Currents

01 Believed to be HMS Iris, the first flagship of the Royal Navy’s Australia Station, on Sydney Harbour in 1869. ANMM Collection 00018287

02 John Bach OAM, Professor of History at the University of Newcastle, in 2009. Image University of Newcastle Cultural Collections P2802

Vale John Bach OAM

8 July 1923–7 July 2021

THE PASSING of Professor John Percival Spence Bach OAM marks the end of an era which spanned almost a century. When John Bach was born, William Morris Hughes had not long surrendered the prime ministership to Stanley Melbourne Bruce. It was the era of spats and cloche hats, of war-weary young men and flappers, and when aviation and wireless were experimental innovations. It was a long time ago. John Bach was to play a role in many of the seminal events of the twentieth century, a man of and for his time, which proved to be remarkably long. I first became aware of John Bach when I was a history honours student at Macquarie University. I had just turned 21 and I was in the old Mitchell Library reading room devouring the board minutes of the North Coast Steam Navigation Company. It was my first big research project working from primary sources, so they were exciting times. Cyril Pearl, Manning Clark and various other wild men of the historical profession were there, red nosed, and invariably dressed in bright ties but slightly shabby suits. A blond, long-haired product of the surf-rock generation, I felt a bit of an intruder, but they were unfailingly polite. Among them was a younger man who, to my astonishment, was engrossed in the board minutes of the same long-defunct company. He introduced himself as Jim Gallagher, and told me he was researching a doctoral dissertation on New South Wales coastal shipping, under the supervision of one John Bach, at the University of Newcastle. John Bach was born in Sydney in 1923 – the same year as my mother, which put him firmly in my parents’ generation. His experiences of World War II and postwar reconstruction were similar to theirs. The son of a British merchant marine officer, when war broke out he was drawn to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), in which he enlisted when just 19, attaining the rank of Flight Lieutenant and flying on bombing missions over Europe before demobilisation in 1946. Qantas was expanding rapidly at this time and ex-RAAF bomber crew were prized flight-deck material. John began working as a navigator for Qantas just as it was nationalised in 1949, but stayed only a year before leaving to open his own business hiring boats on Sydney Harbour. John didn’t just write about transport history – he made it. Meanwhile, he had completed his BA and MA at the University of Sydney and was drawn into the academic world almost accidentally. In the early 1950s, John started his doctorate at the University of New South Wales (then named the New South Wales University of Technology), where he also worked as a research assistant.

John’s wide experience as an officer, both with the RAAF and Qantas, gave him an acute and astute appreciation of world history and politics. His interest in researching and writing Australia’s maritime history joined his passion for the history of China and Japan, where he had flown with Qantas on new routes to Shanghai, Peip’ing (as Beijing was then) and Tokyo.

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Thus, in 1954 he was appointed as a lecturer at his university’s filial institution, the then-new and very raw Newcastle University College. This institution later went on to become the University of Newcastle. At Newcastle, John built the History Department and designed history courses, attracting scholars of note from around the world.

John published two major books that he wrote during his years at Newcastle. The first, appearing in 1976, was his seminal and influential A Maritime History of Australia, a huge work of almost 500 pages. It was followed in 1986 by The Australia Station: a history of the Royal Navy in the south west Pacific, 1821–1913, published by the University of New South Wales Press. John also edited an extraordinary facsimile edition of William Bligh’s ‘rough account’ of his 1789 voyage in the Bounty’s longboat from the ship near Tahiti to Timor, a volume also published in 1986. I was delighted when my father gave me a copy as a Christmas present. Feats of navigation were John’s forte, but he also held honorary positions such as Associate of the Powerhouse Museum, President of the Australian Association for Maritime History, and Chair of the Australian Netherlands Committee on Old Dutch Shipwrecks. This last role was especially significant: established in 1972, the committee still oversees the cataloguing and distribution of artefacts from Dutch shipwrecks in Australian waters, including of course the celebrated and notorious 1629 wreck of Batavia on the Houtman Albrolhos. For such commitment John was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 1993.

In retirement, John lived with his partner, the linguist Dr Hilary Purves, at Coal Point on Lake Macquarie. For many years he enjoyed sailing his yacht on its placid waters. In dress and demeanour, John was rather conservative, reflecting the style of a generation accustomed to wearing a suit to work and a sports jacket and tie to social events. He retained the air of the son of a ship’s officer and of the young man who had been an air force flight officer in combat. John had a long and wonderful life, actively spanning most of the twentieth century. We celebrate his life and look back in amazement at how rich it has been and at how much he has contributed to society in so many different ways.

Robert Lee is Emeritus Professor of History at Western Sydney University and the author of Transport: an Australian History, NewSouth Books, 2010. He lives in retirement in Yamba NSW. His honours thesis of 1973, which first brought the name of John Bach to his attention, was on shipping and railway construction in the Clarence Valley in the late 19th century. Robert’s late father, Stuart Lee, was author of Riverboats of the Clarence.

Acknowledgments The Australian National Maritime Museum acknowledges the support provided to the museum by all our Volunteers, Members, sponsors, donors and friends. The museum particularly acknowledges the following people who have made a significant contribution to the museum in an enduring way or who have made or facilitated significant benefaction to it.

Honorary Fellows John Mullen AM Peter Dexter AM Valerie Taylor AM

Ambassadors Norman Banham Christine Sadler David and Jennie Sutherland

Major Donors – SY Ena Conservation Fund David and Jennie Sutherland Foundation Honorary Life Members Yvonne Abadee Dr Kathy Abbass Robert Albert AO RFD RD Bob Allan Vivian Balmer Vice Admiral Tim Barrett AO CSC Maria Bentley Mark Bethwaite AM Paul Binsted Marcus Blackmore AM David Blackley John Blanchfield Alexander Books Ian Bowie Ron Brown OAM Paul Bruce Anthony Buckley Richard Bunting Capt Richard Burgess AM Kevin Byrne Sue Calwell RADM David Campbell AM Marion Carter Victor Chiang Robert Clifford AO Helen Clift Hon Peter Collins AM QC John Coombs Kay Cottee AO Helen Coulson OAM Vice Admiral Russell Crane AO CSM John Cunneen Laurie Dilks Leonard Ely Dr Nigel Erskine John Farrell Kevin Fewster AM Bernard Flack Daina Fletcher Sally Fletcher Teresia Fors Derek Freeman CDR Geoff Geraghty AM Anthony Gibbs RADM Stephen Gilmore AM CSC RAN Paul Gorrick Lee Graham Macklan Gridley Sir James Hardy KBE OBE RADM Simon Harrington AM Christopher Harry Gaye Hart AM Peter Harvie Janita Hercus Robyn Holt William Hopkins Julia Horne Kieran Hosty RADM Tony Hunt AO Marilyn Jenner John Jeremy AM Vice Admiral Peter Jones AO DSC Hon Dr Tricia Kavanagh John Keelty Kris Klugman OAM Judy Lee Matt Lee David Leigh Keith Leleu OAM Andrew Lishmund James Litten Hugo Llorens Tim Lloyd Ian Mackinder Stuart Mayer Bruce McDonald AM Lyn McHale VADM Jonathan Mead AO Arthur Moss Patrick Moss Rob Mundle OAM Alwyn Murray Martin Nakata David O’Connor Gary Paquet David Payne Prof John Penrose AM Neville Perry Hon Justice Anthe Philippides Peter Pigott AM Len Price Eda Ritchie AM John Rothwell AO Kay Saunders AM Kevin Scarce AC CSC RAN David Scott-Smith Sergio Sergi Ann Sherry AO Shane Simpson AM Peter John Sinclair AM CSC Peter R Sinclair AC KStJ (RADM) John Singleton AM Brian Skingsley Eva Skira Bruce Stannard AM J J Stephens OAM Michael Stevens Neville Stevens AO Frank Talbot AM Mitchell Turner Adam Watson Jeanette Wheildon Hon Margaret White AO Mary-Louise Williams AM Nerolie Withnall Cecilia Woolford (nee Caffrey) Honorary Research Associates Rear Admiral Peter Briggs AO John Dikkenberg Dr Nigel Erskine Paul Hundley Dr Ian MacLeod Jeffrey Mellefont David Payne Lindsey Shaw

Apology

Unfortunately circumstances beyond the museum’s control led to a delay in posting Signals 135 to many of our Members. We apologise for this tardiness, which affected responses to the caption competition. The winner of the competition will be announced in Signals 137. Please note that the caption competition has now concluded, and we thank our many entrants over the years.

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