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given <strong>the</strong> game away. During this show <strong>the</strong>re were about six officers given Bowlerhats’.186 An undated draft letter by Field mentions Dexter’s concerns about one ofhis majors.It appears to me that in all <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r circumstances you relate <strong>the</strong>re are sufficientgrounds for <strong>the</strong> submission of an adverse report. I consider that you have no optionbut to submit this since you appear to have insufficient confidence in him even to givehim a trial in action.187This may have been one of <strong>the</strong> cases where Dexter displayed ‘a lack of measuredjudgement’ but it should be noted that <strong>the</strong> officer in question was medically downgradedin April and <strong>the</strong>n employed as <strong>the</strong> area commander at <strong>the</strong> Toko Base.188The question of leadership at <strong>the</strong> more junior levels was one that Fieldrepeatedly turned to in his diary. Commenting on <strong>the</strong> early difficulties in <strong>the</strong>9th Battalion he wrote, ‘This unit is undoubtedly cramped by a shortage of goodofficers and more particularly good NCO section leaders. This is largely due to<strong>the</strong> pernicious policy of draining us of good NCOs for training units’.189 Given<strong>the</strong> largely small-team nature of much of <strong>the</strong> brigade’s operations in <strong>the</strong> jungle,this was a particular handicap and Field felt strongly enough about it to raise<strong>the</strong> issue with <strong>the</strong> Chief of <strong>the</strong> General Staff when he visited on 13 February.190The 3rd Division’s final report on operations made a similar observation, adding:‘Units actively engaged in operations have been obliged to send competent NCOsto Training Battalions at a time when reinforcements were not available. Fewreinforcements arrived to offset <strong>the</strong> constant drain in unit NCO strength’.191 Thelack of experience at <strong>the</strong> lieutenant level across <strong>the</strong> 7th Brigade has already beennoted. The divisional report also noted that:186 Ewen’s diary 2, 28 April 1945, AWM PR89/190.187 Draft letter from Field to Dexter, undated (after 7 March 1945), AWM 3DRL6937,Item 32, sub folder ‘W.R. Dexter’.188 ‘A Branch Report April 1945’, 3 <strong>Australian</strong> Division Adjutant and QuartermasterGeneral Branch War Diary, April–May 1945, AWM 52, Item 1/5/6/28.189 Field’s diary, 7 February 1945, AWM 3DRL6937, Item 7.190 Field’s diary, 13 February 1945, AWM 3DRL6937, Item 7.191 ‘3 Aust Div Report on Operations November 1944–August 1945’, pp. 159–60, AWM3DRL2529, Item 75.44 — A tale of three battalions