13th Intake

OCTOBER 1965

By Bruce Hathaway

DAY 1

My earliest recollection of my first year in “Pussers” was standing on Melbourne’s Spencer’s Street Station Platform 1 with my family. It was night or nearly night. My family with other families of those of the Victorian contingent were there to see us off. We were about to leave for Perth W.A. to HMAS Leeuwin for twelve months schooling as a Junior Recruit (JR). 

I forget how many boys there were but I remember we were shunted into a waiting room where we stood around waiting for something to happen. I think an officer came in and made us repeat the oath for joining the Navy. Right arms raised we repeated the oath and at the end when had started our twelve years in “Pussers”.

So onto the train we went, heading west to what was to be a great adventure. Onboard the train were lads from NSW and Queensland but they were only faces on the train at that time.

We stopped in Adelaide and I suppose we picked up the boys from S.A. So off we went across the Nullabor to stop at Kalgoorlie where we changed trains for an overnight trip Perth. I had a top bunk on this rattler and I did not get much sleep as I think as did the rest of the lads on that train. 

So we arrived in Perth and I think one less than when we started out with in Melbourne as I am sure with my recollection one prospective JR “pissed off” in Adelaide. We were bussed into Leeuwin, one hundred and four fifteen and sixteen year old boys. Here we would stay for twelve months of school and naval indoctrination.

 
That first day as I remember it we all trooped into the drill hall where we received our kit. The kit was made up of strange clothing that were numbered like:-

Number ones – the full white sailors suit,
Number twos - the full dark coloured sailors uniform (pants with the seven creases),
Number eights  – the long working trouser,
Number tens - shorts worn with long socks etc, etc.

That was the last we saw of our civvies for a long time!

We must have done other things that day but I forget, I do remember in the following days we had hair cuts which were mandatory every two weeks and cost fifty cents a go. It started out as five shillings but while we were there the country changed to dollar and cents. We were also I think inoculated and that left us with sore arms for the next few days.

We were shown to our barracks which was situated up the hill past the galley and mess hall. It was a wooden edifice that I think was a left over from World War 2. Down the middle were cupboards for all our gear it had I think either a pull down or insert where we could sit to write or do our study. Next to the windows were a long line of wire beds which we had to make up Navy fashion. It was the first time I became familiar with the term hospital or should I say Navy corners, with our Navy issued counterpanes all nice and taught. This was to be our home for the next six months. There were other more modern dormitories called A, B and C blocks but they were for the seniors JR’s (more of these cretins later) those that had been there the longest.

As I remember it the shower and toilets were separate from our dormitory.

From the back of the dormitory we could see the hire wire fence with barb wire on top. That fence we had been assured was not to keep us in but to keep others out. But those of us who where there knew the truth of it. It did not stop many trips going over the top in the next twelve months, but again more of that later. 

PT (OR THE VARIOUS METHODS OF HOW TO MISS IT)

An early shock to the system was getting up at the unholy hour of 6:30 AM (or was that 6:00) seven days a week, although we may have slept in to around seven on Sunday but my memory is a bit faulty after forty years. You had enough time to get into your Physical Training (PT) gear and assemble on the Parade Ground in front of the drill hall. Here the entire “Leeuwin crew” except those on duty or those doing number 9’s sleepily gathered.

PT consisted of doing physical exercise for half to forty minutes. All manner of exercises were perpetrated on we JR’s, rain or shine. I remember on the playing field side of the parade ground there was an open 4 inch turret (gun) whose purpose for existing I never found out. Anyway as we would have to run circuits every pass one or two JR’s would peel off and hide in the turret. I did this trick a couple of times but as there was limited space only a few could hide and I’m afraid those hiding there were often found out.

Quite a few JR’s would try and miss PT resorting to ingenious tricks not to do it. Like hiding in your lockers, the showers or heads (toilets). But those responsible to ferret out these malingerers were up to the challenge and knew all the tricks to avoid this physical torture. But the most ingenious trick I knew of was to hide under the fold made by the thrown back counterpane and blankets. Truly inspiring!

I don’t know if it ever worked though.

Once PT was over it was a scramble to get back, shower, dress and get to breakfast. Breakfast to me was the best meal of the day. I mean only a fool could stuff up cooking an egg. Some mornings we would have fried eggs, other times scrambled eggs and usually with bacon. The fried eggs were cooked in a tray that would hold thirty eggs. The tray was completely covered in fat and the eggs cooked in the fat. Cereal was available with two or three different varieties. Tea was always available. Then it was back to the dormitory to gather your things before it was time to parade for colours at 0800 hours. Then it was off to studies or whatever the groups schedule was.

Now we were put in groups named Marks 1, 2, 3 & 4. I myself ended up in Marks 2. The smart ones were in Marks 1 and those that required help the most were in Marks 4.

BASTARDISATION (OR THOSE SENIOR JR PRICKS)

My most memorable memory of those first weeks was the night we had a visit from a group of senior JR’s. It was like we were hit by a cyclone. They came in one end and created mayhem the whole length of the dormitory. The “visit” took about a minute or two, it may have been longer but it seemed like a minute or two. Any way by the time they left the whole dormitory was in an uproar. Every bed was upended, mattresses were thrown out the windows, not a few beds ended up in the rafters. All the cupboards had been emptied all over the place. There was nothing we could do as these senior JR’s were a law unto themselves and of course we were warned not to squeal. All we could do was put back things as they were.

This was I think our introduction to what many called “Bastardisation”. The senior JR’s lived in new accommodation blocks segregated from us lower forms of life. Their was definitely a pecking order and these so called king pins could almost do as they wanted. Although I never personally experienced any “Bastardisation”, I know many others in Marks Division did. Quite often they were snatched and taken back to the senior dorms and made to clean/scrub these dorms out. Some were made to run the gauntlet which entailed running down the centre corridor past the inhabitants of each alcove. The only way to do this was to cover your head and run like hell. Because they would hit you with things like cricket bats and pillow slips with boots in them. If you were lucky all you got was a bruise or two.

For the first six weeks there was no shore leave for us new JR’s, so if you were not on duty on the weekend the time was your own. Now I remember the galley and the dining rooms were about half way up the hill. On Sundays we were giving a treat for afternoon tea. Usually great slabs of fruit cake perhaps three by two feet, cut into slices. The mess room duty crew had the responsibility to take these slabs from the galley across the road to the mess rooms. If memory serves there were about four or five slabs to take across. Those hungry for something different to eat would wait eagerly in the mess room licking their lips. All they duty crew had to do was walk across the road from galley to mess room.

Alas if even one slab reached its destination we were lucky. Usually those senior pricks I mean JR’s would waylay the unfortunate duty crew and divert the fruit cake to their dormitories. So if you were partial to fruit cake you had to be there early and hope the fruit cake arrives.

SCHOOL DAYS

The average day for a JR after partaking in early morning PT and after colours started with school work. We would gather our books and depart for the various parts of the base. Now the school blocks were behind the new dormitories down by the boat sheds on the swan river. So here was where we learnt subjects like mathematics, physics, social studies and English. Damn me I could have stayed in school at home and studied these things. But not to worry for we also studied naval subjects like navigation, seamanship and ABCD. I can remember on a warm day trying to stay awake listening to the instructor droning on and on and on. I vaguely remember the boat shed and the wooden life boats we had to row up and down the river.

 
For five days a week we would do school work, the only relief we had from that was playing sport or being on duty. We played all kinds of sport from aussie rules, soccer, hockey and of course for those born north of the border rugby. If I remember correctly it was actually rugby union was it not.