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Harry Francis Knight at the Acropolis
Harry Francis Knight at the Acropolis

Harry Francis Knight at the Acropolis

Date1940s
Object number00056028
NamePhotograph
MediumPaper
DimensionsOverall: 75 × 85 mm
ClassificationsPhotographs
Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum Collection Gift from Heather Andrews
DescriptionHarry Francis Knight and two other officers at the Acropolis Greece, during HMAS Perth's deployment to the Mediterranean. Knight was one of 328 survivors from Perth during the ill-fated Battle of Sunda Strait. Following the battle, Knight travelled for seven days over 480 kms in a makeshift lifeboat before being taken into captivity in Central Java. Here he spent time in two separate POW camps and was later transported to work on the Burma-Thai railway. Further experiencing transport in Japanese 'hell ship' Rashin Maru and work as a POW in a Japanese mine, Knight was released and returned to Australia on the 15 October 1945. HistoryHarry Francis Knight joined the Navy on the 6th of May 1926 at the age of 16. He entered at HMAS Tingira, the RAN’s training vessel for boys, before being posted to HMAS Cerberus in 1927. Here the focus of his training was telegraphy. From 1928-1929 he was assigned to HMAS Brisbane, before spending the next six years at RAN shore bases Platypus, Albatross, Penguin, and Cerberus. On the 15 August 1935 Knight completed his officers training and was then posted to HMAS Sydney (II) from the 19 February 1937 to the 3 March 1939 as a Petty Officer. Knight was assigned to HMAS Perth on the 19th of the May 1939 as a Chief Petty Officer Telegraphist. In 1932 Australia had commenced a three-year program of naval expansion that resulted in the acquisition of three modified Leander Class light cruisers (HMS Phaeton, HMS Apollo and HMS Amphion) from British naval yards. HMS Amphion was renamed HMAS Perth (I), and commissioned into Royal Australian Navy (RAN) service on 29 June 1939. The other modified Leander Class vessels were renamed HMAS Sydney (II) and HMAS Hobart (I). In November 1940 Knight deployed with Perth to the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean, seeing considerable action during the battle of Crete (May, 1941). On the 28th of February 1942 Perth was engaged in the battle of Sunda Strait after unexpectedly encountering a Japanese invasion fleet consisting of five cruisers, twelve destroyers, one light carrier, one seaplane carrier, one minelayer and 58 troopships. Upon recognising the silhouette of a Japanese destroyer Harukaze, Captain Waller of Perth ordered Harry Francis Knight to make an enemy report. This was to be the last ever signal transmitted by HMAS Perth. 353 of Perth’s crew were killed in battle. Knight was one of the 328 survivors, initially fleeing to Sangiang Island. Here Knight and 40 other Perth survivors provisioned a lifeboat salvaged from a sunken Japanese transport with the intention of sailing to Australia. In the newly christened ‘ANZAC’ The crew made for Anjer, then Labuan, before a skeleton crew of 8 made the final journey to Tjilatjap, Central Java. Knight was part of this 7 day 480 kilometre journey. Upon arriving at Tjilatjap the crew discovered Java had been claimed by Imperial Japanese forces, and the men were taken in as prisoners. Knight was transferred to a POW camp in Bandung Java, then Makasura, before being transported to Konyu Thailand via Singapore in January 1943. Here he became part of the Dunlop Force POW group – under Lieutenant Colonel Dunlop - and was forced to work on the Burma Thai railway. During this period, Knight risked execution by keeping a radio salvaged from parts gathered at the POW camp in Bandung. A tiny device concealed in an old Jam tin, Knight would lie awake at night listening to news broadcasts and circulate pieces of information amongst his fellow prisoners to raise morale. In July 1944 Knight returned to Changi Singapore, and was transported to Japan on the Rashin Maru with 2,250 others under Major. R Newton. During this voyage Knight experienced the horrors of an Imperial Japanese hell ship, with its filthy conditions, damaged structure, and high susceptibility to attacks at sea. Upon arrival at the port of Moji, Knight was taken to the Ohama Camp on Japan’s Inland Sea, 125 kilometres south west of Hiroshima. Here he endured long days labouring in mines, in often wet, dark, and cold conditions. In September 1945 Knight was evacuated from Japan, initially to Hong Kong, and then to Manila in the Philippines. On 15 October 1945 he returned to Australia to his hometown of Adelaide. On 19 March 1946 Harry Francis Knight received a distinguished service medal for "...gallantry and resolution while serving in H.M.A.S."Perth", lost by enemy action in the Far East on 1st March, 1942". (Commonwealth of Australia Gazette Thursday 4 April 1946, p.949, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/232780926?searchTerm=%22Harry%20Francis%20Knight%22) Knight went on to serve at shore base HMAS Cerberus and former RAN shore base HMAS Lonsdale, before signing of from the RAN on the 27 March 1947.SignificanceThis collection of photographs hold great significance as personal documents connected to Australian Naval historical areas of lesser focus in the NMC collection, that of HMAS Perth, HMAS Penguin and the WRANS. The familial connection between Harry Francis Knight and Peg Trevor as cousins further presents the series of photographs as unique items.

As a Chief Petty Officer and telegraphist aboard HMAS Perth, Knight survived the Battle of Sunda Strait, endured a subsequent lengthy journey in a lifeboat to central Java, before becoming a prisoner of war in three separate camps and then returning to Australia. This involved a period working on the Thai-Burmese railway, and a journey to Japan on one of the infamous 'hell ships' of the Imperial Japanese Navy. His story of survival greatly enhances the significance of the otherwise standard issue naval portrait shot, and group photo with other senior officers at the Acropolis, Athens.

The story of HMAS Perth has previously been unpacked via museum panel exhibitions, Guardians of Sunda Strait, programming, War and Peace in the Pacific 75, and through maritime archaeology research projects on the wreck of HMAS Perth. Harry Knight's photos hold unique potential as a contribution of the Perth narrative to the museum collection.

The primary focus of WRAN material in the NMC collection falls post 1951, after the service was re-established. Taken in 1945, Peg Trevor's photographs showing day to day life at HMAS Penguin act as rare early visual documents of WRAN training and duties, during a period when the WRANS served as an auxiliary service. Documentation of recreation and social activities further add an informal tone to the works, aiding in an understanding of what it was like to live, and work, at the base in Balmoral. For a period of time in 1934, Knight was also stationed at HMAS Penguin.