Diary of a Wisconsin Soldier of the 738th Military Police Battalion, Killed in Action in the Battle of Leyte, Describing “prisoner chasing”, Catching “Sly-grog” Sellers in Australia, and the Psychological Effects of Drudgery “in this land of forgotten men.”
US, Australia, and New Guinea: June 1942–September 1944. Diary measuring 4 ¼ x 5 ½ inches, containing 735 entries. With three letters, two of which are facsimiles. Diary boards with debossed text reading “ARMY DAYS” and lock; worn especially at corners, excellent. Contents Fine. Letters Fine. Overall Near Fine. Item #List3749
A diary belonging to Dale F. Damitz (1920–1944), Company A of the 738th Military Police Battalion, covering the time between his last day before leaving for service and about a month before his death in October of 1944. The 738th MPB, stationed in the South West Pacific Area during the Second World War, is best known during that time for its role in the Battle of Brisbane, a two-day riot between US servicemen and Australian servicemen and civilians in which an Australian Gunner was killed and hundreds on both sides were injured.
Australia was a critical station for housing troops on duty in the Pacific Theater. The arrival of US military personnel in Australia—80,000 in Brisbane alone—overtaxed the capacities of its cities, increased crime, and strained relations between US troops and Australians. Americans had access to better rations, including luxuries such as cigarettes and ice cream; received higher pay than their Australian counterparts; and were often criticized for consorting with Australian women. Though it does not figure in this diary, race likely also contributed to animosity between the groups. Despite fairly strict Australian laws around the sale of alcohol, drunkenness was rampant. Military police from both countries were tasked with keeping the peace in the major cities.
Damitz arrived in Brisbane with the 738th in August 1942, where “Lt. Craddock” informed his company that “where we’re going we’ll have a chance to catch 200 lb bombs in our pockets” (August 30) and “Cpt. Forbes” that he would “get some honor and glory if it costs him the whole company” (August 31). Damitz’s diary is fairly sparse at this time, including during the Battle of Brisbane, though he mentions an “air raid” that made “the ground shake” (December 1). In Australia—”this land of forgotten men” (February 15, 1943), consisting of “Just heat and rain, day after day. And insects” (February 5, 1943)—Damitz’s duties mainly consisted of being what he called “prisoner chaser”, patrolling for and guarding “the drunks” who “make you so sick and disgusted you never want a drink again” (March 29, 1943).
Damitz’s duties took him across central and southeastern Australia, from Adelaide River outside Darwin, to Birdum and Alice Springs, to Adelaide via Terowie—these along the Stuart Highway, a critical military transport route—to Melbourne, and then to Brisbane via Sydney. The central Australian route, through the Northern Territory and South Australia, is “just waste land” (February 23, 1943) and “flat desert country [...] Saw a lot of camels and a few abo camps” (March 5).
Damitz’s then went from Brisbane to Adelaide River outside Darwin, to Melbourne, and back to Brisbane. In Melbourne and Brisbane he is on “prisoner chaser” duty:
“Was prisoner chaser today. Got through at five. Went out on town patrol at six thirty. All troops were restricted as there was a big drive on to pick up all AWOL’s. got one fellow, over the hill.” (April 21, 1943)
And: “Was working with the Civilian Police tonight, after sly-grog sellers. Caught one. Sure is a lot of excitement and dangerous” (June 13, 1943). Bootlegging was a persistent issue in Australia, exacerbated by the presence of American GIs who were unused to Australia’s strict liquor laws.
Damitz’s company left Brisbane for Milne Bay, in New Guinea, in November of 1943. The camp is “worse than a pig pen” (November 11), and the “bastard of a Col. of the 801st” takes away his tent’s floorboards for his own use, leaving Damitz in the mud (December 17). In a somewhat more upbeat letter to friends back home, Damitz reports water “clear as crystal and cold as ice” with “plenty of banana trees and pineapples” and “natives here [...] called fuzzy-wuzzies. We give them a cigarette to climb the coconut trees and knock down coconuts for us" (November 17). They arrived in Oro Bay in March of 1944, where Damitz “Just lay[s] around” (March 15), deals with the mud, and casts his ballot—”the first time in my life I have voted. Voted straight Republican” (July 23)—on the controversial absentee ballot.
By far Damitz’s most persistent topic, for the entirety of the diary, is his overwhelming boredom, the constant feeling of preparing for “something big” (October 24, 1943) that never materializes, and the totalizing apathy that this produces. Damitz had been a reluctant enlistment in the first place—for instance, mentioning an award as “another pipe dream of the old man’s” (June 5, 1943)—and had not expected to be sent overseas so quickly (“it was said no untrained men would leave the states. Some joke!”; June 30, 1942). He “Sure [is] sick of this shit!!!” (March 15, 1944), and writes throughout 1943:
“[February 4:] Doesn’t take long for a guy to get so you don’t give a dam for anything. Almost get so you don’t care what happens next. [February 12:] Saw a good movie here in camp last night. Rest of the day was just like any other day here. Often wonder if I’ll ever have the happiness I once had??? [April 14:] This all seems like a bad dream. Sure wish it was over with. [April 30:] The months slowly go by. You feel like a condemned man who is waiting for the chair. [August 19:] Today makes fourteen months in the army. Seems more like years tho. Hate it more every day. [November 13:] Is raining again today the mud is about a foot deep right inside of the tents. Don’t have any kitchen yet. Don’t care. [December 21:] Just laid around all day. Don’t have any life or pep anymore. Don’t have any ambition to do a dam thing.”
After nearly two and a half years of “all this B.S.” (July 30, 1943), Damitz’s company was sent to the Philippines, where he was killed in action a few days into the Battle of Leyte. The diary provides a humanizing look—in Damitz’s distinctively hard-boiled writing voice—at US-Australian relations and law enforcement and at everyday life outside of combat for a US battalion infamous in Australian history.
Price: $1,250.00