11 minute read
Balcombe Army Camp
By Val Wilson OAM (Mornington District Historical Society) and Peter McCullough
The Balcombe Estuary at Mt. Martha had been used as a bivouac site and field training area for Melbourne militia units since the late 1800’s. With its variable terrain and bushland it was ideal for training exercises and there were suitable sites for rifle ranges.
Early Days
Soon after the declaration of war in 1939 the Australian army selected this area to be a training ground. The first huts at the Balcombe Army Camp were erected during that year and the
Footscray Regiment machine gunners were the first to move in, along with militia who were relegated to tents.
By 1940 the 4th Division had moved in and 3,000 personnel were based in the area. One of the earliest battalions to use this training facility was the 39th prior to its departure for New Guinea and subsequently the Kokoda Track.
In 1940 the Commonwealth Government purchased 209 acres from the Groves, Ostberg and Henty families to establish a permanent camp.
“Locals were left in no doubt as to the strong military presence in the district when on Australia Day in 1940 around 500 members of the 5th Battalion (Victorian Scottish Regiment) marched from Mt. Martha to Mornington. This was eclipsed two weeks later in Mornington when a training parade took place with over 2,000 troops and officers, Tank Corps, artillery units accompanied by heavy motor trucks, horse-drawn wagons and officers mounted on thoroughbreds. Then, in August 1940, 4,000 men and officers from the AIF camps at Mt. Martha, led by the Flinders Naval Depot band, marched through Mornington.” (‘A Never Ending Journey’. Page 44)
The Marines
In 1942 the 7th Regiment of the 1st Division of the United States Marine Corps was allowed to utilize the camp for ‘rest and refit’
following one of the most significant battles of World War II, the Battle of Guadalcanal. They arrived unannounced on the beach in Mt Martha in dramatic amphibious style. Up to 30,000 men passed through Balcombe and some of their ‘rest’ was spent practicing beach landings from HMAS Manoora near cliffs at Dromana and McCrae.
On 22 February 1943 the Division participated in a parade past Melbourne Town Hall. More importantly, in a ceremony at Balcombe barracks on 21 May 1943 the Division received a Presidential Citation for its epic battle at Guadalcanal. Two of its veterans, John Basilone and Mitchell Paige, were presented with the Congressional Medal of Honour. After receiving his medal Basilone returned to the U.S. to participate in a war bond tour; he had become the embodiment of bravery and the American fighting spirit. However he felt out of place in this role and requested a return to the operating forces fighting the war. On his return to combat Basilone was assigned to the 5th Marine Division which was about to undertake the invasion of Iwo Jima.
Although he was killed by Japanese mortar shrapnel, John Basilone’s actions at Iwo Jima helped the Marines to penetrate the Japanese defence and get off the landing beach during the critical early stages of the invasion. For his valour he was posthumously approved of the Marine Corps’ second highest decoration for bravery, the Navy Cross; he was the most highly decorated Marine to be killed at Iwo Jima. John Basilone was the only enlisted Marine to receive the Purple Heart, Congressional Medal of Honour and the Navy Cross.
John Basilone was later interred in Arlington Cemetery and the United Stated further honoured its war hero with the launching of a destroyer, the USS Basilone, commissioned in 1949 and decommissioned in 1977. In 2022 a new navy vessel, a guided missle destroyer, was given the Basilone name.
The memorial gateway, erected by the Australian army in 1954 at the entrance to the Balcombe Camp, expresses appreciation of the fighting qualities of the United States Marine Corps; a suitable plaque records this event. A further plaque on the gates, placed by the United States Marine Corps, recognizes the hospitality shown by the people of the district during their stay.
The Next Phase
Although military training ceased after 1945, some units (Survey and Signals and the School of Music) continued to be stationed at Balcombe for a period of time. However, post war the Australian army struggled to find skilled tradesmen and in 1948 it decided to establish its own school at Balcombe to train 15-17 year-olds in various trades. Following a competitive selection process, on 2 August 1948 the first intake of 63 army apprentices started their training in eleven various trades while residing in the camp’s old unheated huts.
When Sapper R.F.Skitch commenced the Basic Survey Course at Balcombe in 1955 he made the following observation: “Entering the Balcombe Military Camp from the Nepean Highway we passed through three main school areas: the Army Apprentice School was scattered around Mace oval and was mainly a RAEME establishment
training young fellows from the age of 15 in mechanical and electrical trades and where they completed a civilian-recognized apprenticeship; the School of Signals on rising ground west of Mace oval; and then, on top of a low ridge, the School of Survey. West of the School of Survey was the army village married quarters, Balcombe village, and then, down the slope and a winding road, one came to Balcombe beach, a sand strip fronting Port Phillip Bay. The Army Apprentice School was by far the largest establishment in the Balcombe Camp and the School of Survey close to being the smallest. Smaller than Survey was the Army School of Music and it was somewhere in the Apprentice area, perhaps even part of it.” Both the Schools of Survey and Signals departed Balcombe for Simpson Barracks (Watsonia) in 1969-70.
In 1969 ‘Freedom of the City’ was bestowed upon the Army Apprentice School by the town of Mornington. This timehonoured and ancient distinction gave the School the right to enter the town with’ swords drawn, bayonets fixed and drums beating.’ The award of such a privilege expressed the regard the School enjoyed with the Peninsula community. The initial enlistment period for army apprentices was nine years; three years of trade and military training, a year of on-the-job training, and the rest in the Army Field Force trade employment. From the initial intake of 63 apprentices, enlistment at the school grew to 200 a year until it located to new facilities at Bonegilla at the end of 1982. The school finally closed at that location in 1998. In its 50 years of existence the Army Apprentice Scheme trained 7,500 tradesmen including architectural draftsmen, blacksmiths, bricklayers, carpenters and joiners, electricians, electrical fitters, fitters and turners, motor mechanics, plumbers, welders and telecommunication mechanics. Alongside those listed were musicians and clerks who were also given training.
The only group to leave a permanent reminder of their presence was the bricklayers; the U. S. Marine memorial gates were built by apprentices as was the brick spectator terracing at the Mace oval. However, in 2001 a memorial plaque, located between the former parade ground and the Mace oval, was unveiled; it provides a brief history of the Australian Army Apprentices School.
End Of An Era
Following the departure of the Apprentice School, the land and buildings were purchased by the Shire of Mornington in 1984. It wasn’t long before a procession of army huts departed the site. Some ended up as basic accommodation on bush blocks, others as shearing sheds. Two were relocated to a piece of Crown land at the rear of Moorooduc Primary School where they were transformed into a hall which met the needs of two community groups: the primary school and the boy scouts. The last building to depart Balcombe, destined to be a holiday house on Phillip Island, was moved out in two halves in August 1999.
The area is now occupied by an upmarket subdivision, a private school and a park which features a boardwalk from the mouth of Balcombe Creek to Mace oval. The only remaining evidence of army occupation is the former Officers’ Quarters (now occupied by ‘Fusion Australia’, a Christian welfare organization), Mace oval, the memorial gates and the former parade ground which is now a car park. However, near the oval there is now a series of interpretive signs tracing the history of Balcombe Army Camp; these are reminders of its role during World War II and the Camp’s place in Australian military history.
The Balcombe ‘Grand Prix’
In 1950 the army was apparently keen to raise money for their Canteen Fund and asked the Light Car Club of Australia (LCCA) to run a race meeting using the grounds of the Balcombe camp. Key to the creation of a circuit was closure and use of a section of the Nepean Highway; unfortunately permission was not forthcoming from the relevant authority. This little setback notwithstanding, an attendance of 30,000 was anticipated.
So the Balcombe meeting, held on 12 June 1950, occurred as more of a sprint event given the track limitations; only two cars were on the track at a time and a series of eliminations were held on the day to determine the winners of the various classes. ‘The Royal Australian Signals Corps Sprint’ for under 1500cc, ‘The Survey Corps Sports Sprint’ for over 1500cc, and ‘Balcombe Apprentice School Trophy’ for outright cars were catchy names indeed!
The course limitations notwithstanding, the race meeting was a financial success. Doug Whiteford won the outright final in his 1950 Australian Grand Prix winning Ford V8 Special, ‘Black Bess’, from Bill Patterson’s supercharged MG TC and Stan James HRG. All three were subsequently Australian champions and winners of the Australian Grand Prix.
In an amusing end to what was a small but historically significant part of Australian Motor Racing history, the Hobart ‘Mercury’ reported that the Melbourne Traffic Police Chief described many motorists leaving the Balcombe event as “reckless road-hogs.” Harsh language indeed!
Mick Mace
On a number of occasions reference has been made to ‘Mace oval’ at the Balcombe Army Camp which prompts the question: Who was Mick Mace?
WO2 Raymond Charles (Mick) Mace was born on 10 June 1922 and joined the AIF on 3 June 1941. He served in the Middle East, New Guinea and Borneo where he was awarded the Military Medal for bravery in 1945. His citation reads (in part): “For courage, personal endurance and leadership in the breaching of beach obstacles during the pre-assault phase of the landing on Tarakan Island, 30 April-31 May, 1945. LCpl Mace was the NCO in command of a demolition team engaged in the breaching of underwater beach obstacles on Linglas Beach, Tarakan Island.”
Mick Mace was discharged in late 1945 but rejoined as a member of the Royal Australian Engineers in 1948. Soon after the first intake of apprentices at Balcombe is when Mick left his mark. He and other members of RAME arrived there to resurrect the old huts for the new arrivals. Realizing the need for the apprentices to have some sort of recreational facility, he borrowed a large bulldozer and, assisted by volunteer apprentices, he spent many hours working into the night carving out the sporting field which still bears his name. It was subsequently used for rugby, hockey, athletics and military ceremonies.
For his devotion to duty and untiring work Mick was awarded the British Empire Medal the citation of which reads (in part): “By his outstanding devotion to duty and by inspiring leadership Sergeant Mace has made a significant and important contribution to the setting up of the Army Apprentices’ School at Balcombe, Victoria. For more than a year he worked efficiently and arduously almost every day from dawn until after dark on earthmoving equipment to prepare the school oval, declining to take leave at weekends, or during the Christmas and Easter breaks.” Raymond
Charles (Mick) Mace lived in Seaford in his retirement and passed away on 11 October 2016 aged 94. A plaque was unveiled in his honour just inside the memorial gates at Balcombe on 15 June 2018 and the School of Military Engineering has acknowledged his accomplishments with the formation of the ‘Mick Mace Club.’
Finally, with the names ‘Raymond Charles’ one might ask where the name ‘Mick’ came from. Well, on army records he would have been listed as ‘Mace R.C.’ and that is where a little bit of Digger humour came into play!
