“This is a very compelling book. I found it one of those books I could not put down. It was like a who dunit novel – only in this instance, it is a true story with a strong Tasmanian connection.
It can be a disturbing book, if not an emotional one. There is a great detail of information contained, including that of the prolonged trial of the two men accused of murdering the nineteen year old stoker on HMAS Australia in 1942, Joseph Jack Riley who hailed from Bellerive, eastern shore to Hobart. The details are in-depth, but one comes to realise they are necessary in understanding the whole episode for the reader to conclude who actually did the heinous crime. While two fellow stokers, Ron Gordon and Ted Elias were convicted of his murder, much of the evidence was circumstantial. Eventually after a great deal of crusading on their behalf by their legal team, parents and friends, which went as high as the Federal Attorney-General, Bert Evatt and the Prime Minister, John Curtin, they were eventually released from gaol.
One of the main legal complications was that the Royal Australian Navy was under the jurisdiction of the Royal Navy so appeals had to be made to the British Government.
The year 1942 was a momentous year of the war. It was to be the deciding year for the tide to turn in the Allie’s favour against Germany and Japan. HMAS Australia was the flagship of the Royal Australian Navy. What occurred aboard the vessel shook the navy, an episode that was kept from the public. A young man, Jack Riley, was murdered by two shipmates who were allegedly part of a homosexual group on the flagship. During the hearings and trials any mention of homosexuality was ignored. There was a strong belief that it would not be in the interest of the navy to admit that such things happened on the nation’s warships.
Riley joined the navy in June 1939 and was sixteen years of age. He was a comely youth, with dark hair and sparkling eyes. After graduating from Cerberus he was promoted to Stoker Class III and posted to the engine room of the Australia captained by Harold Farncomb. The conditions for stokers were deplorable. It was a tough life for young Riley. By then war had been declared against Germany and Italy, but not against Japan.
Come March 1942, the Australia was now fighting the Japanese naval forces. On the night of the 12th the cruiser was in black-out and cruising at 17 knots. There was heard from the upper deck the noise of muffled screams and upon investigation the body of Riley was found. He was still alive with both Elias and Gordon standing together. Riley was taken to the sick bay with the doctor, Surgeon Lieutenant Malcolm Stening doing the best he could for one who received multiple stab wounds. Stening inserted 58 stitches to stem the flow of blood from each of the wounds. Momentarily Riley opened his eyes gasping the words, “I have been stabbed by Leading Stoker Gordon, because I found out he was a poufter”. He then died.
The greater part of the book then follows the aftermath of the charge and subsequent death of Riley. The complex military, legal and political issues involved in the Australia incident fuelled a bureaucratic battle between the Department of Navy in Melbourne and the Attorney-General’s Department in Canberra. It became a turf war between two totally different set of values and objectives.
The author quite rightly points out, “The real victim in this tragic story was the young sailor who was stabbed to death on the deck of Australia. He was a faceless victim, lost to the pages of history after he was buried at sea. However, family photographs now put a face to his name and telegrams and letters reveal the full extent of this tragedy for his family.”
Riley’s family, as can be imagined, was terribly effected by the whole affair, not only over the death of their son, but the circumstances and the years of legal proceedings which followed. The author states that the Riley family were distressed by the way the Department of the Navy had managed their son’s case and they were determined to get some compensation for what had happened on Australia in 1942. It remained unfinished business for them. Jack’s mother, Blanche died in 1984 while his father Victor has passed away at the family home in Bellerive in 1959.
The two families of the two accused were also affected as were many others involved in the case, including their defence team.
It is a disturbing book to read, but very revealing. The author, Robert Hadler, is an economic journalist who has worked in the Commonwealth Public Service as a political adviser, a lobbyist of industry groups and senior executive roles. He has a passion for Australian history and in particular controversial events…well, he certainly has a good one on his hands in this instance.
This book comes thoroughly recommended. It deals with a subject once censored and long forgotten with the story buried in the Australian Archives. To the memory of the young stoker, Jack Riley, it is worthy to be read and of that alone.”
Reg Watson, Hobart FM 96.1
Saturday, 21 Nov 2020