A TRIBUTE TO COLIN DOIG

[Edward Willis]

INTRODUCTION

Colin Douglas (Col) Doig OAM - WX11054 - was an original member of the No. 2 Australian Independent Company and served with the unit throughout WWII. [1] After the war he was the instigator for the establishment of the 2/2 Commando Association and its mainstay for the remainder of his life, including founding and long term editor of the Courier.

After Col’s passing in 1996, his compatriot Don Turton prepared a heartfelt and well-informed tribute to his close friend that he delivered at his funeral and is the focus of this post.

Understandably for the occasion, Turton only made a brief reference to Doig’s wartime service including his near death experience from Black Water Fever on Timor and being nursed back to reasonable health under the care of Dr Roger Dunkley.

However, Doig’s frontline presence in all the unit’s campaigns put him and the soldiers under his command at great risk of survival; at least two such occasions have been covered in previous Doublereds posts and relate to the daring rescue of downed Hudson pilot Flying Officer Sid Wadey from Baguia, Portuguese Timor [2] in August 1942 and his leadership during a firefight with the Japanese at Orguruna, Ramu Valley, New Guinea in October 1943. [3]

Don Turton’s tribute to Col Doig follows.

 

Photo from Col Doig’s service record

A TRIBUTE TO COLIN [4]

I can visualise Colin fronting up to St. Peter at the Pearly Gates and St. Peter saying to Col "I don't see your name on the list of the faithful Mr Doig" and Colin replying, "Now hang on a minute Pete, I was a contributor down below".  And then he proceeds to tell St. Peter one of his very, very old stories, the one about Dad and Dave and the visiting parson.  When the parson man is taken aback by the carryings on at the Rudd family tea table and raises his eyes to the ceiling and says, "Let there be light on this darkened house," dad says to Dave "You'd better hop up on the roof Dave and knock a few shingles off, this old so and so is going blind!"  With that St. Peter throws back his head and laughs saying, "You'd better come on in, this place could do with a bit of brightening up".

I'm sure that is how many of us gathered here this morning would like to remember Colin as a good friend and a great storyteller who helped brighten up our lives.

 

Front cover of Col Doig’s personal memoir The ramblings of a ratbag

The Doig clan of which Colin was a member is of Scottish ancestry.  In 1897 Alexander and Maria Doig with four children left Beltana in South Australia and took up a holding in Wagin, in the Great Southern district.  Four more children followed of whom Colin Douglas Doig was the last born on 3rd March, 1912.  ''The scrapings of the pot" was how Colin later referred to his birth.  He had a happy childhood although he had the misfortune to lose his father who died as the result of an accident in 1920 when Colin was only 8 years old.  His mother Maria was a strong and very active woman.  Not only did she raise a large family she was also a midwife, was called upon to lay out the dead for burial and involved herself in many other community affairs.  She was also an active campaigner for the Liberal Party.  She lived to 89 and was truly a remarkable lady. 

Colin loved his sport and was a handy cricketer and a good runner.  He unfortunately developed some bad habits.  He learned to swear profusely at an early age and took up smoking when quite young.  He tells the story in his autobiography how on one occasion the school headmaster gave him a shilling and sent him down to the local store to buy a packet of cigarettes which he did.  He promptly opened the packet and smoked one on the way back for which he copped six of the best.  The headmaster was Oscar Charlesworth, grandfather of Ric Charlesworth of cricket and hockey fame.

Despite receiving many canings in the course of his school life, Colin was a bright lad and finished up dux of his small school.  He was also taught to box by a Mr McDonald and as a result became very handy with his "Dooks".  He also learned the rougher side of brawling and knew how to look after himself.

He was very proud of his eldest brother Peter who was 25 years older.  Peter served in Palestine in the 10th Light Horse and won a Military Cross for bravery at Jenin in 1918.

One of his most vivid recollections of his childhood was when he was six years old and peace was declared on 11th November, 1918.  He could well recall the church bells ringing and everyone turning out in the town to celebrate the occasion.

He was a callow youth of 17 when the Wall Street Crash of 1929 heralded the start of the Great Depression which swept the world.  For the next 12 years until he entered the 2nd A.I.F. in 1941, Colin tried his hand at many things.  He certainly crammed a lot into those 12 years and fortunately for posterity he has duly recorded his experiences in his book The Ramblings of a Ratbag [5] of which many of us have a copy.  He was at some stage or other a horse breaker, cattle musterer, a shearer, had a camel team on the rabbit proof fence, was in a boxing troupe, worked for many a cocky, rode in rodeos, had contracts sinking dams and so on.  He also returned from time to time to help out on the family farm.

These were tough times and people needed to be equally tough to survive.  Throughout these experiences Colin always retained his keen sense of humour and could always relate to the very many humorous incidents he was involved in.  His description of the time spent with the camel team is hilarious.  He complained that camels seem to be able to kick with all four feet at once and the smell of their breath was really damnable.  He got camel sick many a time with their "Bloody rolling gait" and lost many a breakfast as a result.  During these years his language got worse and he could put a bullocky to shame.  He became like The Man From Snowy River hard, tough and wiry and drank and smoked a lot - all bad habits.  He was blessed with a wonderful retentive memory and never forgot the many odd and humorous characters he met in his travels.  He always had a close interest in people and developed a compassion for the battlers of his time.

In the late 30s he joined the 25th Light Horse Regiment and received a commission and when war broke out after several attempts to transfer to the A.I.F. were knocked back he finally succeeded.  A short time after he joined the Hush Hush crowd at Northam and finished up after training in Wilson's Promontory.  An original member of the No. 2 Australian Independent Company, later known as the 2/2nd Commando Squadron, he served as an officer in the Unit's Timor, New Guinea and New Britain campaigns and was made a captain in 1945.

Early in the Timor campaign he contracted pleurisy and Black Water Fever and nearly died.  He was in Bobonaro at the time and the trip from there to Ainaro where Doc. Dunkley nursed him back to health, took over three days.  He was forever grateful to the Timorese for carrying him on this journey and never forgot the debt he owed them for saving his life.

Colin, a capable officer, was well respected and liked by his men.  He had a wealth of good yarns to tell and always enjoyed a beer or two.

 

Front cover of Col Doig’s unit history

He was a real down to earth character and a soft touch.  He loaned many a quid most of which he never got back.  He was more at home in the company of men and it came as a bit of a surprise when word came through that he had married a Julia Pemberton in January 1946.

Following his discharge Colin and his bride returned to Perth and for a few years they were domiciled in the old Ozone Hotel near the causeway.  He obtained a job with the Department of Labour and National Service where the late Tom Murray, Don's father was his boss.  He enjoyed his work in the Department and was a competent officer.  To earn a bit of spare money he also got a job as clerk for Bill Maloney, a trot bookie and a former top East Perth footballer.  He added many racing stories to his collection during his working life with old Bill.  In 1952 he and Julia moved to their new home at 77 Rosedale Street, Floreat Park where he was to spend his next 44 years.

This was the beginning of the second phase of his life.  Before leaving New Britain he chaired a meeting of Unit members prior to it being disbanded.  It was unanimously agreed that we should carry on our wartime friendships in the form of an Association to be known as the 2/2nd Commando Association of Australia.  From that time onwards until he breathed his last Colin was a tireless worker for the Association.  He was our first general secretary and editor, a job he undertook for over 23 years.  He was made our first Life Member in 1950 and was president in 1953 and 54.  He was involved in practically every important activity in which the West Australian Branch undertook and these were many.  His contribution to our little paper, the Courier, was unsurpassed.  The greatest tribute we can pay him is to simply say "Things won't be the same without him".

 

Col Doig’s certificate for the Order of Australia

In 1958 Colin was transferred to the Department of Social Service where he remained until his retirement in 1976.  For relaxation he liked his weekend sport and was a regular patron of the local football of a Saturday.  He was a West Perth supporter and became quite vocal on the odd occasion.  He liked to have a drink and yarn with his old mates at the Royal, Globe and old Imperial.  Colin was not an ambitious man.  He liked nothing better than to sit around a table with a glass of beer and his friends and talk sport, politics or any other subject or relate humorous experiences from his years of knocking around the bush.  He was a most interesting man and one felt all the better for having been in his company.  He also got a lot of pleasure from his garden and vegie plot.  He was proud of his sweet peas, poppies and kangaroo paws.  He was forever giving away flowers and vegies to his many friends - such was his generous nature.

He underwent a number of crises in his life.  The first and most serious was the breakdown of his marriage.  This really knocked him and he sought sanctuary in drink which seriously affected his health and lifestyle.  The advent of Joy Lowden as housekeeper steadied the ship and things started to return to normal although he still continued to drink too much.  He was also smoking a lot, eventually things caught up with him.  I remember going around to see him one morning and was dismayed to see his poor physical state and I said to him "You'd better see a doctor immediately", which he did.  He finished up in hospital and for a time was on the seriously ill list and did not look like coming through his crises.  His toughness prevailed and he made it.  Following this his doctor read him the riot act of which he took heed and from that time onward his health improved and he started to look after himself.  Even after the death of Joy, which he felt very keenly, he continued to do the right thing by himself.

 

Cover of Col Doig’s history of the 2/2 Commando Association

Some highlights of his life of which he was quietly proud, was when he and Ron Kirkwood met Prime Minister, John Gorton, in 1968 and succeeded in obtaining a grant for the erection of the Dare Memorial in East Timor.  He also played a major part in organising arrangements for our trip to Timor in April 1969 for the opening of the Memorial which went off very well.  The other highlight was his Australian honours award of his O.A.M. in June 1988.  He was in hospital at the time and it gave him a great lift.  Colin was a well-read man particularly in his retirement years.  He was a regular at the local library and enjoyed all types of books.  He could write well and if things had been different could have been a top journalist.  He had a sharp intellect and a man of great perspicacity.  He was indeed gifted.  In spite of a nagging leg ulcer and failing eyesight the last 12 years or so of his life were in many respects his most rewarding years.  He compiled A History of the 2nd Independent Company and 2/2nd Commando Squadron [6], the profits of which he generously gave to the Association.  He also wrote The Great Fraternity [7] a detailed history of the Association from 1946-1992, and his own autobiography of the first 34 years of his life under the title of The Ramblings of a Ratbag a book full of humour and interest.

He became a great supporter of the Trust Fund to which he gave generously.  He also struck up a close relationship with Brother Ephram Santos of the Salesian Order and was very good to him, paying for the good brothers trip to Australia in 1995.  One of his last generous gestures was to contribute $10,000 to the Oan Kiak Foundation, the interest on which will be handled by the Don Bosco Training Centre who in turn will see that the Memorial at Fatunaba is maintained in a sound condition.  He was indeed a generous man and helped other causes and people in his later years.  For a man who had not religious convictions he was blessed with those two great god given gifts of charity and compassion.  He was a charitable man in every sense and his gift of compassion stemmed from those early times in his life when he saw life raw and came to understand the need of the less fortunate.

 

Looking back on his life his 84 years saw him live through a greater part of the 20th century which surely must rank as one of the most exciting and progressive centuries of all time.  Colin often spoke of this in his more pensive moods. 

All this came to an end at 5.40pm last Sunday as a result of a nasty fall he sustained on Friday.  It is a sobering thought that before the day is out his worn out frame will become a handful of ashes and having known Colin pretty well for the past 55 years I think he main wish would be that he would like to be remembered for a while.  We come and we go in this world and are quickly forgotten and I guess this is the way it has to be.  But I know while those of us who are assembled here this morning - Gwen, Robyn and the other direct descendants of Alexander and Maria Doig, his near neighbours, old Waginites, his old mates from the Department of National Service and the members, wives, widows and friends of his beloved 2/2nd Commando Association - while we are still around Colin Doig will not be forgotten. 

I would like to think that in times ahead whenever any of us are gathered together and the name Colin Doig is mentioned it won't· be long before the conversation begins to quicken and the grins start to appear and the grins turn to laughter as we recall the happy and humorous times spent with this unique Australian character.

We loved him and he's gone! 

The above tribute to Colin was delivered by Mr Don Turton at Colin's funeral service held in the Norfolk Chapel at Karrakatta on Thursday morning, 24th October [1996].

 

REFERENCES

[1] ‘Colin Douglas Doig’ https://doublereds.org.au/history/men-of-the-22/wx/colin-douglas-doig-r94/; ‘Doig, Colin Douglas: Service Number - WX11054 : Date of birth - 03 Mar 1912 : Place of birth - WAGIN WA: Place of enlistment - PERTH WA’ NAA: B883, WX11054https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/DetailsReports/ItemDetail.aspx?Barcode=6469063&isAv=N

[2] The Sid Wadey Story – Rescued On Timor - https://shorturl.at/omS3H

[3] Fire Fight At Orguruna – The 2/2's Different War In New Guinea - https://shorturl.at/o2G2H

[4] Don Turton ‘A tribute to Colin’ 2/2 Commando Courier December 1996: 4-6.

[5] C.D. [Col] Doig. - The ramblings of a ratbag. – [Perth, W.A.]: The Author, 1989.

[6] C.D. [Col] Doig. - A history of the 2nd Independent Company and 2/2 Commando Squadron. - Carlisle, W.A. : Hesperian Press, 2009. [First published: 1986]

[7] C.D. [Col] Doig. - A great fraternity: the story of [the] 2/2nd Commando Association, 1946-1992 / compiled by C.D. Doig. -  [Perth, W.A.: C.D. Doig], 1993.

 

 

Edited March 10 by Edward Willis
Text correction

[Colleen Thornton-Ward]

I spent many hours talking with Col about East Timor.  When I told him Murray Thornton (my brother) and I were headed to East Timor in 1995, he gave me the book Mai Kolia Tetum.  Murray and I were going to follow the 2/2 Commandos path, albeit in Indonesia/East Timor. He was a great and compassionate man.