More About The

Aib

r\N page 21 of this issue, printed a week ago, there are references to omissions from the list of men of the Allied Intelligence Bureau (pub lished in December), and especially the name of Mr. V. Neumann. We now have another letter—this one from Mr. A. P. H. Freund, of 156 Murray Street, Gawler, SA — and, although it duplicates to some extent the material published on page 21, it is printed hereunder because of the valuable additions it makes to the known data about the achievements of the AIB. It is to be hoped that someone, soon, will make an attempt to put the true story of the AIB into permanent record—it is too remark able a bit of history to be lost or for gotten.

NEUMANN (says Mr. Freund) was en listed the same day as I was. Neu mann, Obst and I (together with others) served together till June, 1942.

Then Pursehouse and I were placed in the Finschhafen area, where McColl joined us on September 23. We were there, in sight of the coast, till December 19, 1942, when the Japs occupied Finschhafen, and thereafter in the hill villages further back till April 14, 1942, when we began our withdrawal, which eventually led us to Bena Bena, five weeks later.

In the meantime the New Britain catastrophe had taken place. Four small parties had been sent over there. G. C.

Harris and party (I am not sure, but I

think “Mo” Johnson and the half-caste, McNicoll, were with him) went to Tala sea. Vic. Neumann went right up on the Witu Islands (I think Peter Kutis was with him). A. K. Smith, G. A. Obst, and W. Butteris were the party that went to Cape Gloucester, where Obst was killed, Butteris captured and later beheaded, and Smith escaped, to be rescued not long after by Neumann.

A. R. Olander and W. Tupling were the remainder of the four parties. They were sent into the area of Arawe. Though they, like all the other parties, were equipped with wireless, they never went on the air, and it is reported on the information of natives that they were captured as soon as they landed, and later beheaded.

All are mentioned in the list except Neumann and Kutis. I do not know much about the circumstances under which Kutis joined, served, etc. But since Neumann, Obst and I joined .together, were promoted together, and served to gether for a time, and in different areas later, but all in the same job, why has his name been omitted?

The distinction between “served prior to April, 1943” and “served from April, 1943-August, 1945” is far from true to facts. If Obst is in the former list, then Harris, Neumann and I should be in that same list. In fact, I was in the Naval Coast Watching Organisation as a civi lian under Com. E. Feldt from 1940 on wards. Again, Butteris and Tupling came down from the western islands, together with “Mo” Johnson and McColl, about the middle of 1942. So that would en title them to be in that “prior to April. 1943” list. But then McColl, who had been in the Naval Coast Watching Or ganisation from about the same time onward as I was, and who came down

with Tupling and Butteris, has equal if not prior right to be in that “prior to April, 1943” list, and even Johnson should be there.

I know tjiat part of the reason for the peculiar placing of names in the list may be due to the fact that the records offices were a long way behind what actually was going on in the field —at least in some cases. But in the case of Obst, Neumann and myself (where we all joined and served together, and then, in your published list, two of us come under separate categories, while the third Is omitted altogether) there is evidently something wrong.