The Trade by Rudyard Kipling - Royal Australian Navy
The Trade by Rudyard Kipling - Royal Australian Navy
The Trade by Rudyard Kipling - Royal Australian Navy
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Efforts<br />
Recognised<br />
HMAS Perth was a modified<br />
Leander-class light cruiser<br />
operated <strong>by</strong> the <strong>Royal</strong> <strong>Australian</strong><br />
<strong>Navy</strong> (RAN) during World War II.<br />
She was constructed for the <strong>Royal</strong><br />
<strong>Navy</strong>, and commissioned as HMS<br />
Amphion in 1936. After several<br />
years on the North America and<br />
West Indies Station, the cruiser was<br />
transferred to the RAN in 1939 and<br />
recommissioned as HMAS Perth.<br />
At the start of World War II,<br />
the cruiser was used to patrol<br />
<strong>Australian</strong> waters, before being<br />
sent to the Mediterranean at the<br />
end of 1940. <strong>The</strong>re, Perth was<br />
involved in the battles for Greece,<br />
Crete, and Syria before returning to<br />
Australia in late 1941.<br />
HMAS Perth was sunk in the<br />
Sunda Strait just north of Java on<br />
the night of 28 February/1 March<br />
1942. Perth and the USS Houston<br />
were sunk during an attack on<br />
Japanese convoys <strong>by</strong> American,<br />
British and Dutch ships. Of the 700<br />
men on board the ship, about 350<br />
died during the sinking including<br />
Perth’s captain, Captain Hector<br />
Waller. Those who survived the<br />
sinking became prisoners and onethird<br />
of them died during captivity,<br />
many of them on the Burma-<br />
Thailand railway.<br />
THE TRADE<br />
EDITION 2, 2012 10<br />
HMAS Perth in 1940<br />
<strong>The</strong> last 3 living survivors of HMAS Perth (D29) from Western Australia<br />
at the 70th Anniversary Memorial Service.<br />
State Vice President of the Naval Association of Australia (Western <strong>Australian</strong> section),<br />
Mr Jeff Wake, presents United States <strong>Navy</strong> Commander Travis Petzoldt and his wife<br />
Kulia with the Naval Association of Australia (WA Section) plaque.<br />
Sailors astride one of Perth’s<br />
main guns, 1941<br />
<strong>The</strong> plaque, an initiative designed <strong>by</strong> USN<br />
Commander Travis Petzoldt’s wife Kulia.<br />
February of 2012 saw us mark the<br />
70th Anniversary with a Memorial<br />
Service for HMAS Perth. Project<br />
HMAS PERTH I Memorial Service<br />
was held on the 26th of February<br />
2012 at St John’s Church, Fremantle.<br />
This memorial service was attended<br />
<strong>by</strong> the last 3 surviving members<br />
living in Western Australia along with<br />
various other members of the <strong>Navy</strong><br />
and wider community including CO<br />
HMAS STIRLING CAPT Brett Wolski.<br />
USN CMDR Travis Petzoldt’s wife<br />
Kulia derived an initiative to get a<br />
plaque designed in conjunction with<br />
the CO of USS HOUSTON (SSN 713)<br />
to be presented to commemorate the<br />
loss. <strong>The</strong> plaque will be displayed on<br />
the wall of the church, underneath<br />
the plaque for HMAS PERTH.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Naval Association of Australia<br />
(Western <strong>Australian</strong> section) State<br />
Vice President Mr. Jeff Wake<br />
presented Travis & Kulia Petzoldt with<br />
the Naval Association of Australia<br />
(Western <strong>Australian</strong> section) plaque<br />
as thanks for the facilitation and<br />
acquisition of the plaque. <br />
LEUT “JJ” Bonney<br />
LEUT Jodi Bonney was born in Woodville,<br />
South Australia and raised in Adelaide’s<br />
Western suburbs. He enlisted in the <strong>Royal</strong><br />
<strong>Australian</strong> <strong>Navy</strong> at HMAS Cerberus in<br />
January 1985 as a Radio Operator.<br />
Over the following ten years he served in a<br />
number of HMA Ships and Establishments<br />
including and not limited to; Kuttabul, Jervis<br />
Bay, Torrens, MHQ and Brisbane.<br />
In 1995, LS Bonney transferred to<br />
Submarines and qualified on board HMAS<br />
Onslow in October 1996. That same year<br />
he was awarded a Maritime Commanders<br />
Commendation and was promoted to<br />
PO. After qualifying, he returned to the<br />
Submarine Training and Systems Centre<br />
(STSC) to undergo Collins Class conversion<br />
training.<br />
Newly promoted LEUT ‘JJ’ Bonney, middle, hands over the reins to new<br />
SUBFOR HQ SWO WO David Bates, left, with COMSUB CAPT Mark Potter CSC, right.<br />
On completion of his conversion training<br />
and after a short posting to NAVCALS<br />
Fremantle, PO Bonney was posted to<br />
HMAS Farncomb as the Radio Supervisor<br />
in March 1998. He later went on to also<br />
serve in HMA Submarines Waller and<br />
Rankin.<br />
PO Bonney was promoted to CPO in March<br />
2002 and became the Chief Instructor CIS<br />
and Petty Officer of the Watch Submarines<br />
instructor at STSC. After his two years at<br />
STSC he served a further three years in<br />
STU-SM before being promoted to Warrant<br />
Officer in November of 2006.<br />
On promotion, WO Bonney was posted<br />
as the Officer in Charge DEFCOMMSTA<br />
Perth where he served until December<br />
2008. After selection at the SWO selection<br />
board, WO Bonney was posted to the<br />
NEWS<br />
SWO position in HMAS Anzac in December<br />
2008. In 2010 he was granted a 12 month<br />
extension; resulting in a further posting as<br />
SWO in HMAS Toowoomba. WO Bonney<br />
assumed the position of the Submarine<br />
Force SWO 19 January of 2012.<br />
Shortly after taking up this position, one<br />
of his career ambitions was successfully<br />
achieved and during a small local ceremony<br />
on Friday the 11 th of May 2012, WO<br />
Bonney was officially promoted to LEUT<br />
Bonney <strong>by</strong> COMSUB, CAPT Mark Potter<br />
CSC in the presence of his peers and<br />
superiors.<br />
After the promotion ceremony he was<br />
presented with two gifts that denoted his<br />
departure from the sailor ranks of his past<br />
and welcomed into the officer ranks to<br />
continue his naval career into the future.<br />
He has now commenced his officer training<br />
at HMAS Creswell, with a strong desire to<br />
return to Submarine service in the MWO<br />
PQ.<br />
LEUT Bonney is married to Kim and has<br />
five children, Jonathan, Samantha, Danelle,<br />
Jessica and Scott and two grandsons: Irish<br />
and Dublin. <br />
11<br />
THE TRADE<br />
EDITION 2, 2012