When War came to Kalgoorlie-Boulder
by Doug Daws
As time passes human memories dim and new generations lose connection to the difficulties experienced by the earlier generations. This is never more obvious than when we look back through the mists of time to the Second World War. Although we here in Kalgoorlie-Boulder were a long way from the battlefronts, we were nevertheless deeply involved and affected by the war.
Not many can now recall the impact of the flow of military traffic by rail across Australia and the complexities of trans-shipping men, trucks and military equipment necessitated by the change in rail gauge at Kalgoorlie. After all, the standardisation of the rail gauge was completed in 1968, now more than half a century ago.
For the equipment, that all took place at the Parkeston siding just east of Kalgoorlie whilst for the men, it all occurred at the Kalgoorlie Railway station itself. Just arranging the logistics of meals and refreshments for the troops passing through the Kalgoorlie Railway Station was a major exercise, as the late Lorna Mitchell would occasionally recount.
And who remembers the large aircraft maintenance and repair depot established to maintain aircraft vital to the war effort? The base muster at its peak was just shy of one thousand air force personnel. The two remaining large hangars – one now used by a local air charter company and the other now the headquarters for the Eastern Goldfields base of the Royal Flying Doctor Service – are obvious visible reminders.
Royal Flying Doctor Service Hangar Kalgoorlie
The small housing enclaves built after the war using building materials salvaged from the air-base buildings are another. The post-war suburb of Victory Heights is one enclave with others not so obvious in South Kalgoorlie and Piccadilly. The now abandoned Boulder RSL Sub-Branch building in Piesse Street was yet another relocated air-base building where it served as the base cinema and concert hall. The recently removed Goldfields Football League headquarters at the corner of the Sir Richard Moore Sports Centre and an auxiliary building used by the YMCA were also relocations from the air base and there were others.
Apart from these physical constructions, there were yet other not-so-obvious aspects of the war locally and that was the individuals who were impacted by, or even involved in, special operations. War often produces strange results with lasting legacies that resonate down through the years following, and we now know that we were no different.
One of these individuals was to become quite well-known locally yet his exploits on our collective behalf during the war only became known when they were revealed at his funeral in the Kalgoorlie Uniting Church on 29th March 2017.
Ross D Rogers – Photo Doug Daws
This individual was Ross Douglas ROGERS, a well-known pharmacist, entrepreneur and businessman who served his community diligently in both wartime and in peace. His background is impeccable, and his commitment could not be questioned but his secret activities as a member of Australia’s intelligence services, as revealed at his funeral, would surprise his wife and family and are still unknown to most of his remaining, and diminishing numbers, of business colleagues and friends. It would be hard to pick what project Ross would be best remembered for as there were so many but, probably, the Goldfields War Museum would rank as number 1. So let’s start back at the beginning. Ross was born in Perth. Ross Rogers –
EULOGY – Wesley Church, Kalgoorlie – Wednesday 29th March, 2017 – I will start today by quoting you a brief verse from Longfellow
“Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime And departing, leave behind us Footprints in the sands of time.”
Not only did Ross have big feet, his efforts in so many areas were so meritorious and so great, that his footprints are everywhere -even though many here today will not know some of the roads he walked, in a busy, important and productive life. Ross’s family know that I was perhaps one of his closest surviving friends, and so, they have graciously asked me to deliver a Eulogy to his memory. I thank them for this opportunity. My association with Ross started a long time ago – almost certainly in the early 1970’s. Ross had already established himself as somewhat of a force in the community. As most of you would know, his formal occupation was as the manager and dispensing pharmacist for M. Kelly Limited. He worked for them for almost half a century at the pharmacy on Hannan Street next to where the Dome coffee shop is now located.
But Ross was much much more than just a local pharmacist and much more than any of you actually know. The community records will show that he had many interests. For instance, as a younger man, he was involved with the Goldfields Repertory Club and when I say involved, I mean he was involved in the production of 67 plays over a number of years. And that was a feature of Ross. When he was involved he was really involved and put his heart and soul into the task. Some will remember the effort he put into dreaming up, organising and running the 75th Anniversary celebrations of the discovery of gold at Kalgoorlie in June 1968. The procession of floats seemed to go on forever and was a welcome break from the doom and gloom that had descended upon Kalgoorlie and Boulder at that time. We were still struggling with a fixed gold price, a shortage of capital, a run-down mining plant with old technology, dilapidated housing and business premises.
The nickel discoveries at Kambalda a couple of years previously were still not fully understood by the average resident but, through all that gloom, Ross saw the opportunity to move to the next ‘phase’. He got actively involved in the Kalgoorlie-Boulder Chamber of Commerce and whereas the previous Chamber Presidents only lasted a couple of years in that position, Ross decided to ‘dig in’ and was President for six years from 1970. From that office, he launched a series of initiatives designed to ‘drive’ Kalgoorlie to a new and better destination. He formed, as part of the K-BCC, the original Kalgoorlie-Boulder Development Commission. He founded the Goldfields Regional Education Council. He organised the first Goldfields Arts Festival and then a Goldfields tourist Seminar. He was heavily involved with the establishment of the Kalgoorlie School of Mines advisory committee and the original planning for Kalgoorlie College. He helped organize the Decentralization Seminar in June 1975. And, when the mining on the Golden Mile all shut down in 1976 he swung into action on the “Let’s Dig In” committee.
Ross Rogers plaque in the ‘Walk of Fame’ Kalgoorlie
Ross was an early believer in the value of tourism and with the former member for Kalgoorlie, the late Tom Evans, he assisted in organising the conference of state and Commonwealth tourist ministers held at Kalgoorlie in the mid-1970s. He helped to establish the Kalgoorlie-Boulder Tourist Bureau by giving it ‘space’ in the Chamber of Commerce building which still stands, now as a real estate office, right next to the magnificently restored public buildings in the CBD. Until then the local share broker and travel agent, the late Ron Reed – father of well-known David Reed – provided a sort-of tourist service from his share broking office next to the laneway behind the Palace Hotel.
How happy Ron Reed must have been to get that load off his shoulders as he struggled to cope with the avalanche of share trading initiated by the nickel boom. It was about this time that Ross asked me to join the Chamber of Commerce Board and to assist him with investigations into alternative industries that could be established here to offset the ups and downs of the mining industry. Why me, we will never really know but he kindled a fire that has never left me. Our association grew stronger after I become a member of the former Boulder Shire and then the Shire President. They were difficult times. All of the “Golden Mile” mines were shut; nickel, the new hope was struggling and, anyhow, all of the nickel activity was happening somewhere else and not specifically at Kalgoorlie. Ross came to the Shire with a proposition. He told us that the AWU – the mining union – were to relocate to offices in the new Goldfields Medical Fund building on the other side of Burt Street and their old premises would be vacant. He asked, if the building was ‘gifted’ to the Shire, would we work with him to establish a “Goldfields War Museum”? What could we say but yes and he was a very eloquent persuader.
Original Goldfields War Museum – Burt Street Boulder – Photo City of Kalgoorlie Boulder
Thus we found the funds, mediocre by today’s standards, to refurbish the old union offices and Trades Hall. Ross and his family then set to work to create what was to become something quite remarkable. His family here today will remember the days they spent letter-box dropping pamphlets throughout the City urging local residents to donate or loan their family militaria objects for display. As a pharmacist, Ross usually worked until 7.00 pm each day but that didn’t stop him. After a quick tea he would head off to the building on Burt Street to establish a truly amazing display, most of which came from his own personal collection.
His wife Dora toiled with him typing up the large letter labels for the enormous variety of items. The Shire’, encouraged by Ross’s personal commitment, found spare funds and purchased other items including especially the vehicles such as the scout cars and tanks. But it wasn’t all beer and skittles and we were all angry and disappointed when some poonce and self-pronounced expert from the WA Museum visited the War Museum and said it was very unprofessional, too crowded and poorly laid out. That was the beginning of a ‘winter’ of discontent Ross had with the WA Museum almost until his final days and was only lifted when the current Museum boss, Alec Cole, on a visit to Kalgoorlie a couple of years ago went out to visit Ross and apologised for the behaviour of the employee. It was through this association with Ross and the War Museum that I became aware of another aspect to his quite unusual and, in all reality, really amazing earlier life – with the military. What I am now about to reveal to you is done with the approval of his family as they, like I believe it is a story that needs to be told so we can gain an understanding – fleeting and imperfect as it is – of what went on during the last war – World War 2. What our soldiers did, and had to do, to fight for Australia so we enjoy the life we do today.
Ross was a great collector. He collected lots of things and when we shared membership of the original board of the Golden Mile Museum. I and the other Board members always looked forward to another ‘treasure’ Ross would always bring to each meeting. It might be a miniature pistol disguised as jewellery and to be used by a gambling den floozy but was still powerful enough to kill across a gambling table.
He had a collection of police caps and helmets from every country in the world. He had ‘suits of lights’ worn by early day toreadors – these were the jackets and accoutrements heavily embroidered with gold and silver thread with real stone jewels. And he had a collection of military medals from every country including a Victoria Cross won by his great uncle, or a relative anyhow, in the Boer War. Ross got into the habit of revealing another, or some, of these medals to me and not always at a Museum meeting. One day he showed me a couple of boxes, each with a nice medal inside. Not being a ‘military’ person they didn’t strike me as being special – just another couple of medals in his collection. But, many years later – something like 30 or 40 years later – Ross allowed me to share his secret as they were much more than just acquired medals for a collection.
They were medals that had been awarded to him for special services during the war. One was an Imperial award, a Member of the British Empire (MBE) and the other was a Purple Heart which are normally only awarded to US military people. Of special interest was the fact that the medals contained no names or engravings on them. A mystery you might say. I was aware that Ross had served in WW2 as I had seen his army clothing which he still had. What I didn’t know that his service wasn’t restricted to the Army. He also held a simultaneous high rank in the Navy and Air Force. His Air Force rank was Flight Lieutenant. He was a lieutenant in the Navy and I think it was a Captain in the Army – all at the same time. I conducted a diligent search through the Australian military websites and couldn’t find him as having served at all! Naturally, I questioned him why this was so and his response was that he was prevented from talking about it. On the 60th anniversary of the end of the war, I said, fair go Ross, the war’s been over for a long time, surely you can tell me now what you were up to and he said
“there’s some things that have to go to the grave”.
A few months ago I was lucky enough to catch up with Ross when he was more receptive and his son Dene was with us. He finally revealed some of what he did and why he was awarded an MBE and a Purple Heart. You see, Ross was what we now call a ‘spook’ – a spy. You maybe don’t know but during WW2 Kalgoorlie was the hub of a significant espionage and counter-espionage undertaking. The reason for this is easily understood when you know that Fremantle was a major US submarine base during the war. From Fremantle the submarines penetrated the islands north of Australia inserting and recovering commandos; rescuing sailors from sunken vessels; collecting intelligence information and, of course, if the opportunity presented, harassing enemy shipping.
The submariners, on return to Fremantle, were promptly put onto the train to Kalgoorlie for R&R so they could enjoy the clean air; swim in the only Olympic pool in WA, drink lots of beer from the Kalgoorlie brewery that was apparently the only brewery in all of Australia not placed on war-time production restrictions. There was also the added attraction of the local brothels. On top of that, we had a very large aircraft maintenance depot here – said to be the largest inland maintenance depot in Australia but I personally doubt that. So the mataharis working for the enemy were deployed to Kalgoorlie hoping to pick up some useful intelligence from pillow talk with the submariners and airmen. Our intelligence service was, of course, aware of this and deployed counter-intelligence agents here. Ross was one of those counter-intelligence agents.
Grave of Ross Douglas Rogers – Kalgoorlie Cemetery – Photo Find a Grave
Now think about this. Ross was only 17 when he joined the armed forces but he didn’t join as Ross Rogers, but under an assigned identity which is why his name can’t be found in the records. We now know that he was given the name and persona of a young person that had been killed, trained into his new ‘trade’ and sent out to Kalgoorlie to flush out the ‘enemy’. I won’t go into any of the messy details of what Ross had to do that led to him being presented with the MBE and Purple Heart for services rendered, for two reasons. Firstly, because the information we have is still very sketchy at best. And secondly because, as Ross said, some things should go to the grave.
Grave of Ross Douglas Rogers – Kalgoorlie Cemetery – Photo Find a Grave
Interestingly, Ross never made the acquaintance of his future wife Dora whilst he was stationed in Kalgoorlie and Western Australia. It was only when, after the war, he returned here, as Ross Rogers, to commence the pharmacy business, that they met and married. In fact, Dora, until recently, was entirely unaware of Ross’s role here during the war or even of the existence of the medals with which he was awarded. Such was the secrecy of the work he did and his unwillingness, even to the day he died, to break the oath he gave to serve his country in those dark days. So Ross had, in a sense, two lives. The one during the war that we will probably never fully understand or learn any more about. The other when he returned and performed remarkable community service. And along the way he, with Dora, created a strong, caring and loving Christian family of more than-average achievers. So I can say, he really has left his footprints on the sands of time, and I feel it a personal privilege to have known him.
Moya Sharp
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