scouts.
It is difficult to imagine a more appropriate person for the task. He was a man of enterprise with connections in the right places, and on more than one occasion the sea scouts benefited from his acquisition of various bits of useful equipment “surplus to official requirements.”
All manner of nautical skills were taught and young scouts learned how to splice rope and wire, and to sew their own canvas kitbags under his patient tuition. Periodically the group would all sail to offshore Garden Island for weekend camps. Their transport was an ex-navy cutter named Albatross. It had been acquired by the enterprising leader in about 1950.
They were of course halcyon days before the austere HMAS Stirling naval base was established.
When Skip reached the mandatory retirement age for scout leaders in 1980 he was awarded Australian Scouting’s highest honour, The Silver Kangaroo. Nevertheless, his scouting links continued through his dedication to maintaining the variety of boats belonging to the group, but eventually failing eyesight obliged him to give that up too. He died in Fremantle on 13 September 1987.
The 1st Fremantle Sea Scouts have photographs of him, Captain Waller, and HMAS Perth mounted on the wall alongside their most important ceremonial pennants.
© MMVI Paul R. Weaver.
About the writer
Check out each month's subject index on the Calendar Page for my "common-man" monologues about survival in 21st century Australia – plus a little history occasionally. An original essay is added most days as part of an undertaking to write a million words.
