Francis Vincent Terence O'NEILL

Francis (Curly) was a member of the First Reinforcements that arrive at Dili, Timor, aboard M.V. “Koolama”, on 22 Jan 1942, prior to the Japanese landing. He joined the unit as a Private and served mainly in No 4 Section, “B” Platoon, where he was a member of the diversion group for the Dili Raid and later, in No 13 Section, “D” Platoon. He was wounded on Timor. After the campaign on Timor, he embarked with the unit, for Australia aboard the Royal Dutch destroyer “Tjerk Hides” on 16 Dec 1942.

Transferred to 1st Australian Commando Training squadron on 14 Apr 1943 as an Instructor. He embarked for New Guinea aboard “KATOOMBA” on 11 Nov 1943 and re-joined the unit on 28 Nov 1943 as a Trooper in No 1 Section, “A” Troop and returned to Australia with them aboard “TAROONA” on 3 Sept 1944.

Appointed paid Lance Corporal on 25 Jan 1945 and embarked for New Britain aboard “TAROONA” on 9 Apr 1945 with the unit as a Lance Corporal in No 1 Section, “A” Troop. Whilst on New Britain he attended Course No 5, Flame Thrower School from 5 Jul to 9 Jul 1945.

Francis transferred to 29/46th Infantry Battalion on 26 Dec 1945 and returned to Australia aboard USA Transport "TAOS VICTORY" on 29 Jan 1946.

Curly was discharged on 7 May 1946.

He was entitled to the 1939-45 Star, Pacific Star, War Medal and Australian Service Medal 1939-45, pictured below. He is now also entitled to the Australian Service Medal 1945-75 with a clasp "S.W.Pacific".

After Frank ‘Curly’ O’Neill passed away in late July 2002 a reflection on ‘comradeship’ written by him was featured in the editorial of the September issue of the Courier.  This was followed by an insightful Vale prepared his compatriot  Paddy Kenneally:

“Frank "Curly" O'Neill, who passed away recently, was a journalist by profession and a good one at that.

Here is an extract from a letter he wrote to Colin Doig in April 1996.

Curly On Comradeship

From quiet homes and small beginnings

Out to the undiscovered ends

There's nothing worth the wear of winning

Save laughter and the love of friends.

These words remain as valid today as they were when Hilaire Belloc wrote them many years ago.  They are our great legacy of the war, true, constant, and enduring.

Truth as we know, is always the first casualty of war; the last casualties are the legacies war inevitably leaves in its wake, most of them a source of sadness.  Unfortunately, mankind (I exempt women) is inherently insane.

Consider how man has been turning the wheatfields into cemeteries for thousands of years, then turn to the newspapers and television.

Consider too, some of the lesser legacies still with us … rhetoric, tub-thumping, and the memoirs of generals and other leaders of both sides.  A critical look at some of those memoirs indicates that their authors would have been flat out running a chook raffle.  So our love and laughter sounds better every day.

Col Doig could have been echoing Hilaire Belloc when he wrote in the Courier that the greatest achievement of the 2/2nd Commando Association was the remarkable way it had stuck together.

"The comradeship, " he said, "has the quality of the highest grade cement fused with the highest quality granite".  And that indeed, is a great legacy.

It is exemplified by the Safaris held every few years when members come from all over Australia simply to remember and renew their Friendship.

In my post-war pursuit of a quid, I have met world leaders of politics, big business, sport and show business.  Many were extremely pleasant, despite obvious egos, lust for power and money oozing out of them.

I never met any I would have preferred to have with me on those patrols through mountains and flatlands.  I don’t think they would have gone really well in mud baths like the Usini track.

I have heard academics decrying mateship, claiming there was something odd about it. I suspect that those critical academics had never known comrades.  Still, every cobbler to his own last.

Curly O'Neill” [1]

VALE FRANK (CURLY) O'NEILL - NX50133

“Frank O'Neill.  Born August 24th, 1922, St. Margaret's Hospital, Sydney.  Died Narrabeen, Sydney, July 27th 2002.

Frank's primary school education was at Narrabeen Primary School.  His secondary education Christian Brothers St. Mary's Cathedral School, Sydney.

He grew up in pre-war Narrabeen, the ocean, the lakes, and the tree covered hills his playground, a carefree, not densely populated area in the 1920s and 30s.  An excellent surfer, he was a junior lifesaver.  He was also, despite his long lean under nourished appearance, a pretty good boxer.  Frank's build gave no physical indication of his endurance, stamina and toughness.  He was a knowledgeable follower of all sports.

Apart from being a soldier in World War II, the only vocation Curly followed was journalism.  He served his cadetship on the Sydney Truth and Mirror under some very hard taskmasters, editors and sub-editors of the old school, accuracy and verity, had to be grammatically written and all punctuation strictly adhered to.

Curly was sent overseas on many assignments.  He was based in London and over a period of years took him as far afield as Leningrad, and many European capitals as well as Indonesia, New Guinea and Indo China and in the era of French rule in what is now Vietnam, and Cambodia.  Curly certainly knew his way around the newspaper world.

He served on the Sydney Truth and sportsman's evening paper The Mirror.  He served Packer's print empire on the Sydney Daily and Sunday Telegraph and finally under Murdoch in England and Australia.

In October 1861, John McDouall Stuart departed from Adelaide to cross Australia from south to north.  He succeeded, reaching the sea 65km east of the Adelaide River at Chambers Bay on 27th July 1862 and then making the return trip to Adelaide arriving there in December 1862.

Curly O'Neill re-enacted the return trip 100 years later in 1962 while working for News Ltd. leaving Chambers Bay in April 1962 on his horse Big Wink Curly followed Stuart's return route.  He was feted and cheered as he passed through every outback hamlet and settlement.  At Dunmarra, with a population of 2, he was given "The Freedom of the City" which no doubt Curly would have loved.  He reached Adelaide on 11th August 1962 after covering 3300 km on horseback.  Not a bad effort for a city slicker!  A crowd estimated at 200,000 gave him a great welcome and children from all over the country wrote in acclaiming him "A Great Australian hero".  It would have been like water on a duck's back to Curly.

In 1963 we attended a farewell to Curly and his wife Betty before their departure for London and Fleet Street.

Curly O'Neill was a first class journalist.  However, it has always been my belief that Curly, had he so desired, achieved much more in his profession.  There was an extremely high level of idealism in Curly's make-up, which made him disdain in the cynical pursuit of fame.  I saw much of him over the years particularly after his wife Betty died in 1984.  He had a sardonic approach to fame and wealth.  Often, he would remark "Paddy, they are chasing shadows, no matter how famous and powerful, death is the great equaliser, and puts us on the same footing as the destitute and unknown".  That was Curly!

He joined the AIF in 1941 and was recruited from Tamworth camp for the Independent Companies.  He would have been an original for No. 4 Company, but with 50 other O.R.s was sent as a reinforcement to No. 2 Company, then in Portuguese Timor.  He sailed on the W.A. Stateship, the M.V. Koolama from Darwin on January 16th, 1942 arriving in Dili on 20th January 1942.  He, as all that party, became part of Company HQ at Railaco.  When the Japanese landed in February he was moved here and there, finishing up with Lieut. Garnett at Remexio very early April 1942.  He and his childhood mate Merv Clarke (then known as Johnson) took over the Qantas transmitting set from some deportados on the outskirts of Dili and took it to Same.

He and “Squirt” Johnson were also part of Lieut. Garnett's diversion party in the Dili raid in May 1942.  Two days after that raid was the last I saw of him in Timor.  He was with Lieut. Johnny Rose when he was ordered to go to Mape, August 12th 1942 and salvage or destroy any equipment abandoned by Force HQ when it vacated Mape about the 10th August leaving everything behind.

Curly was up around the Same Saddle in September, Mindelo and Turuscai in November when George Thomas and Andy Smeaton were killed in November 1942.  After Timor he went on to serve with A Platoon in New Guinea and New Britain.  He was discharged from the AIF in 1946.

Curly had many friends from many walks of life.  He was an avid reader, well-versed in politics and the industrial field.  He loved classical music and would spend hours listening to it.  I argued with him and enjoyed every minute of it.  To Varena, his partner, to his sisters, nephews and nieces we extend our sympathies on your sad loss.  Curly, as you wrote on the passing of our good friend, Alfredo da Santos, Vaya Con Dios.

Paddy Kenneally”

NB A nice tribute was paid to Curly by the "Sydney Morning Herald"  Wed. 14/8/02 under the heading "Who's Mad Enough?" O'Neill, along with a photo of Curly and his horse. It made good reading. Ed. [2]

REFERENCES

[1] “Editorial” 2/2 Commando Courier v.140 September 2002: 1.  https://doublereds.org.au/couriers/2002/Courier September 2002.pdf

[2] Paddy Kenneally “Vale Frank (Curly) O'Neill NX50133” 2/2 Commando Courier v.140 September 2002: 2-3.  https://doublereds.org.au/couriers/2002/Courier September 2002.pdf

Frank prepared the following reminiscences of the Timor campaign:

SERVICE RECORD

O'NEILL FRANCIS VINCENT LAWRENCE : Service Number - NX50133 : Date of birth - 24 Aug 1919 : Place of birth - SYDNEY NSW : Place of enlistment - PADDINGTON NSW : Next of Kin - O'NEILL FRANCIS

https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/DetailsReports/ItemDetail.aspx?Barcode=4611954&isAv=N

ADDITIONAL READING

“August 2002 - Death: Frank O’Neill ….” Australian Newspaper History Group Newsletter No. 19 September 2002: 3.  https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/data/UQ_11309/anhg19-2002.pdf?

Barnes, Mick “Who's mad enough? O'Neill” Sydney Morning Herald August 14, 2002 — 10.00am.  https://www.smh.com.au/national/whos-mad-enough-oneill-20020814-gdfjen.html

Day, Mark “Remembrances of rides past - On media” The Australian (online), 8 Aug 2002 M06.  https://infoweb-newsbank-com.rp.nla.gov.au/apps/news/document-view?p=AWGLNB&docref=news/0FC4BCD735DC6019

Day, Mark ‘Hinton takes us through a golden age’ The Australian/Weekend Australian July 2, 2018: 26.  https://infoweb-newsbank-com.rp.nla.gov.au/apps/news/documentview?p=AWGLNB&docref=news/16CE47163B805C60

O’Neill, Frank “For living on borrowed time” Daily Telegraph Sunday 19 February 1950: 13.  https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/rendition/nla.news-article248998527.txt Page 3 of 3

O’Neill, Frank “Go with God, Alfredo” 2/2Commando Courier November 1971: 7-8.  https://doublereds.org.au/couriers/1971/Courier%20November%201971.pdf

O’Neill, Frank “Killing Japs – ‘Kings' Sport’” Daily Telegraph Wednesday 27 January 1943: 2.  https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/27293380

O’Neill, Frank “War - and peace - and memories” 2/2Commando Courier 13 (126) January 1959: 13-14.  https://doublereds.org.au/couriers/1959/Courier%20January%201959.pdf