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courage 39 Chief Stoker Alfred Wrench provides an excellent example of courage becoming almost routine. Wrench joined the RAN in 1926, and was serving in the destroyer HMAS Waterhen (I) at the outbreak of World War II. While operating in the Mediterranean he transferred to HMAS Vampire (I) and subsequently participated in the Greece and Crete evacuations, the Malta convoys and the ‘Tobruk Ferry’. Already a model senior sailor, he was mentioned-in-despatches for ‘outstanding zeal, patience, and cheerfulness and for setting an example of whole-hearted devotion to duty’. 7 Wrench was again mentioned-in-despatches after Japanese aircraft sank Vampire off the coast of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) on 9 April 1942. During the action Wrench was senior hand of the starboard pompom, which had a stokers’ gun crew. His citation remarked that he ‘showed coolness and courage throughout the action and kept his gun firing until the crew was finally washed from the platform’. 8 Wrench subsequently spent time in Armidale, but had moved to the frigate HMAS Gascoyne (I), before the corvette was lost. During the Leyte Gulf operations Gascoyne supported the US Navy’s 7th Amphibious Force. On Christmas Eve 1944, the transport MV Sommelsdijk was hit by Japanese fire and set ablaze. While efforts to rescue the 1300 US troops aboard the stricken vessel continued, volunteers from Gascoyne and USS Buttonwood set about fighting the flames. Wrench spent the entire night dealing with fires in the holds and supervising the efforts of others. For his ‘gallantry, devotion to duty and good leadership’, he received the British Empire Medal. 9 Wrench was a courageous man, not because of a singular act of outstanding courage, but because of the courage he displayed throughout his career. The wording of his award while in the Mediterranean is significant. He displayed a courageous nature in how he presented himself, in how he dealt with others, and in how he performed his duties and accepted his responsibilities at all times. He set high standards, was reliable in the face of adversity and drew upon his training and experience to act swiftly and effectively. Our own courage likewise safeguards the success of our operations and the lives of our shipmates.
40 australian maritime issues 2009: spc-a annual Notes 1 Royal Australian Navy, Navy Values: Serving Australia with Pride, Canberra, September 2009. 2 No. 850 Squadron was decommissioned in 1958. 3 AW Jose, The Royal Australian Navy, Australian War Memorial, Melbourne, 1928, p. 91. 4 For example, see D Stevens, ‘HMAS Quiberon, 1942 - Teamwork in Action’, in A Forbes (ed), Australian Maritime Issues 2007: SPC-A Annual, Papers in Australian Maritime Affairs No. 21, Sea Power Centre - Australia, Canberra, 2008, pp. 197-201. 5 Royal Australian Navy, Navy News, vol. 19, no. 24, 10 December 1976. 6 Aristotle, Nichomacean Ethics, Book 2, Chapters 1 & 2. 7 Commonwealth Navy Orders, No. 146 of 1942, 2 June 1942. 8 J Atkinson, By Skill and Valour, Spink & Son, Sydney, 1986. 9 Supplement to the London Gazette, No. 3328, 26 June 1945.
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