2/13th Battalion Association Disbands

Kyt · Dec 16, 2007

Rats' tales left for the history books as diggers disband - National

MEN of the 2/13th Infantry Battalion hold the honour of enduring the eight-month Siege of Tobruk from start to finish in 1941. They were among the men the German propagandist Lord Haw Haw taunted as the "Rats of Tobruk" because of the way they dug in to survive - and they adopted the name with pride.

Their fallen comrades on the barren coast of North Africa grow not old, but those who are left grow old. No rat cunning can avoid the way the years condemn and yesterday another chapter in Australia's military history came to an end.

Thirty-two surviving members of the battalion - called "The Devil's Own" - gathered at the Masonic Centre in Sydney for the last ever function of the 2/13th Battalion Association.

Because members are no longer numerous enough or fit enough to organise events or publish the journal that has kept them in touch, the association opted to disband after starting up in 1942.

Nearly 3000 served in the 2/13th between 1940 and 1945, but battalion members numbered just 141 in the last edition of the association journal, The Devil's Own Despatch.

On the stage at yesterday's function, the battalion's banner told its tale of glory: Er Regima, Tobruk and El Alamein in North Africa; Lae, Scarlet Beach and Borneo in the Pacific war.

Despite two strokes and four heart bypass operations, 86-year-old Harold Taylor came down from Lismore to play the Last Post. He served with the battalion in the Pacific in 1944-45.

A "sad" Joe Madeley presided over yesterday's function as the last acting president of the 2/13th association.

The 87-year-old recently travelled back to Tobruk, and the harsh desert landscape again left him marvelling at how he survived there for so long against the might of the German army. Mateship had a lot to do with it, he said, and the association had been "absolutely marvellous" for catching up with those mates who "were closer than family".

Edith Close lost her husband, Cyril, 22 years ago and the association had been "everything to me … We have had a wives and widows group for 33 years. I don't know how I would have managed without it."

The 2/13 was formed in April 1940 at Ingleburn army camp, in Sydney's south-west, and went on to make history when Australian troops gave the all-conquering Germans their first setback of World War II. During the siege, the Australians would crawl out at night and harass the enemy.

The president of the Australian Industry and Defence Network, Michael Turner, said: "The … tactics they used are still being used by our soldiers in Afghanistan. We took the fight up to [the enemy]. We didn't wait for them to come to us. The boys learnt the hard way and they passed the lesson down."

The 2/17th Battalion Association also disbanded this week after a meeting in Sydney. Like the 2/13th, it was formed at Ingleburn in April 1940 and the two fought side by side at Tobruk.

The final edition of the 2/13th's Despatch has a story about Bert Venness, of Coffs Harbour, who on August 27 became the first devil to reach 100. Members' news is full of tales about respite care, pneumonia, hip replacements and heart problems.

The "Last Post" section marks the passing in 2007 of a further 15 members and "at the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them".
Click to expand...

spidge · Dec 16, 2007

Very sad but inevitable!

They did their job and will always be remembered as the boys that beat Rommel and the Afrika Corps to a standstill.

spidge · Dec 16, 2007

Check their wartime efforts here:

http://ww2chat.com/forums/allied-forces/1228-australian-9th-division-battalions.html#post8452

Antipodean Andy · Dec 16, 2007

I attended a Rats memorial service in Kings Park last year. A more jovial bunch of chaps I have never come across.

Log in or Sign up

2/13th Battalion Association Disbands

Kyt Άρης

spidge Active Member

spidge Active Member

Antipodean Andy New Member

Share This Page

Log in or Sign up

2/13th Battalion Association Disbands

Thread Tools

Kyt Άρης

spidge Active Member

spidge Active Member

Antipodean Andy New Member

Share This Page

Useful Searches