Charles Field
FIELD, Charles Thomas Ross, MLC AMIEAust (1895-1942)
Charles was born in Perth, Western Australia, on September 11, 1895, the eldest child of Thomas Ross Field and his wife Catherine Field, nee Keeler. The family travelled to Salford, England, where Charles attended Seedley Council School.
The family returned to Western Australia, in January 1911, on the “SS Rimutaka” that landed at Albany with 656 immigrants. Because of the large number of new arrivals he and his family were sent to the Albany Quarantine Station before taking a train trip to Perth. Charles first worked in a timber yard before securing a position as junior clerk and messenger in the Goldfields Water Supply Office “with the finest opportunities of becoming an engineer”.
On August 1, 1912, he became an Engineering Cadet with the Public Works Department. In 1913 he enrolled in First Year Engineering at the University of Western Australia being one of the first 27 students to study Engineering.
Before World War 1, he had served with the 88th Infantry for eight months and had been mobilised at Rottnest in December 1914 prior to enlisting in the AIF. He enlisted in the Australian Army as a Private (No 796) on March 3, 1915. He gave his occupation as civil engineer. He was 5 ft 10 in tall with fair complexion, hazel eyes and brown hair. He was quickly promoted to Corporal and then to Sergeant on May 19, 1915.
He embarked from Fremantle with the 28th Battalion on HMAT "Ascanius" on June 29, 1915 and landed at Gallipoli in September 1915. He was appointed as 2nd Lieutenant with 28th Battalion on September 13, 1915. He returned to Egypt in January 1916 and disembarked in Marseilles on March 21, 1916.
He was taken on strength with the 7th Brigade Machine Gun Company on May 3, 1916. He was promoted to Lieutenant on June 30, 1916. He was promoted to Captain on July 7, 1918. On April 7, 1918, he was Mentioned in Despatches, and again on November 18, 1918.
He returned to Australia on the "Trases Montes", disembarking on May 15, 1919, and was discharged on July 13, 1919. However, he continued in the Army as a reservist and was promoted to Major on August 3, 1929.
He married Nellie Nicol in Perth in 1920. They had two children: Margaret Helen (Margot), born 1922 and Charles Anthony Ross (Tony), born 1937. Tony became a prominent engineer in Western Australia.
Charles was re-employed by the Public Works Department on January 1, 1924, in the Water Supply Branch. His postings included being Resident Engineer at Broome from July 1, 1927, being in the North West Branch for over nine years.
The North West was a challenging post, including bridge and port repairs following flooding and cyclones. On March 28, 1934, Charles was in Onslow when a cyclone hit damaging the Beadon Point Jetty. He was on the jetty with the Supervisor during the cyclone trying to secure loose materials. The locomotive they had travelled on stalled, and they had to push it to safety. Almost 1,000 feet of the jetty and the head of the jetty was lost. His report to the Minister detailed damage to buildings in the town including the hospital, the residency and the wharfinger’s quarters.
By April 17, 1934, he had arranged for a lightering stage to be constructed at the shore end of the jetty so goods and passengers could safely taken ashore and restoration of the windmills supplying water to Onslow.
Around 1929, Charles became an Associate Member of the Institution of Engineers. In July 1933 he presented a comprehensive paper “Water Supplies in the North of Western Australia” to the Perth Division. The paper was also published in the Journal of the Institution of Engineers in May 1934.
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Charles moved to New Guinea in May 1937, arriving by the ship “April Montoro”. He had been appointed the Director of Public Works in the Australia Mandated Territory of New Guinea.
Rabaul was the capital of the Australia Mandated Territory of New Guinea until it was damaged in series of volcanic eruptions that started with an earthquake on May 28, 1937. Charles had been on a familiarisation tour with Territory Administrator, Brigadier General McNicoll. Charles returned to Rabaul to manage the clean up on June 1, 1937, flying in from Lae with the Territory Administrator. Rabaul was not habitable and 4,500 people had been evacuated to the village of Kokopo. The volcanic activity from Vulcan Island and Matupi did not abate until June 3, 1937.
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In 1938, Charles supervised the construction of the Wau Salamaua Road, a fifty mile new road whose challenges included cutting through a pass 5,100 feet in height.
As a Member of the Executive Council of the Australia Mandated Territory of New Guinea, Charles was also a Member of the Legislative Council.
In April 1939 he travelled to Perth, on leave, returning to Rabaul, in July 1939, with his wife, daughter and son.
By 1939 he was second in charge, with the rank of Major, of the New Guinea Volunteer Defence Force. On October 12, 1939, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and was the officer in charge of the New Guinea Rifles whilst still carrying out his duties as Director of Works. Later in 1941 he resigned from his military role to concentrate on his civilian works.
In March 1940, Charles survived an air crash where bad weather forced a pilot to “pancake” the aircraft in the ocean, behind a near shore reef, where it quickly sunk in 110 feet of water. Quick action by the five passengers and three crew in evacuating and launching a rubber boat enabled all to survive.
In 1941, volcanic activity at Rabaul necessitated Charles moving his family by ship to Sydney, arriving in October 1941 and renting a flat at Potts Point. He returned alone to Rabaul.
He was living in Rabaul when the Japanese invaded in January 1942 and was captured at Kokopo. He was interned as a civilian. He was able to write to his wife on February 11, 1942, advising that he had been taken Prisoner of War.
He was on board the ill-fated Montevideo Maru which was torpedoed and sunk off the coast of the Philippines on July 1, 1942. None of the 1,058 Prisoners of War or internees on board survived. Confirmation of his death was not known until 1945.
His wife Nellie had died in Perth on May 24, 1942.
References:
Charles Thomas Ross Field (1895-1942), WikiTree FREE Family Tree accessed 4.10.22.
WA Public Service Lists 1913 to 1937.
Western Mail, 12.4.1934, p. 12.
West Australian, 18.4.1934, p. 16.
Pacific Islands Monthly, 21.10.1937, p. 41.
Pacific Islands Monthly, 15.12.1938, p. 15.
Pacific Islands Monthly, 15.8.1939, p. 48.
Wau-Salamaua 1942 - Anzac Portal (dva.gov.au), accessed 7.10.2022.
Dominions Office and Colonial Office List 1939, Office of Commonwealth Relations, Great Britain.
Daily News, 10.4.1939, p. 9.
Pacific Islands Monthly, 14.10.1939, p. 6.
Pacific Islands Monthly, 16.4.1940, p. 24.
Pacific Islands Monthly, 15.6.1942, p. 11.
Canberra Times, 2.6.1937, p. 1.
Field Family Papers.
