William Michie by William Sims

 

In 1884 parents William and Florence Michie welcomed William Michie Jr into the world. Sadly, at the young age of 34, Florence died from Ovarian Apoplexy. Originally from Strathdon, Scotland, William Michie Jr moved to Australia in 1913 to start a new life. After arriving in Australia, he moved to New South Wales to find work. Michie was quickly employed in 1917 by Burns Philp & Co, a major shipping and trading company. Michie was employed as a Master and captained many of the companies’ vessels including the Macdhui, Montoro and Marsina. During this time William met the love of his life, Eleanor Kenny. In 1920, William and Eleanor’s lives changed forever on February 23, welcoming their first and only child into the world. In traditional family style, their son was named William Norman Douglas Michie. William and his family lived together at 37 Gaza Rd, West Ryde, NSW. Michie’s job as a Master for Burns Philp & Co meant he often sailed between the pacific islands. One of Michie’s heroic tales is when he rescued and evacuated 200 Europeans and thousands of Islanders from Rabaul to safety, due to earthquakes and volcanic activity on the Papua New Guinean Island.

It is unknown when William Michie joined the Royal Australian Navy but it is known that he was a courageous and loyal captain of the MV Neptuna. The events before and during the bombing of Darwin confirm this courage.

 

On the 12^th of February the MV Neptuna arrived at its destination, Darwin Harbour. The next day the ship began to offload its passengers and began to fix one of the engines as a piston needed replacing and seeing as they needed to wait days for other ships to arrive and unload the Neptuna, there was no better time to do so. Whilst the engineers were busy at work with fixing the issue, the rest of the crew maintained the ship during the day and played cards at night.

On the 18^th of February the American ships arrived, quickly refuelled and were on their way back out to sea. The other two Australian ships, HMAS Swan and HMAS Warrego, had also arrived but needed the ammunition stored in the MV Neptuna. The Swan and Warrego prepared to unload the Neptuna, sending barges over to unload the cargo whilst the Neptuna prepared its winches. All was ready but just as the barges pulled alongside the Neptuna the unloading of the cargo was called off for a reason unknown. The Neptuna would need to wait and move to the wharf the next morning to be unloaded. This was a concern for those onboard of the Neptuna as the engine was still not in order, but the ship could manoeuvre somewhat with its other engine.

This decision to wait cost many their lives. 

 

On the 19^th of February, the HMAS Wato, a small tugboat, aided and guided the Neptuna into the wharf. As soon as the Neptuna was tied to the wharf, the Swan moved alongside and began to unload the Neptuna’s cargo, whilst the Warrego waited roughly 100m away waiting to move in once the Swan had finished. As the wharf labourers unloaded the cargo onto the Swan, the Swan’s working party began to unload highly explosive anti-aircraft ammunition onto the Swan. The wharf labourers were unhappy with this as they felt it was their job to unload the cargo. Whilst the argument continued, sailors noticed aircrafts in the distance, thinking it was the ‘yanks arriving at last.’ As the aircrafts neared the wharf, labourers headed off for smoko in the big shed near the wharf. The planes were thought to be American reinforcements but once they saw the bombs drop, everyone knew they were not allies, but far from it.

The first bomb was dropped just in front of the Neptuna, the ship was hit under water and began taking on water. The smoko shed was also hit killing most of, if not all of the men inside. The wharf was also damaged from this bomb which made the fuelling pipe burst, dumping fuel and oil into the water. Hearing the chaos, Captain Michie stood outside of the foyer watching the destruction. Michie showed courage and loyalty to his sailors after he decided to stay with the ship instead of following orders to abandon it. Bombs were continuously dropped onto the deck of the Neptuna causing explosions and fire to break out. It is unknown how Captain Michie died, but it is likely due to the many explosions. Michie’s body was found by two cadets who searched for a doctor to aid the captain, but by the time the doctor arrived it was too late. Michie died a loyal and courageous man. For his bravery, Michie Court was named in his honour in central Darwin off Stoddart Drive.

William Michie died at the age of 56 on the 19^th of February 1942.