I Was Only Doing My Job: Australia's Military History

20-DECEMBER-1915. While serving with the 7th Infantry Battalion, Australian Imperial Force, Private William Charles Scurry, landed at Gallipoli and immediately set out to address a glaring issue with the rumours of the evacuation of ANZAC forces, just how was the 60,000 Australian and New Zealand troops going to get off the beaches without being massacred? 

His solution was the invention of a quirky but extremely simple piece of tech that will go down in history as the Drip RIfle.

For show notes, photos and transcripts visit www.thedocnetwork.net and follow the show on Instagram @IWODMJ

to follow me for more history hijinks you can follow me on TikTok/Instagram/Twitter @docwinters.

I sit down with Preston Stewart of War Stories and we talk about the joint Australian/American Battle of Hamel during the First World War and talk about the life and service of the 1000th Recipient of the Victoria Cross Pte Henry Dalziel, and Cpl Thomas A Pope US Army, a man who until 2015 was the first US Army infantryman to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor in the First World War.

For Preston: https://prestonstew.com/

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25-OCTOBER-1915. While serving with the 21st Infantry Battalion, Australian Imperial Force, Private James Charles "Jimmy" Martin, landed on the Gallipoli peninsula and would stay until October, when he died of heart failure at the age of 14 years and 9 months, making him the youngest Australian serviceperson to die in war.

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For Show Notes, transcripts and photos check out the I Was Only Doing My Job Website at www.thedocnetwork.net

This Episode was re-recorded on 5/10/2023

29-JULY-1918. While serving with the 29th Infantry Battalion, Australian Imperial Force, Private George Giles, participated in the attack on German positions at Morlancourt. After which, he was instructed to proceed to the headquarters of the 8th Brigade, and surrender his uniform and equipment to the Australian War Records Section. Photographs were taken, and he was issued new equipment. The intent being to 'show how our men came out of the trenches' to the public. Who was the man behind the most famous uniform in the collection of the Australian War Memorial?

This episode was re-recorded and uploaded on 17/07/2023

25-MAY-1940.

While only serving in the 2/17th Infantry Battalion Second Australian Imperial Force for a little over a month, Pte Evelyn Ernest Owen would contribute to the Australian War effort in the Second World War as part of the Central Inventions Board by inventing one of the weirdest. Still, the most reliable machine carbines were built during the Second World War. This weapon would serve as part of the arsenal of the Australian Army for over twenty years, it would sadly outlive its creator, but cement itself in the pantheon of Australian small arms.

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CW: Suicide

This episode was re-recorded and re-edited on 12/04/2023

7-AUGUST-1916. Serving in the 48th Infantry Battalion, Australian Imperial Force, Sgt David Twining would participate in the Battle of Pozieres; during the second phase of the First Battle of the Somme. Following horrific German counterattacks, a wounded man would enter the 48th Battalion Headquarters with a simple message: "I'm the only one left, do you still want me to hold this position?" That message came from David Twining, and would start a monumental military career that would span Australia's involvement in the Great War on the Western Front, but would sadly end with Captain David Twining taking his own life in 1931. His most known act, the defence of the Windmill at Pozieres was immortalised in the Pozieres Diorama at the Australian War Memorial. Sadly, the diorama has become more well known than the man depicted in it. 

CW: Sexual Assault- This episode contains a discussion of the murder of women and allegations of sexual assault in war. The sexual assault is isolated to the end of the episode, with a warning just prior. the discussion of the Bangka Island Massacre will begin at 5:16 to 8:06 

16-FEBRUARY-1942. Serving as a Staff Nurse in the 2/13th Australian General Hospital, Second Australian Imperial Force, Sister Vivian Bullwinkel would be the sole survivor of the Bangka Island Massacre at the hands of the Imperial Japanese Army. She would go on to be a Prisoner of War for three and a half years, but would never abandon her courage or resolve.  Her career didn't end in captivity, and she would go on to serve until 1947 when she would resume her nursing duties, up until the Vietnam War, when she would once again enter the battlespace to help the disadvantaged.  She would receive honours and decorations for her service to the cause of nursing and would uphold those tenents until her death in 2000. She did more than just her job, and for that, we are immensely proud of her. To Donate to the Vivian Bullwinkel Project go here https://foundation.acn.edu.au/Foundation/Donate/The_Vivian_Bullwinkel_Project_2021.aspx

For show notes, photos and transcripts visit www.thedocnetwork.net and follow the show on Instagram and Twitter at @IWODMJ and like us on Facebook at I Was Only Doing My Job and to follow me for more history hijinks you can follow me on TikTok/Instagram/Twitter @docwinters.

This episode was re-recorded and re-uploaded on 7-10-2021

27-SEPTEMBER-1917. Serving in the 45th Infantry Battalion, Australian Imperial Force, The Souvenir King of the AIF. Pte John Hines, would participate in the Battle of Polygon Wood; during the second phase of the Third Battle of Ypres. it was during this battle where Frank Hurley, Australian War Photographer snapped arguably his most photo. He had a ferocity to him and a preference for using Mills Bombs over rifle and bayonet, but his number one hobby was the collection of German equipment off German soldiers, either dead, wounded or prisoners of war. This ferocity was mirrored by truly abhorrent behaviour which cost him over a hundred days in pay, weeks in detention and any chance of him receiving any awards or decorations. After the war, he faded to obscurity, his photo survived to the point where more people knew his face than his name. 

For show notes, photos and transcripts visit www.thedocnetwork.net and follow the show on Instagram @IWODMJ

to follow me for more history hijinks you can follow me on tiktok/instagram/twitter @docwinters.

This episode was re-recorded and re-uploaded on 04/03/2023

He would carry them one after another on his back, only stopping when he physically couldn't continue, and for his actions, he would receive the United States Silver Star, the third-highest medal of Bravery, and the highest that could be awarded to a non-US citizen.

When asked of his gallant deeds during the Second World War, this Gentle Giant would simply say. "I was only doing my job."

For show notes, photos and transcripts visit www.thedocnetwork.net and follow the show on Instagram @IWODMJ

to follow me for more history hijinks you can follow me on tiktok/instagram/twitter @docwinters.