JOHN BURGESS MENZIES

If ever anyone deserved to be looked after by a grateful nation it was John Burgess Menzies. He had paid a great price in the cause of liberty and freedom.

John (Jack) Burgess Menzies was born in North Sydney NSW, on 28th November 1917. He was the second son of Captain William Menzies and his wife Elizabeth Cook Burgess who he had married in 1909. He was the brother of George Wood Menzies who had been born two years before him. Together the boys grew up on Goat Island, the harbour-side depot of the Sydney Harbour Trust who employed his father as a skipper of one of its self propelled barges. Jack, like his older brother, had to find his way to school by crossing Sydney Harbour in a small rowing boat at one of its busiest places. The school of choice was Sydney Grammar School in the city, an old school, established by Act of Parliament as far back as 1854 and it had a fine reputation and a proud tradition which continues to this day. In fact several of Jack’s cousins as well as his brother also attended the same school in the 1920s and 1930s.

The 2/15th Field regiment was assigned to the 8th Division. He might have wondered if his path would cross that of his brother George who was in the 2/4th Light Anti Aircraft Regiment but this unit was attached to the 9th Division. Nor was he destined to catch up with his cousin Barron Carson because he was in the 7th Division. Another cousin, George Carson, joined the Royal Australian Engineers while John’s cousin Jim Carson was in the 1st Armoured Division. It served with the 9th Division in many of its actions in New Guinea where Jack’s brother George Menzies was involved until he was wounded in action. John Menzies’ destiny lay elsewhere.

The 2/15th Regiment embarked from Sydney on 29th July 1941 and was sent to Singapore to strengthen the British defences in anticipation of trouble although Japan had not yet entered the war. On 5th of December the regiment was moved north to the state of Johore in Malaya and a few days later, without warning, Japan invaded, landing troops on the Thai west coast and at Kota Bharu on the Malaysian east coast. It was the afternoon of 8 December and occurred at the same time as the Japanese bombed Singapore and Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Coincidentally John’s cousin Bert Brew was in Singapore at the same time, in the Armed Merchant Cruiser, HMAS “Manoora”. As the American President Roosevelt said, “…it was a day of infamy…”.

The treacherous Japanese had finally shown their hand. There was no declaration of war and they caught the Americans, British and Australians by surprise. We can only guess at how Jack Menzies must have felt. He was the first member of the family to fight the Japanese. Now the training was over and the 2/15th was about to prove what kind of men they were.

British and Indian army units initially took the brunt of the onslaught and the Australians didn’t come up against the Japanese until the beginning of January 1942. The primary job of the 2/15th was to support the 27th Brigade of the 8th Division and it took part in some very fierce action on the east coast in the first half of the month. Gunner Jack Menzies was attached to the 65th Battery of the 2/15th Regiment and they were allocated to the support of 45th Indian Brigade which was placed near the towns of Maur and Bakri on the southwest coast of Malaya.

Battle was joined on 17th of January 1942 and Jack’s battery was involved in spirited fighting in what was called the Battle of Muar but the onslaught from the battle-hardened Japanese overwhelmed the raw allied troops and after three days the Indian Brigade and the 65th were in retreat. They planned to pull back to the town of Yong Peng where the Allies were establishing a strong defensive line but the Japanese landed more troops ahead of the retreating Allies and blocked the Battery’s escape route with a series of roadblocks.

Excerpt from the book Jane's Legacy by John Brew.