Local Stories

Brigadier Sir Frederick Galleghan D.S.O., O.B.E, L.S.O., E.D. was an army officer and public servant, born on 11 January 1897 at Jesmond, New South Wales, son of Alexander Dunlop Galleghan, crane driver, and his wife Martha, née James. He was educated at Cooks Hill Superior Public School, Newcastle. In August 1912 he joined the Postmaster-General's Department as a telegraph messenger. On 20 January 1916 Galleghan enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force. He was posted as a corporal to the 34th Battalion and six months later was promoted to sergeant and sent to the Western Front. Twice wounded in action (June 1917 and August 1918), he was invalided home and discharged medically unfit on 3 March 1919. On 18 November 1922 he married Vera Florence Dawson (d.1967) at the Baptist Tabernacle, Cooks Hill. He joined the A.I.F. on 18 March 1940 and on 17 October was appointed commanding officer of the 2nd/30th Battalion, 8th Division. In July 1941 the unit sailed for Singapore. On 14 January 1942 at Gemas, Malaya, Galleghan conducted a brilliant ambush of a superior Japanese force. For his part in the encounter and the subsequent well-executed withdrawal, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. He became a prisoner of war when the British surrendered on 15 February. With the removal of senior officers from Singapore in August, he assumed command of the A.I.F.; from March 1944 he was deputy commander of all allied prisoners in Malaya. It was for his role at Changi that he was to achieve lasting fame. Known as 'Black Jack' because of his dark complexion, Galleghan was a formidable figure. Galleghan realized that survival depended on morale and that discipline was the basis of morale. His strict orders thought by some to border on the absurd for a prisoner-of-war camp saved countless lives. Mentioned in dispatches, Galleghan was promoted colonel and temporary brigadier (with effect from April 1942) before he transferred to the Retired List on 3 January 1946. In the following year he was appointed O.B.E. He had been raised to inspector (1945) in the Attorney-General's Department investigation service and in 1947 became deputy-director, in charge of the Sydney office. In 1948-49, as honorary major general, he headed the Australian Military Mission to Germany. He chaired the fourth session of the general council of the International Refugee Organization, served on its executive-committee and helped displaced persons to emigrate to Australia. He retired from the public service in 1959. He was honorary secretary (1959-70) of the Royal Humane Society of New South Wales, State chairman (from 1963) of the Services Canteens Trust Fund and an honorary colonel (1959-64) of the Australian Cadet Corps. In 1969 he was knighted for his services to war veterans. Survived by his second wife, Persia Elspbeth Porter, née Blaiklock, he died on 20 April 1971 at his home at Mosman.

Fred Royfield with a shell fired from Japanese submarine which landed in Newcastle's industrial area and was discovered in June 1965

Certificate of Adoption of a member of the fighting forces awarded to Miss E. Patrick by the Australian Comforts Fund on 27th February 1945

Voluntary Aid Detachment during WWII. The Australian War Memorial describes the role and duties of Voluntary Aid Detachments as: "The primary role of a Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) member was that of nursing orderly in hospitals, carrying out menial but essential tasks - scrubbing floors, sweeping, dusting and cleaning bathrooms and other areas, dealing with bedpans, and washing patients. They were not employed in military hospitals, except as ward and pantry maids; rather, they worked in Red Cross convalescent and rest homes, canteens, and on troop trains.The role of VADs did not significantly evolve between the wars. VADs in the Second World War were given more medical training, but they were not fully qualified nurses. They worked in convalescent hospitals, on hospital ships and the blood bank as well as on the home front. In 1943, the government created the Australian Women's Auxiliary Service (AWAS) to control the large numbers of VADs employed by the military. In 1967, the VAD movement became known as the Voluntary Aid Service Corps (VASC)."

You can view more images and archives from World War II, including oral histories from our Fort Scratchley Oral History Project, in our Newcastle Collections Online.