Temporary Sub-Lieutenant Philip Wallace Smith RNZNVR

Philip Smith was born on 5 December 1915 and lived in Mt Albert, Auckland. He was a member of the Royal New Zealand Navy Volunteer Reserve (RNZNVR).

 

Like many other reservists, Smith was accepted for training under Scheme B. In May 1940 a formal process for recruiting men in New Zealand for naval service came from the Admiralty. The memorandum (Admiralty CW 8452.40 March 1940) had sections marked ‘A’ and ‘B’ that were used as the names for the schemes proposed therein. This memo was circulated to Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.[1]

 

Under Scheme B the proposal was:

 

The enrolment of potential candidates for commissions as ordinary seamen with a view to their promotion to commissioned rank after a period of service.[2]

 

Men would be commissioned as temporary officers in the RNVR to meet future requirements as the Admiralty was keen to promote from the lower deck. The Dominions would supply men under this scheme for the duration of the war[3] under the same conditions as the Royal Navy. Men would need to be aged between 20 and 30 years but preference was given to men under 25. A naval board would approve them as suitable for commissioned rank. Lack of sea knowledge or experience would not necessarily be an impediment to candidates. Men taken under the scheme would be paid Royal Navy rates and their transport to Britain would be paid for by the Admiralty.[4] 

 

Upon arrival in England, the men would be given training as ordinary seamen at a Royal Navy shore establishment (such as HMS Ganges) and drafted to sea for three months. At the conclusion of their training a selection board would consider the candidate for further training as an officer. If this was successfully passed, then a temporary commission would be granted to the individual in the RNVR.

 

Philip Smith arrived at HMS Ganges at the end of October 1940 as an Ordinary Seaman. He remained in Britain for training and passed out in October 1941 at the end of October 1940 as an Ordinary Seaman. He remained in Britain for training and passed out in October 1941, being promoted to the rank of Temporary Sub-Lieutenant on 2 October 1941.[5] 

 

As an officer he then was posted to the shore establishment HMS King Alfred located in Howe, Essex.  He was given further training here for the month of October 1941.  He was then sent to HMS Dolphin a base for Royal Navy submarines and a training school for those entering service aboard submarines. He spent another month there training.[6]

 

His first operational posting was to HMS Sultan, a naval base located in Singapore. His posting is dated from 25 November 1941, twelve days before the Japanese navy attacked Pearl Harbour. When there he was posted to the depot ship Anking.[7]

 

His task in Singapore was to act as a liaison officer with the Dutch submarines that were based in the Dutch colony of what is now Indonesia. It appears that he was assigned to this task up until February 1942.

 

On 11 February 1942 HMS Sultan was abandoned by the Royal Navy as Singapore was evacuated ahead of the surrender to the advancing Japanese forces.  A fleet of ships and boats made their way to Batavia (now Jakarta). Smith accompanied this fleet aboard the Anking and must have remained in Batavia until 27 February 1942.  At that point, orders were given to all British auxiliary vessels to leave Batavia. The fleet of vessels then reached the harbour of Tjilatjap on 2 March 1942. Because of the threat posed by the Japanese forces the fleet was warned not to enter the harbour.

 

Therefore the sloop HMAS Yarra was ordered to escort Anking along with the tanker Francol and the minesweeper MMS 51 to the Australian port of Fremantle.  The convoy made progress southwards until the morning of 4 March 1942. On that morning, at about 0630, a squadron of three Japanese cruisers and two destroyers caught the convoy at sea. Anking was the first to be sunk after 10 minutes of shelling by the cruisers followed by HMAS Yarra, Francol, and MMS 51.  The Japanese then headed northwards leaving survivors behind spread across a vast expanse of sea.

 

Smith was amongst those survivors but gave his place to someone else and lost his life that day. In the early evening, a passing Dutch vessel picked up the survivors from Anking. The final entry on his posting record card states ‘Death Presumed’.[8]   For his sacrifice and courage, Smith was awarded a posthumous Mention in Despatches.