Where are they now?

Thomas Shacklady BEM MBE

PER MARE

Superintendant Thomas Shacklady with an American Admiral inspecting a Royal PNG Constabulary Guard of Honour circa 1975

Thomas Shacklady was born at Gateshead, Co Durham, on the 15th November 1917. Regrettably Tom was never to know his parents. His father, also named Thomas, a Corporal in the RMLI, died on the 20th July 1917 four months before his birth while on active service in France with the 1st RM Battalion RN Division.

For reasons unknown, shortly after his birth, Tom's mother Jenny passed him to a relative, a Mrs Liddle, who cared for Tom until her death aged 65 in 1927. Tom was then raised by her daughter Vera.

Educated at the Church of England Victoria Boys School in Chester Street, Tom's interest in music began when he was taught to play the Flugel horn by a member of the Salvation Army.
Enlisting in the Royal Marines on the 14th September 1935, Tom recalled that much to his surprise the recruiting officer must have known his father for on hearing his name the officer commented, 'I hope you'll be as good a soldier as your father'.

With the number CH/x1280, he completed his basic training at the Depot at Chatham and it was there, at the time of his passing out parade, that Tom was overheard to remark that a trombonist had played a few sour notes. The person who overheard Tom's comment was the Bandmaster who questioned young Tom regarding his remark and in the following days encouraged him to transfer to the Band Service. Tom, after some deliberation, applied for a transfer, was accepted, and re-mustered as a Musician with the number RMB/X907. Over the next two years he studied brass becoming proficient in trumpet, trombone and French horn and later studied percussion and violin.

In 1937 he joined HMS Resolution, a 15 inch gun battleship which was part of the Home Fleet. Then in 1938, Tom was drafted to the heavy cruiser HMS Kent and was on the China Station in time to celebrate his 21st Birthday at Wee Hai Wee, the China Fleet's base. With the declaration of war on the 3rd September 1939, Kent was engaged in patrols in the Indian Ocean and the Sea of Japan searching for German shipping.

After Christmas 1939, they sailed to join the 3rd Cruiser Squadron in the Mediterranean. Aboard Kent, Tom became MOA (Marine Officer's Attendant) to HRH Prince Phillip of Greece, then a serving Midshipman. He was to remain as the Prince's attendant for the six months that HRH was in the ship. (On several occasions in future years, Tom was to renew his association with HRH at various functions in Australia and in the Territory of Papua New Guinea where he was invited to meet with both Prince Phillip and Queen Elizabeth during Royal Visits). It was also during those early months of 1940, while at Alexandria, Tom attended a film show at a local cinema and met a young lady, Danae Varipatis, and fell in love. In August he took part in the bombardment of Bardia and in September was present at the attack on Bengazi. Then, on the night of the 17th/18th October, Kent, whilst on patrol, was attacked and hit by a torpedo dropped by an Italian torpedo-bomber, seriously damaging the ship.

At Alexandria on December 15th Tom and Danae announced their engagement.

In 1941, with the Kent undergoing repairs, Tom was drafted back to the School of Music for a few months, then on the 14th September he joined the newly commissioned aircraft carrier HMS Imdomitable, which in November sailed for the West Indies for working-up trials, after which she was to join Force Z in Singapore. During these trials Indomitable ran aground at Jamaica and had to proceed to the USA for repairs. Here, on the 7th December they heard of the attack on Pearl Harbour and America's entry into the war and later that HMS Repulse and the Prince of Wales of Force Z had been sunk. With repairs completed in January 1942 they sailed to join the Far East Fleet at Ceylon.

Back at Alexandria in late February Tom and Danae were married at the British Consulate but their immediate joy was overshadowed when following the ceremony, Tom was recalled to the ship which immediately sailed on patrol. It was to be a month before they finally managed one week's honeymoon in Cairo. In July, Indomitable was ordered to return to the Clyde. Tom, with most of the Band, were left at Durban, South Africa, to join HMS Afrikaner, a shore base, where he was to remain until January 1943 when he was drafted back to Egypt .

February 16th saw him again on the move, this time to the cruiser HMS Cleopatra, which sailed in support of the Anzio landings. Hit by a torpedo Cleopatra was badly damaged and suffered heavy casualties. Amongst those killed was Tom's best friend Dickie Lovett, while Tom himself was badly burnt. Evacuated to RNH Malta he spent many weeks recovering from his wounds, then, although not fully fit, in August he was released from hospital and sent to HMS St. Angelo, a land fort in Grand Harbour, Valetta. For the next month, during the fierce aerial attacks on the island, he was to help serve the AA batteries in their desperate attempt to protect the shipping in the harbour.

20th September and he was once more at sea in the cruiser HMS Penelope, but just five short months later, on the 18th February 1944, she was hit by two torpedoes fired by the U-410 and immediately sank. Tom survived and was picked up by a US PT Boat and taken to Naples where he took passage in the cruiser HMS Sirius which was returning to the UK to take part in the Normandy Landings.

At the end of the war Tom found himself at the Depot Deal where on the 5th October 1945, his first son Paul Thomas was born. On the 26th January 1948, having completed his engagement, he was discharged from the Corps. For his war service he received the 1939-45 Star, Italy Star, Africa Star, Defence Medal and War Service Medal.

PER TERRAM

Like thousands of others being discharged from the forces, Tom found that work was not easy to find and had several jobs over the next three years; night-watchman, butler, and working as a free-lance musician. He ran and worked with several private dance bands, while playing bass trombone with the BBC's Scottish Orchestra. A second son, Noel Liddle, was born at Chester Street, Durham, on January 10th 1949.

It was a couple of years after this while in London that Tom saw an ad in a newspaper calling for volunteers for the Australian Defence Forces and on the 21 September 1951 he enlisted in the Australian Army. The family took passage aboard the RMS Asturius sailing from Southampton on the 1st December for Melbourne, Victoria.

On arrival at Melbourne they spent four or five days being processed before being sent by train to Adelaide in South Australia where Tom joined the Kensington Central Command Band based at the Inverbrakie Camp, Woodside.

Over the next six years Tom trained three bands a year from the National Service intakes. In 1953 he was promoted Corporal and added the EIIR Coronation Medal to his awards. In early 1955 he was raised to the rank of Sergeant, and was awarded the British Empire Medal for his service to the formation of NS bands.
In 1957, Tom was transferred to the Papua New Guinea Army band based at Port Moresby and was promoted to Warrant rank. He returned to Australia in 1959 and for the next five years was Bandmaster of the Enogerra Base, Army band, in Brisbane. He also took on the unenviable task of managing the base's swimming pool.

He was discharged from the Australian Army on the 6th March 1964 and on the 14th, commissioned into the Papua New Guinea Constabulary as Bandmaster with the rank of Inspector. One of Tom's fondest memories occurred at the Mount Hagen Show in 1965, an annual event involving the gathering of tens of thousands of New Guinea's tribesmen in the highland township. The event was officially opened by the Earl Mountbatten of Burma who was reported in the press as being highly surprised and delighted that the Band of the Papua New Guinea Police, in one of the most primitive and remote locations on Earth, was playing the Earl's personal march, the Preobrajenski. The official procedures were halted whilst the Earl walked over to the Band to congratulate Tom and comment that he had correctly assumed that the Bandmaster must be an ex Royal Marine. The RPNGC Band gained considerable recognition under Tom's direction, touring many countries from 1967 to 1975 including Australia on several occasions, New Zealand, the United States, South East Asia, other Pacific Islands and in 1970, the Edinburgh Tattoo in Scotland.

In April 1970, he was transferred to general police duties at Rabaul on East New Britain for a year and then returned to Kila where he remained as Bandmaster until 1975.

This was the year that PNG was granted independence from Australian administration and was to be the highlight of Tom's career. With Independence, Tom was promoted to Chief Inspector & Bandmaster and as such was responsible for transferring the Band to a new training establishment at Bomana, while the new independent nation of Papua New Guinea adopted 'Arise All Ye Sons Of The Land', composed by Tom, as its National Anthem.

On June 11th 1977, for his services to PNG he was invested a Member of the British Empire (MBE), and received the PNG Police Service Medal and PNG Independence Medal to add to his other decorations. 1978 saw him promoted to Superintendent and Director of Music RPNGC.

In 1979, Tom purchased some $A5.00 tickets in an Art Union (raffle) run by the Mater hospital in Brisbane, the grand prize being a fully furnished luxury home. The winner of the 1979 home in the brand new suburb of Springwood was one Superintendent Thomas Shacklady BEM MBE!

1980 saw Tom promoted to Chief Superintendent, Director of Music RPNGC, the position he held until 1982 when he retired from the police, returned to Brisbane and settled in his prize home at Springwood with his family. Three years later they sold the home at Springwood and moved to an ocean side home at Redland Bay.

Sadly, in September 1985, Danae his wife for 48 years, quietly passed away at their bayside home. With both his sons married and fled the nest, Tom sold the family home in 1991 and purchased the small but comfortable unit in the Forest Place retirement village at Durack, a southern suburb of Brisbane, where he now lives.

A long time member of the RMA Queensland, Tom can no longer attend meetings and take part in the social life of the association but is kept informed of its activities by their monthly journal and visits by another old member, Roy Leaney, who lives close by. He receives regular visits from his son Paul, with his three children Zoe, Katie and Suzie, when he visits Brisbane, and from Noel and his two children, David and Justine, who also live in Brisbane.

Tom as he is today