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That is 60 men they will never see again unless of course we all go back within the nextcouple of months. Old Doc Carrington went from the sec[tion]. I think he has 50 odddays leave due and all the others have the same so they will not come back till they havetheir leave, even if it means going AWL [absent without leave].214This issue was to play a part in the last major incident in the battalion’s history.When Field was finally advised, in the second week of May, that Dexter woulddefinitely not be returning, he requested Lieutenant Colonel Terence Farrell as hisreplacement.215 Farrell arrived from Australia on 30 May, and in July Field noted‘I’m satisfied that he will bring 61 Bn up to the old standards again’.216 However,when the battalion was again ordered to assume responsibility for rear-areasecurity in the south on 7 August, more than seventy members of the battalionrefused to move. Field recorded that ‘They are nursing a grievance about leave andpossibly think that the end of the war is imminent’.217 Farrell was sent back fromthe south to sort the problem out. Brigadier Field noted that Farrell was ‘unableto effect any change in the attitude of the 70 men who had refused duty. Chargeswere accordingly being drawn up. This is a poor finish and a stain on the nameof the 61 Bn’.218 It also suggested that not all of the problems within the battalionwere of Dexter’s making.214 Ewen’s diary 2, 28 April 1945, AWM PR89/190. There were similar sentiments in the9th Battalion. Matthews diary 16, 2 and 4 May 1945, AWM PR89/079, Item 5.215 Field’s diary, 11 May 1945, AWM 3DRL6937, Item 7.216 Field’s diary, 11 July 1945, AWM 3DRL6937, Item 7.217 Field’s diary, 9 August 1945, AWM 3DRL6937, Item 7. This incident is also covered inEwen’s diary and the II Corps report on operations in the Solomons. The numbers varybetween 70–76 personnel, depending on the source. Ewen was one of the dissentersand received eighteen months field punishment, although he only served threemonths. His explanation was, ‘It’s a long story of Bad Army Adm. All the officers hadleave and half the Bn were on leave when we were ordered back up’. The corps reportnoted ‘This instance of ill-discipline was isolated and directly attributable to failureof troops to get leave which they had been expecting’. Ewen’s diary 2, 7 January 1946,AWM PR89/190; ‘Report on Operational and Administrative Activities 2 Aust Corpsin the North Solomons Area October 1944–August 1945’, p. 79, AWM 3DRL6643,Item 3/83.218 Field’s diary, 10 August 1945, AWM 3DRL6937, Item 7.A tale of three battalions — 49