In 1943 Alice
Springs was very much an army town, and had been since the
establishment
of the Darwin Overland Maintenance Force in September 1940. Its
permanent military population would peak at about 8,000 with almost
200,000
military personnel
passing through the town over the next four years (Donovan, P. (1988). Alice Springs: Its history & the
people who made it. Alice Springs: Alice Springs Town Council,
pp.184-9.). Almost all of those troops would have been men, with
precious few women either in the forces or the town. That gender
imbalance may be the real reason behind the events that took place one
evening in October that year. But, whatever the impetus, they provide
the
earliest detailed record of homosexual activity between Europeans in
Central Australia.
Based on the
statements given before the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory in
Alice Springs, several things seem certain. On the evening of Thursday
October
21, 1943
a small group of soldiers had been drinking in the beer garden of the
military canteen shortly after it closed at 9:30. After the rest had
retired two troops remained behind to finish their drinks. Exactly
what happened next was the point of substantial disagreement between
the pair, but when the corporal on canteen duty went out to investigate
the noises, it seems he found the two soldiers engaged in some sort of
struggle on the ground with their clothing in disarray.
Whatever
the truth of the matter, the outcome would be charges and a conviction
for 'assault with intent to commit buggery' for one of the men, 12
months hard labour and a court martial. His partner would be
cast as the victim of the piece. Whether one soldier had
sexually assaulted the other or both were willing
participants but, faced with discovery, one turned against his mate to
save himself,
remains unclear.
In relating this story the names of the two main characters have been
changed to preserve their anonymity. However, all other participants
were as named. The material from which the story is derived and
quotations have been taken is Northern Territory Archives Service; Series E99, File 200a/1943, Supreme Court of the Northern Territory,
Criminal dockets - annual alphabetical series, 1942-43,
***** and Series F70, Police Station - Alice Springs, Correspondence files, 1950-55, 34/9/51
[Cases and enquiries].
Sam 'Snigger' Nelson was 21. He had been called up two years earlier on
November 17, 1941 in Preston, Victoria and was a driver in the 146th
Australian General Transport Company. Sam had previously served in the
4th Anti Tank Battalion but, after going AWOL for seven days and the subsequent
discovery of a few prior convictions from his youth, had been discharged.
Those
offences were mostly for larceny, joy riding in stolen cars and
'offensive
behaviour', and had incurred penalties including a 12 month good
behaviour bond and three months in Castlemaine
reformatory at the Governor's
Pleasure.
He was not a model citizen, and when his fingerprints were sent south
to Melbourne the police there were able to provide a few
aliases they also knew him by. At five foot five he was described as of
small to medium build with fair hair, blue eyes and a fair complexion
marked by
a single tattoo
of a swallow carrying a flower in its beak on his right forearm. One of his brothers,
Larry, was also serving in Alice Springs at the time.
Not as
much is known about Tom 'Whacker' Walters. He was a little
older than Sam Nelson, having celebrated his twenty-third birthday that May. He was also a
driver in the 146th, weighed approximately nine stone three ounces, and
had a
medical classification of B2 - fit for sedentary duties only. Tom's
period of service was significantly shorter than Sam's; he had enlisted
in Middle Park, Victoria only 15 days earlier - very much a new
recruit. According
to the evidence of the corporal on duty in the canteen that night,
Whacker was known to receive some bullying from chaps who would
"...muck
around" with him and "...just hit him around and that", and sometimes
"...put
their arms around him and pat him on the rear". But, as the corporal
later explained, they would only "...spar with him and skylark with
him";
he had "...never ever seen anyone go as far as pulling his trousers
down."
Sam had arrived at the canteen at about 6:30 that night and began
drinking with a few of his mates. At about 9:00 Tom Walters arrived and
joined them. The canteen closed at 9:30 and the other soldiers went to get something to eat, leaving Sam and Tom
behind on a seat in the darkened beer garden still drinking and
talking; that much is agreed.
Corporal "Bub" Burley was inside the canteen packing up for the
evening. When he heard noises coming from the garden just before 10:00
he thought perhaps someone was being sick outside. As the moaning
continued he thought he should investigate and opened the door to look.
What he saw in the light shining out into the garden left him
dumbfounded. Two men were grappling with each other on the ground,
"Walters had his
shorts down around his knees and Nelson had his fly undone, one hand up
around Walter's throat and the other about his private parts. His penis
was stiff and rigid and he was making motions to and fro, he was trying to put his
penis between Walter's anus...".
When the corporal demanded to know, "What's going on here?", Driver
Walters
responded, "Get him away Bub". As he picked Walters up Corporal Burley,
"...could
still see Driver Nelson's penis sticking rigid." Clearly shocked, he
told Walters to go home and let Nelson leave as well. Then,
after thinking it over for a while, went to inform Captain Harbottle of
the events. Although he didn't believe either soldier was drunk at the
time, he assessed Nelson as clearly the stronger of the two.
Captain Harbottle immediately took the matter to the unit Orderly for
the evening, Lieutenant Shepherd. At about 10:20, he called both Nelson
and
Walters to be interviewed; things were moving fast. When Walters told
the lieutenant that Nelson had tried to be funny with him, he asked,
"...did he try to root you?". Tom confirmed the accusation, but Nelson
strongly denied it claiming, "I didn't do it Sir, I've just got out of
bed, I know my name stinks in this unit, but I didn't do that Sir."
Next morning Lieutenant Shepherd discussed the matter again with
Corporal Burley and both went to review the scene of the crime, paying
particular attention to the marks in the gravel for evidence of a
struggle. Looking back on the previous evening's interview, Shepherd
would
recall that Walters was very frightened, his face white in the
moonlight. But he would also say that both were sober when he
interviewed them, and that "...they knew what they were doing." So,
what did Whacker Walters know?
His version of events was fairly straightforward. As soon as they were
left alone drinking on the seat in the garden, Sam had made his move;
he had tried "...to play about with" [Walters'] "...private parts." As
Nelson's
hand was pushed away he asked Whacker, "What about it?". Knowing exactly
what was
implied Tom's rejection of the offer was in vain and he soon found
Nelson had
wrapped both arms around his waist and pulled him to the ground. During
the
ensuing
struggle Sam tried to take Tom's pants down, eventually succeeding. By
now he was behind Walters and had him face down on the ground. After
pulling his trousers down to his ankles, Sam then lifted up Tom's
shirt
as well.
Although he didn't feel Nelson doing anything to his own trousers,
Walters did feel it when "He then tried to put his penis into my anus."
In fact, "He attempted to do this three or four times." Knowing that
Corporal Burley was still in the canteen Tom went to call for help
but, just as he did, Sam placed one hand over his mouth and the other
around his throat and said, "Shut up you bastard or I'll choke you."
Realising that it was not much use singing out, Walters lurched
sideways just as Nelson attempted another insertion. This time Walters
was definitely able to feel that the other's penis "...was erected."
It was exactly at that moment that the corporal emerged and pulled the
men apart. Nelson left quickly as ordered but Tom remained to explain
what had happened before returning to his tent. Shortly after, first
Captain Harbottle and then Lieutenant Shepherd came and interviewed him
outside his tent, during which time Private Nelson was also called for.
Walters remembered that while Nelson was fairly intoxicated that
evening, he was quite sober himself. And, during the quarter of an hour
that
they were on the ground, he had been struggling to get away the whole
time. However, when he later asserted that he had been grabbed so hard
by the throat that it would have left marks, was unable to explain why
there were none.
Walters hadn't actually wanted to report what had happened and had
asked the
next morning down
at the showers if he had to make a statement. He was going to let the
whole thing drop and treat it as a joke. Even the night
before, Sergeant Goolie had said that there would be no charge and just
told them to go to bed. But, after a long
conversation
with Sergeant Harbottle who announced his intention to take the matter
further regardless, Tom was induced to make a statement.
However, as far as Snigger Nelson was concerned, the whole thing had
just been an unfortunate accident and misunderstanding. When the pair
had remained behind in the beer garden Tom had sat on the seat proper,
but Sam had hopped up on the railing and put his arm on his mate's
shoulder to balance. Having another drink they had chatted about
different things, probably the leave situation and going home. After a
while both went to stand up but, as they did so, Sam's foot got caught
in the railing of the seat and he tripped, even though he was still
sober. As he fell, Sam grabbed hold of Tom and they fell on the ground
together. It was just at that moment that Corporal Burley chose to come
out of the canteen and saw them, telling the pair to break it up.
Thinking nothing further of it, Private Nelson picked up his coat and
left. He was very surprised when Sergeant Goolie came to his tent and
told him Captain Harbottle wanted to see him. He was even more
surprised when, in front of the captain and Lieutenant Shepherd,
Private Walters accused him of attempting to commit an indecent act. He
denied the accusation and was told to go to bed. As he left he asked
the sergeant if the charge was very bad, and was much relieved when
Goolie
told him, "There is no charge, we know Whacker, you can go to bed now."
So he must have been completely shocked a week later
on the afternoon of October 28 when Constable Law from the Alice
Springs Police Station arrested him on a charge of Attempting to Commit
Buggery (contrary to Section 62 of the Offences Against the Person Act,
1861). Fortunately
he was able to make bail with a surety of 100 pounds of his own, and a
further 100 lodged by his brother.
His
interview two days earlier for a psychiatric report by
Lieutenant Colonel Gwyn Williams, Commanding Officer of the 109th
General
Army Hospital must also have alerted him that the matter was very
serious
would not be going
away in a hurry. The doctor found that Nelson had no sign of organic disease
and was of average intelligence, but presented "...a typical picture of
a moral defective." Interestingly he
also noted Nelson had informed him that Private Walters was frequently
the butt of ribald jokes, and both Lieutenant Shepherd and a
Corporal Collier had confirmed Walters was "...regarded as below
average and is the sort of 'village idiot'." He further tactfully
observed that if the offence had been committed, he believed it was "...not associated with essential
homosexuality" on Nelson's part, but was "...a manifestation of general
moral deficit."
However, Lieutenant Colonel Williams did find Sam was fit to
plead and face trial and likely to respond favourably to punishment.
Although he
didn't consider any benefit would be derived from treatment he was
certain that Sam was likely to be a future source of trouble in the
army. On that basis he recommended that on the termination of any
sentence "...he be discharged from the Army under some such provision
as Services No Longer Required."
Nelson faced trial in Alice Springs on November 4 with a second charge
of Indecent Assault on a Male Person. Four days later the Supreme Court of the
Northern Territory found him guilty on the first count, sentencing him on November 8 to twelve months
imprisonment with hard labour. It was just days before
the last Japanese air raid on Darwin.
At the conclusion of his sentence a year later Sam was
transferred from Alice Springs Gaol to Darwin to face a court martial
and subsequently discharged. The details of these proceedings are held
in National Archives of Australia, Series
E72, Item 3089302, Attorney General’s Department – Crown Solicitors
Office Alice Springs, The King v. *****. A request for access to
this file has been denied.
There is no record of what became of Sam and Tom, or any
indication that either were involved in this kind of behaviour before
or after. Both the army and the court appear to have considered Sam to
have been Tom's physical and intellectual superior, and clearly on top
of him in what took place that night. But Sam was only convicted of
attempted buggery, and not on the second charge of indecent assault. It
also
seems clear from the comments of the officers and the statements of
both soldiers that there was some doubt as to Tom's absolute innocence
in the affair. However, there are no clear statements to the effect.
Perhaps Nelson attempted to sexually assault a completely naive
companion. Perhaps the two found themselves drawn together and were
unfortunate enough to be caught out, one more than the other who was
turned on by his partner in the face of discovery. We'll never know.
An army report into
Homosexual Males in the Allied Land Forces dated September 12, 1944
noted that there was very little evidence of those people in any
command. However:
2. In Oct 43 a
soldier
in 11 L of C Sub-Area was charged with assaulting another soldier with
intent to commit buggery. He appeared before the Civil Court at ALICE
SPRINGS
and was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment with hard labour. It is
interesting
to note that the Superintendent of the gaol stated that this soldier
was
a model prisoner and, although slightly effeminate in manner, was a
good,
honest worker, and clean and tidy in his habits and appearance.
Psychiatrist's
report indicates that the offence was not associated with essential
homosexuality
but was a manifestation of general moral deficit.
National Archives
of Australia, Series MP742/1, Item
84/1/164: Homosexual Males - Discharge.
