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2/4^th Machine Gun Battalion Nicknames

Confirmed by Ron Badock (WX8729), John Gilmour (WX 8622) and/or Borehole Bulletins (BB)

During 2014 Ron Badock and his daughter Cheryl were clearing and sorting the large collection of 2/4th files and boxes containing past minutes of meetings, financial records, Boreholes, memorabilia, etc. dating back to 1950s which Ron had inherited from past office bearers.

Found amongst the collection was a small, old and rusting tobacco tin with ‘A.E. Morrissey’ written across the top. Inside were medals with original tissue paper, evidently never unwrapped.

Thus began the search for Albert Edward Morrisey, to seek his family and hopefully find a resting place for this medals.
John Gilmour was the only veteran who remembered Bert, however we knew little else of his life after the end of the war.

Firstly I located Bert Morrisey’s headstone(s) at the Yalgoo cemetery (Yalgoo being his hometown). His military headstone confirming his wife and sons and a second headstone which recorded his siblings (Bert was one of 8 children) and parents, Marjery and William Frances Morrisey.  He had died 13 May 1947 aged 32 years, just 2 years following the end of the war and his return from Japan.

His father William Francis Morrissey is also buried at Yalgoo. Bert and his father are 2 of 13 Morrissey at the Yalgoo cemetery. William Morrissey died 18 May 1957 aged 76 years, 10 years after Bert who was one of 8 children.

During the next few months I was able to establish Bert Morrisey’s tragic suicide

Through Trove archives and Ancestry I was further able to acquire details of Bert’s suicide.

In 1939 Bert Morrissey was employed as a miner in the Yalgoo region, which then was nearing the end of its history with mining. He married Phyllis Courtenay in 1940, their first son was born later in the year. Their second son was born in 1941 and in August of the same year, Bert enlisted in the AIF, and the 2/4th MG Btn.

Bert was a POW in Changi, Burma Line and finally Japan. He survived, returned to Perth and was discharged 14 January 1946. Returning home to his wife Phyllis and his two sons at Yalgoo, he ‘resumed’ his life as a miner. The Morrissey’s had a third son John. In 1947 Bert was employed at the mine at Reedy (located between Meekathara and Cue).

Bert did not cope so well after returning to Western Australia, and tragically on the 13th of May in 1947, whilst Phyllis was away in Perth, a terrible tragedy occurred. Bert shot himself, dying soon after.
We can only believe the torment and ghosts facing Bert were so great that he saw no way forward – he possibly felt isolated away from his former 2/4th mates – the only persons who knew exactly how he felt and what was going on in his day to day life.

His death at the age of 32 years, left a young widow and three young sons. The third son John, born in 1947 and would have been less than 12 months old, the eldest was 7 years.

With no income to support her three sons (there was no social welfare) we cannot imagine how Phyllis began to grieve the unexpected loss of her young husband, and arrive at the decision that she could not provide for them.

It was therefore arranged the three Morrissey boys would be brought up by Phyllis’s sister and husband.

John Morrissey and his two brothers moved around Western Australia regularly with their aunt and uncle in his role in the police force. They were only ever to see their mother very occasionally as Phyllis found work housekeeping mainly for farming families. She never remarried.

John Morrissey followed in his Uncle’s footsteps and joined the WA Police Force.
He always wondered what had happened to his father’s medals and assumed his grandmother may have originally acquired them.

When his father’s medals were presented to him, John’s hands were shaking with the WWII medals, wrapped in the original tissue paper. “I have been presented with medals on several occasions during my life, but today is the highlight” said John Morrisey.

John Gilmour and Bert Morrissey were in “A” Company and knew each other well. John Morrissey knew of John Gilmour’s athletic feats – there was no stopping the exchange of chatter throughout lunch with the Committee members at Anzac House.

We agreed with Ron Badock…………. “It was a successful ending to what began as a total mystery and was soon filled with sadness”.

Thomas Henry Dorizzi known as Tom (born 1914) Gordon (born 1916) and Herbert known as Bert (born 1918) were three of five sons born in Tooyay to Thomas John and Mary Ann Dorrizzi. The family remained living in Toodyay where their family home was the local gaol (heritage listed building and today, a museum). The boys were fortunate to reside in such spacious accommodation – each had their own gaol/bedroom!  The Dorizzi family leased the gaol premises from 1929 to 1942.

The boys owned their own trucks and were part of the family trucking business “T.J. Dorrizi & Sons”.
Next door to their gaol residence the Dorrizi’s kept a large wood yard. A delivered load of split jarrah firewood cost clients10/-.

The remainder of the trucking work would have been with local farmers delivering hay, bags of oats, wheat, farming supplies, etc. During a return drive home to Toodyay, Bert was fortunate to survive an accident when his truck left the Greenmount road and rolled down the escarpment. Not only was Bert lucky, but so were his two passengers Tom and Gordon who had been seated on the back with a carton of beer! Tom (senior) came to tow them out of their predictament!

The Dorrizi family were active members of the community. They were part of the Toodyay Volunteer Firefighters, were keen sportsmen and members of Toodyay Swimming Club, Cycling and Football Club.  For several years they shared ownership of a greyhound racing dog named “GoodTea”.

During the 1940’s the family had to expand and the three sons with father and mother moved to Nungarin where their father drove the local school bus and the boys were employed by Nungarin Road Board carting gravel.  They enlisted with AIF from Nungarin.

Edgar the eldest remained in Toodyay running the family business with Robert, who was unable to work with trucks because he had a wooden leg.

Bert who was unmarried but had a girlfriend, was the first to enlist on 13 Aug 1940. Gordon enlisted on 30 Oct 1940 and finally Tom on the 14 May 1941. Tom aged 27 years was married with a small daughter, Geraldine.

The Dorizzi boys were well able to look after themselves as a team.   Bert was also known as “Punch”. The  5 Dorizzi boys could rely on each other whenever there was a difference of opinion particularly at a hotel bar or sporting bar or perhaps on a sporting field.

As a young boy, the 4th of the 5 sons, Robert Dorizzi was tragically injured during a climbing accident.  As a young man Robert whose injury had resulted in the use of a wooden leg, proved to be a ‘secret’ asset to the Dorrizi team.  Whenever they were caught in a ‘pub brawl’  Robert was able to detach his wooden leg to be used against opponents!

The lure of war probably seemed like an adventure to these young men.  What better way to see the world!

Gordon and Tom were to become Drivers in “A” Company whilst Bert was a Driver in ‘D’ Company Headquarters.
During the battle for Singapore Bert received a shrapnel wound to his head on 9th February 1942 however remained on duty. Tom received a shrapnel wound to his right leg during action at Buona Vista on 15 February and admitted 2/13th Australian General Hospital. He was discharged 23 February.

Following capitulation the 3 brothers were sent to Selarang Camp Changi.   Gordon and Tom remained here whilst Bert was assigned to Johore Bahru and Adam Park work parties.

Tom was selected as one of 36 men from 2/4th to depart Changi with ‘E’ Force on 28 March 1943, travelling on a small tramp steamer “de Klerk”. ‘E’ Force consisted of 500 AIF and 500 British POWs. Their first port of call was Kuching, capital of Sarawak where the British POWs remained. The Australians remained here for 8 days before moving on again.

Once ashore the Australians were moved out along Lintang Road to Batu Lintang Military Camp located about 1.5 miles south of Kuching. There were about 70 buildings built of swan timber with atap roofing each 100 feet long X 15 feet wide, raised 3 feet from the ground. Approximately 45 buildings were being used as barracks with the Australians being crammed into 3 of these. Once again on the ‘high seas ‘E’ Force sailed onto Berhala Island off Sandakan, which was also a leper colony and it was where Europeans from Sandakan were taken by the Japanese and remained about 12 months before being transported to Kuching and Batu Lintang POW Camp.  ‘E’ Force remained only 4-6 weeks waiting for their accommodation at the Sandakan POW Camp to be built, which was out of Sandakan town.  While ‘E’ Force was at Berhala Island, 8 POWs successfully escaped to Philippines where they joined the guerillas to fight the Japanese.  The Japanese were outraged by this escape.

These 8 were the only men to successfully escape Borneo, other than the 6 POWs who escaped while on the march.

From now onwards the Dorrizis would be using all their strength of body and mind to live through the daily horrors ahead of them.  They were amongst the 2,000 POWs who perished on the infamous Sandakan Death March.   Except for 6 Australian men who managed to escape, all the POWs lived and died horrific deaths at the hands of the sadistic Japanese guards.

The First March (information from ‘Sandakan’ by Paul Ham)

Above:  Captain Shoichi Yamamoto, Jesselton Battalion Commander, 25th Regiment, 37th Japanese Army.

Recently arrived at Sandakan, Capt. Yamamoto Shoichi, the man responsible for the First March confers with fellow officers chosen to command the march.  He issues the following orders on 24 January 1945:

1)  The March to completed as quickly as possible,

• 2)   within a schedule of 12 days to Ranau and 21 to Tuaran,

• 3)  POWs to be treated with minimum attention considered necessary to keep them moving,

• 4)  Officers and guards have no licence to kill the fit, but any prisoner ‘who could not keep up’ is to be disposed of’.

• This is 44 year old Soichi’s first assignment dealing with the ‘white man’ – having arrived from Labuan, Jesslton and Kudat his is an accomplished soldier, and a veteran of Manchuria.  The only interest he has in the POWs is in their role as carriers of the battalion’s belongings.

Following Japanese capitulation, Tom and Mary Dorizzi were devastated to receive a telegram advising their 3 sons would never return to Toodyay, and worse they had perished under horrific circumstances and in as place they had never heard of – Sandakan.

The grieving Dorizzi family could no longer remain living in their family home filled with their memories. They moved from Toodyay.

When nephew Bernie Dorrizi (only son of youngest Dorizzi brother Edgar) and his wife Pam were invited in 2013 to attend a commemorative service in Sabah, they were told by locals the spirits of the 3 brothers had been waiting all these years for a family member to make a visit.

(The Dorizzis were one of two families in the 2/4th to lose three sons. Tragically the three Newling Brothers did not return to their family and Australia.  Read their story.)

Originally Toodyay Gaol, former Dorizzi home, now Toodyay Museum.

These cells were bedrooms for the 5 Dorizzi brothers.

WX7999 Reginald Paul ‘Reg’ FERGUSON, b Toodyay 1913 with ‘B’ Force Borneo to Sandakan died at Ranau 23 March 1945.  Reg was 32 years old, married and father to two children.

 Right:  Reg Ferguson

Reg Ferguson & family with ‘Gunner’ the mascot dog for 2/4th

Below:  Parents of Bert, Gordon & Tom are residing Nungarin in 1948.