5. Collie Boy and the Horror of War
WW2 – Collie Boy and The Horror of War
Saluting their Service - Grahame Old
The Horror of War-WW2
SIFFLEET, Leonard George (POW) Service No. NX143314
Sergeant
‘M’ Special Unit
SERVICE: Australian Army
DATE Of BIRTH: 14 January 1916
PLACE OF BIRTH: Gunnedah, NSW
DATE OF ENLISTMENT: 10 September 1941
LOCALITY ON ENLISTMENT: Kings Cross, NSW
PLACE OF ENLISTMENT: Paddington NSW
NEXT OF KIN: BRODBECK Veronica
DATE OF DEATH: 24 October 1943, age 23 yrs
PLACE OF DEATH: Aitape, New Guinea
CAUSE OF DEATH: Execution
POSTING ON DEATH: ‘M’ Special Unit
CEMETERY OR MEMORIAL DETAILS: Lae Memorial, Lae, Papua New Guinea
TOWN MEMORIAL: Gunnedah, NSW
"A noble hero true and brave, peacefully sleeps in a soldier's grave"
Description (from the AWM)
Len Siffleet, a special operations soldier who became well-known for the manner of his death, was born at Gunnedah, New South Wales, on 14 January 1916. A keen sportsman, he became a good swimmer but also enjoyed less physical pursuits; he once outfitted the Gunnedah pipe band with highland hose that he had knitted.
In the late 1930s Siffleet moved to Sydney in search of work and was rejected by the police because of poor eyesight. Whatever defect marred his vision it was not sufficiently serious to prevent his being called up for the militia in August 1940. He served with a searchlight unit at Richmond Air Force Base but was released after three months and returned to civilian life.
After his mother's death in 1941, he and his sister, Pearl, took responsibility for bringing up their two youngest brothers, a task made necessary by the itinerant nature of their father's work. In September 1941, Siffleet joined the AIF and was posted to the 1st Division Signals Company at Ingleburn.
Siffleet went on to complete a specialist signals course at the Melbourne Technical College before volunteering in September 1942 for special duties, joining Z Special Unit. In October he went to the Z Experimental Station in Cairns where Special Operations Australia trained its operatives. While Siffleet was training, the Dutch section of the Inter-Allied Services Department was planning a mission to establish a coast-watching station in the hills above Hollandia in Dutch New Guinea, recently occupied by the Japanese. Siffleet became the operation's radio operator.
Siffleet was promoted to sergeant and transferred to M Special Unit in May 1943, but by then he and his party were trekking along New Guinea's mountainous spine en-route to the north coast. In mid-September the mission, along with members of another special operations team travelling with them to Aitape, were discovered by New Guinean natives. Surrounded by a group of more than 100 locals, Siffleet fired on the attackers, wounding one, and managed to break free. He was quickly caught and, along with his companions, was handed over to the Japanese. He was taken to Malol near Aitape where he was beaten, interrogated - apparently revealing little of importance - and then imprisoned for two weeks before being moved to Aitape.
Just after 3.00pm on 24 October 1943, after languishing in prison for several weeks, Siffleet and two fellow prisoners were marched to Aitape Beach. Kneeling before a crowd of Japanese and New Guinean onlookers and wearing blindfolds, the three prisoners were beheaded and buried. A photo of a Japanese soldier holding a sword over a haggard looking prisoner captured the last seconds of Siffleet's life. It was found by American troops in 1944. The photo continues to be misrepresented as other victims of Japanese executions, but its subject was positively identified as Siffleet in 1945.
Vice-Admiral Michiada Kamaki of the Imperial Japanese Navy ordered the execution. The officer who executed Siffleet, Yasuno Chikao, ordered a private to photograph him in the act. Chikao has been variously reported as having died before the end of the war, and as having been captured and sentenced to be hanged, with his sentence subsequently commuted to 10 years' imprisonment.
The photograph of Siffleet's execution was discovered on the body of a dead Japanese major near Hollandia by American troops in April 1944. It is believed to be the only surviving depiction of a western prisoner of war being executed by a Japanese soldier.
Collie Boy - Reg Murray
A ‘Collie Boy’ WX7906 Private Reginald Herbert MURRAY, 2nd Independent Commando Company, suffered a similar fate when he was executed by the Japanese in Timor, Feb 1942, whilst being held as a POW. Pte Murray’s next of kin was his Father, James Lewis Murray, Bunbury St Collie.
MURRAY, Reginald Herbert (POW) Service No. WX7906
Private 2nd Independent (Commando) Company
SERVICE: Australian Army
DATE Of BIRTH: 01 November 1918
PLACE OF BIRTH: Collie, WA
DATE OF ENLISTMENT: 13 August 1940
LOCALITY ON ENLISTMENT: Collie, WA
PLACE OF ENLISTMENT: Claremont, WA
NEXT OF KIN: Father, James Lewis MURRAY, Bunbury St, Collie WA
PRISONER OF WAR: Yes (Japanese)
DATE OF DEATH: 20 February 1942, age 24 yrs
PLACE OF DEATH: Timor
CAUSE OF DEATH: Execution
POSTING ON DEATH: 2nd Independent (Commando) Company
CEMETERY OR MEMORIAL DETAILS: Northern Territory Memorial, Adelaide River War Cemetery, NT, Australia
TOWN MEMORIAL: Collie, WA
“Far away from the land of the wattle, he lies in a hero's grave"
Pte Reginald Herbert Murray
Remembered forever at the Collie Cardiff RSL Sub Branch
When reading this story, we should always remember that the years of peace and prosperity in Australia following WW2 were made possible by the sacrifices of the men and women of the Defence Force of this country.
‘Lest we Forget’