The Silent Anzac

11:00 am Sunday I departed Chudley Stud and rushed back to Brisbane to attend a family reunion. Whilst there I met Terry Roach, my wife’s cousin, for the first time. I had heard of Terry as he had been a Submariner when I was an Infantryman and to the best of my knowledge, of our generation, we were the only two service officers in the extended family. Terry now runs a property at Kempsey called Tullamore. The name Tullamore rates frequently in the family as it was the Irish family seat before migration. There is a Tullamore Consultancy and at every reunion one can easily see a bottle of Tullamore Dew somewhere on the table and one framed bottle on the wall commemorating the life of Jim O’Rourke, the quintessential Irish Copper whose last beat as a sergeant was the Gabba. Where was I?…..Ah yes, the Silent ANZAC. AE2 at Sea

HMAS AE2 was the first Allied submarine to penetrate the Dardanelles in 1915 as part of the Gallipoli Campaign, on the very morning the ANZAC soldiers landed at Anzac Cove. After five hectic days “running amok”, she finally fell to Turkish gunfire and was scuttled. Her crew was captured and spent the rest of the war as Turkish POWs. AE2 lay, unseen, until in 1998 she was discovered, intact, in 73m of water in the Sea of Marmara. The Submarine Institute of Australia (SIA) aims to ensure the protection, preservation and promotion of AE2, to contribute to an informed debate on her future and ensure that AE2’s contribution to the Gallipoli campaign is duly recognised by telling the story of her brave crew. Following Government support, implementation of the Project AE2 strategy has been assigned to the AE2 Commemorative Foundation Ltd, a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee.

The sub was ably commanded by Lt Comd Henry Stoker, DSO (don’t confuse his name with the Stoker mustering) and the story of his exploits in Dardenelles are well worth the read Terry, aka Commodore Terence Roach AM, JP,RAN (Rtd) has found himself Director of the AE2 Commemorative Foundation Ltd and is heading up the project. Conversations with both the Coalition and ALP parties have attracted interest and some funding and the Turks are more than happy with the concept. The submarine has been located and a preliminary dive has been conducted revealing the sub is in good shape and, because all the crew were rescued, its not a war grave. This fact allows for flexibility in planning and the outcome may well be that the sub is raised and displayed on the Gallipoli Peninsular. Only time and a lot of work will tell but it is a story that needs to be told. If there was a sub AE2 then there must have been at least an AE1 and sure enough there was. The AE1 was lost with all hands east of Rabaul in September 1914 From the Naval Association of Australia website;

When the First World War broke out in August 1914, both submarines (AE1 & 2) were still in refit. They were quickly prepared for sea (most of us know how that went, as well) and then proceeded north, where they eventually joined up with the rest of the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force (ANMEF

and…

On 14 September, AE1, accompanied by HMAS Parramatta, left Blanche Bay, New Britain, to patrol off Cape Gazelle. She was last seen by Parramatta at 3.30 pm that day, when she turned to return to harbour. When she failed to arrive at the anchorage before sunset, a search was launched. The search lasted for two days however no trace was found of the AE1, or her company, ever since. It has been presumed that AE1 struck an uncharted reef and sank, however even that remains a best guess.

My sub experience is minimal but I do recall a night in Bangkok during the Vietnam stoush (no, I wasn’t on R&R, I was working) when I bumped into submariners from, I think the Onslow, an Oberon class sub. This unfortunate/dangerous state of affairs led to an invite to the PO’s mess on board for drinks. All the drinks were 26oz (750ml) cans RAN style and in telling the story I often state that when another can was opened someone had to leave the PO’s Mess, it was that small. Siphoning off excess body fluids required gymnastics far outside my large frame ability. Bending backwards to the shape of the hull was too much for me and I ended up hanging off rails up-top while I polluted the Gulf of Siam. Cuts and bruises were obvious the next day as moving along gangways required lifting legs and ducking heads at the same time in a coordinated manner to get through all the watertight doors (yes, I know, doors are most probably called something different but I can’t remember right now).My ability to handle this simple hand-eye coordination activity diminished with the opening of every one of those 26 oz cans. Submarines are definitely not my bag thus I hold submariners in very high regard. I wish the AE2 project best speed and point out there will be a documentary screened on ABC next ANZAC Day telling the story of the sub and the project. I’ll remind you. The story of the recent trip to the Dardanelles by the recovery team is here and the Submarine Institute of Australia Submarine AE2 Project is here