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In an extraordinary situation of chance during the mass movement of troops near the village of Clery, [[France]], the father and son's paths crossed. Against the odds, Lyall and Walter met on the eve of the [[Battle of Mont St. Quentin]] in what has been described as a one-in-a-million handshake in the battle zone.<ref name="SMH_Meeting">{{cite web | url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/04/23/1082719623471.html | title=One-in-a-million handshake on the front line | publisher=''[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]'' | date=2004-04-24 | accessdate=2007-08-30}}</ref>
In an extraordinary situation of chance during the mass movement of troops near the village of Clery, [[France]], the father and son's paths crossed. Against the odds, Lyall and Walter met on the eve of the [[Battle of Mont St. Quentin]] in what has been described as a one-in-a-million handshake in the battle zone.<ref name="SMH_Meeting">{{cite web | url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/04/23/1082719623471.html | title=One-in-a-million handshake on the front line | publisher=''[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]'' | date=2004-04-24 | accessdate=2007-08-30}}</ref>


An entry in Lyall Howard's diary, dated [[30 August]] [[1918]], simply reads: ''"Met dad at Clery."''<ref name="Age_Meeting"/>
An entry in Lyall Howard's diary, dated [[30 August]] [[1918]], simply reads: ''"Met dad at Clery."''<ref name="Age_Meeting">{{cite web | url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/04/23/1082616329263.html | title=A family meeting against all odds | publisher=''[[The Age]]'' | date=2004-04-24 | accessdate=2007-08-30}}</ref>


Recounts [[John Howard]]: "There's just this pithy or laconic entry in the diary. It's just so Australian - 'Met dad at Clery'. They didn't verbalise their experience in the way men do now. It's one of the big changes in Aussie blokes. I think it's a good thing. They don't bottle it all up, but they did in those days.<ref name="Age_Meeting"/>
Recounts [[John Howard]]: "There's just this pithy or laconic entry in the diary. It's just so Australian - 'Met dad at Clery'. They didn't verbalise their experience in the way men do now. It's one of the big changes in Aussie blokes. I think it's a good thing. They don't bottle it all up, but they did in those days.<ref name="Age_Meeting"/>

Revision as of 23:21, 1 September 2007

Lyall Falconer Howard (1896-1955) was a World War I veteran, engineer and business owner and the father of Australian Prime Minister, John Howard. [1] He was born and raised near Maclean in the Clarence River region of northern New South Wales.[2]

World War I

The diggers of the 3rd Pioneer Battalion prepare to board the HMAT Wandilla at Port Melbourne, bound for the Western Front. 6 June 1916

During World War I, Lyall Howard was known as a proud patriot.[3] On 16 January 1916, at age 19, he signed up to the Australian Imperial Force. As soldier number 802, he was assigned to the 3rd Pioneer Battalion, earning a wage of eight shillings per day.[1] Records show he had attempted to sign up on a previous occasion, but was rejected because his height of 157cm was deemed too short.[1] Private Lyall Howard left Port Melbourne aboard the HMAT Wandilla on 6 June 1916, and was shipped to the Western Front.[1]

Lyall kept a war diary, making handwritten notes of his experiences on the front line. The entries were always brief: "Shoved in old barn", "Inoculated again", "First day in trenches".[4][5]

One laconic entry underscored the horrors the soldiers faced: "Will wounded and dies". Will was Lyall's best friend.[4][5]

Lyall's father, Walter Howard, enlisted in the 55th Battalion of the 5th Division and was also transferred to the battlefields of Europe.[6] In an extraordinary situation of chance during the mass movement of troops near the village of Clery, France, the father and son's paths crossed. Against the odds, Lyall and Walter met on the eve of the Battle of Mont St. Quentin in what has been described as a one-in-a-million handshake in the battle zone.[7]

An entry in Lyall Howard's diary, dated 30 August 1918, simply reads: "Met dad at Clery."[8]

Recounts John Howard: "There's just this pithy or laconic entry in the diary. It's just so Australian - 'Met dad at Clery'. They didn't verbalise their experience in the way men do now. It's one of the big changes in Aussie blokes. I think it's a good thing. They don't bottle it all up, but they did in those days.[8]

In battle, Lyall Howard was wounded by a mustard gas attack in Passchendaele and spent 10 weeks in hospital.[1][9]

Between the Wars

After the war, Lyall worked as a fitter and turner for the Colonial Sugar Refining Company (CSR), until retrenched in during the Depression.[9][3]

In 1925 he married an office worker.[9] Lyall and Mona Howard lived in a comfortable Californian-style bungalow at 25 William Street, Earlwood (now the site of a KFC outlet).[10] Their first son, Walter (junior), was born in 1926, followed by Stanley in 1930, Robert in 1936, and the youngest, John Howard in 1939.[10]

In 1926, Australian Prime Minister Billy Hughes declared that he would make "New Guinea for the returned serviceman". He offered Australian ex-servicemen land parcels in New Guinea at very generous prices.[9]

Like many other ex-servicemen, Lyall and Walter Howard took up the offer and acquired numerous copra plantations in New Guinea valued at the time at more than £100,000 (over AUD $4 million in today's currency) where 200 native labourers worked.[9]

Two Australian companies, Burns Philp and the trading house W. R. Carpenter and Co Ltd managed many of the plantations on behalf of the ex-servicemen. The companies found that it was cheaper to pay the ex-servicemen a yearly rent to lease the land rather than purchase it themselves. The controversial but legal scheme became known as "dummying", and was common at the time.[9]

Sir John Middleton, a former PNG MP and son of returned Australian serviceman planter Max Middleton said

"It's nothing against Howard's father because everyone was doing it,"
"There was no disgrace in it. Dozens of people did it".

Even a one-armed lift operator at Burns Philps' office in Sydney was a big plantation owner on paper.[11]

Lyall with his father Walter Howard ran two petrol stations where in later years John Howard worked as a boy. One was located on the corner of Ewart Street and Wardell Road in Dulwich Hill,[9] and the other, named Prince Edward Service Station, was on the opposite side of the Cooks River. [12]

WW2 onwards

During World War II, Lyall was strongly against appeasement, and an admirer of Winston Churchill.[13] Both Lyall and Mona Howard were enthusiastic supporters of the Liberal Party of Australia from its foundation in 1944,[3] and Lyall became a paid member.[10]

He died of chronic bronchitis in 1955, at the age of 59.[1][9]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f "A foreign field that still touches Australia". The Age. 2006-07-01. Retrieved 2007-08-22. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  2. ^ "Military Record 12079842". National Archives of Australia. 1916-01-27. Archived from the original on 2006-04-25. Retrieved 2007-08-27.
  3. ^ a b c "By the people, for the powerful". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2005-11-26. Retrieved 2007-08-23. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  4. ^ a b "PM's father sums up inspiration for author's epic endeavour". The Canberra Times. 2006-11-05. Retrieved 2007-09-01. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  5. ^ a b Carlyon, Les (2006-11-01). The Great War. Pan Macmillan Australia. p. 880. ISBN 9781405037617. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  6. ^ Sibley, David (2005). "Blood ties to World War I". Air Force News. 47 (17). Retrieved 2007-08-31. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  7. ^ "One-in-a-million handshake on the front line". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2004-04-24. Retrieved 2007-08-30. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  8. ^ a b "A family meeting against all odds". The Age. 2004-04-24. Retrieved 2007-08-30. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h "The secret Howard plantations". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2006-06-10. Retrieved 2007-08-22. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  10. ^ a b c "The boy who would be PM". The Age. 2007-07-21. Retrieved 2007-08-23. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  11. ^ PNG coconut scam nets Howard's dad The Gold Coast Bulletin, Business weekend section July 14, 2007.
  12. ^ "Tin soldered for the King in Howard's home". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2006-06-19. Retrieved 2007-08-29. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  13. ^ Garran, Robert (2004). True Believer: John Howard, George Bush and the American Alliance. Allen & Unwin. pp. Page 10. ISBN 1741144183. {{cite book}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

References

  • Birnbauer, Bill, "Rise Of A Common Man", The Age, 4 March 1996
  • Cockburn, Milton, "What Makes Johnny Run", Sydney Morning Herald, 7 January 1989
  • Grattan, Michelle, "PM Retraces His Family's War Footsteps", Sydney Morning Herald, 29 April 2000
  • Hamilton, John, "Howard relives family legend", Sunday Herald Sun, 30 April 2000
  • Henderson, Gerard, "The Lasting Legacy Of Anzac", Sydney Morning Herald, 23 April 1996
  • Stevens, Melissa, "John Howard's secret criminal past (or why convict heritage is cool)", Daily Telegraph, 14 February 2007

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lyall_Howard&oldid=155108033"