Lyall Howard
Encyclopedia
Lyall Falconer Howard was a World War I
veteran
, engineer
and business owner, and the father of former Australia
n Prime Minister
, John Howard
. He was born and raised near Maclean
in the Clarence River
region of northern New South Wales
. His hand-written war diary penned on the battlefields of the Western Front
in 1916 is used by historians to retrace the experiences of Australian soldiers in World War I
.
During World War I
, Lyall Howard was known as a proud patriot. 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 shilling
s per day. Records show he had attempted to sign up on a previous occasion, but was rejected because his height of 157 cm was deemed too short. Private Lyall Howard left Port Melbourne
aboard the HMAT Wandilla
on 6 June 1916, and was shipped to the Western Front
. He was assigned to work on the roads and bridges leading into the village of Cléry, France
.
In the book, The Great War, author Les Carlyon
details the experiences of Lyall Howard on the front line, captured by the handwritten notes in Lyall's war diary. The entries were always brief: "Shoved in old barn", "Inoculated again", "First day in trenches". One laconic entry underscored the horrors the soldiers faced: "Will wounded and dies". Will was Lyall's best friend.
Meanwhile, Lyall's father, Walter Howard, enlisted as a private in the 55th Battalion of the 5th Division and was also transferred to the battlefields of Europe. Walter's battalion was moving in for an attack on Péronne
. In an extraordinary situation of chance during the mass movement of troops near Cléry, 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.
An entry in Lyall Howard's diary, dated 30 August 1918, simply reads: "Met dad at Cléry."
Lyall's son, the 25th Prime Minister of Australia
, John Howard
recounts: "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."
In battle, Lyall Howard was wounded by a mustard gas attack in Passchendaele and spent 10 weeks in hospital. The gassing caused chronic bronchitis
and skin rashes which would continue to plague him after the war.
When World War I ended, Lyall returned to the Clarence River
region in Northern New South Wales
and worked as a fitter and turner
for the Colonial Sugar Refining Company
(CSR). The onset of the Great Depression
brought hard economic times, and Lyall was retrenched.
In 1925, he married an office worker, Mona Kell. Lyall and Mona Howard moved into a comfortable Californian-style bungalow
at 25 William Street, Earlwood
, a working class
suburb of Sydney
. Their first son, Walter (junior), was born in 1926, followed by Stanley (1930), Robert (1936), and the youngest, John Howard
in 1939.
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. Like many other ex-servicemen, Lyall Howard took up the offer and acquired two copra
plantations on Karkar Island
in New Guinea
valued at the time at more than £100,000 (over A$
4 million in today's currency) where 200 native labourers worked.
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.
The Howard land holdings raised the attention of the Australian Administrator of New Guinea. In 1929, the Administrator sent a cable to the Investigation Branch (now known as ASIO
) in Canberra
:
In 1928, Commonwealth Auditor General, Sir John Latham, commissioned a report into the 'dummying' affair. Sir Latham concluded that, in the Howard's case, there is "no doubt whatever that dummying exists", but said "the offence is not so open and the pretence is better maintained" compared to other cases. With the assistance of Treasurer Ted Theodore
, the Administrator pursued the Howard case for many more months, but eventually declared he was "satisfied with the bona fides of the Howards".
Sir John Middleton, a former PNG
MP
and son of returned Australian serviceman planter Max Middleton said:
Even a one-armed lift operator at Burns Philps' office in Sydney was a big plantation owner on paper.
Lyall with his father Walter Howard owned two petrol stations
where in later years John Howard
worked as a boy. The first was located on the corner of Ewart Street and Wardell Road in Dulwich Hill
. In 1938 they purchased a second, which they named Prince Edward Service Station, across the Cooks River
on the corner of Permanent Avenue and Wardell Road in Earlwood
.
By the end of World War II
, Lyall was strongly against appeasement
, and an admirer of Winston Churchill
. The turmoil of the 1949 Australian coal strike
and subsequent petrol rationing caused difficulties for the two Howard family petrol businesses, a dispute which ended when the army was sent in to defeat the unions. Both Lyall and Mona Howard became enthusiastic supporters of the newly created Liberal Party of Australia
, and celebrated the election night of 1949 which brought Prime Minister Robert Menzies
to power, defeating the Labor
government of Ben Chifley
. When the election results were declared, Lyall built a bonfire in the backyard to burn his petrol rationing card. He later became a paid-up member of the Liberal Party.
According to a Sydney Morning Herald report published on 7 January 1989, there were some suspicions in the Howard family that Lyall was a member of the New Guard
, an unofficial paramilitary organisation active in the 1930s which stood for "unswerving loyalty to the Throne; all for the British Empire; sane and honourable government throughout Australia; suppression of any disloyal and immoral elements in government, industrial and social circles; abolition of machine politics, and maintenance of the full liberty of the individual." Lyall's son Walter Howard disputes the claim. However, when interviewed by author Peter van Onselen
about his father's involvement in the New Guard, another son, Bob, an academic and a member of the Australian Labor Party
recalls Lyall defending New Guard activities, and said his father probably was a member of the New Guard.
Lyall never recovered from the gassing on the battlefields of World War I. He died of chronic bronchitis
in 1955, at the age of 59. John Howard
, who was age 16 at the time, remembers: "You never think at that age that your father was going to die. I'd always hoped that my father would be proud of me ... My mother lived to see me become treasurer and go into politics, came to my first Budget, had dinner at The Lodge. My dad, my dad didn't, unfortunately."
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
veteran
Veteran
A veteran is a person who has had long service or experience in a particular occupation or field; " A veteran of ..."...
, engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
and business owner, and the father of former Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
, John Howard
John Howard
John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
. He was born and raised near Maclean
Maclean, New South Wales
Maclean is a town in Clarence Valley Local Government Area in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia. It is on the Clarence River and near the Pacific Highway. At the 2006 census, Maclean had a population of 3,245 people...
in the Clarence River
Clarence River (New South Wales)
The Clarence River is situated in northeastern New South Wales, Australia. The river originates on the watershed that marks the Queensland border. After flowing south and northeast for 394 km it then empties into the Pacific Ocean at Iluka/Yamba. On its journey it passes through the towns of...
region of northern New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
. His hand-written war diary penned on the battlefields of the Western Front
Western Front (World War I)
Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...
in 1916 is used by historians to retrace the experiences of Australian soldiers in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Lyall Howard was known as a proud patriot. On 16 January 1916, at age 19, he signed up to the Australian Imperial Force
Australian Imperial Force
The Australian Imperial Force was the name given to all-volunteer Australian Army forces dispatched to fight overseas during World War I and World War II.* First Australian Imperial Force * Second Australian Imperial Force...
. As soldier number 802, he was assigned to the 3rd Pioneer Battalion, earning a wage of eight shilling
Shilling
The shilling is a unit of currency used in some current and former British Commonwealth countries. The word shilling comes from scilling, an accounting term that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times where it was deemed to be the value of a cow in Kent or a sheep elsewhere. The word is thought to derive...
s per day. Records show he had attempted to sign up on a previous occasion, but was rejected because his height of 157 cm was deemed too short. Private Lyall Howard left Port Melbourne
Port Melbourne, Victoria
Port Melbourne is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 5 km southwest of Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government areas are the cities of Port Phillip and Melbourne. At the 2006 Census, Port Melbourne had a population of 13,293....
aboard the HMAT Wandilla
HMAT Wandilla
The SS Wandilla 7785 tons, was built in 1912 by William Beardmore and Company, Glasgow for the Adelaide Steamship Company.-Design and construction:...
on 6 June 1916, and was shipped to the Western Front
Western Front (World War I)
Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...
. He was assigned to work on the roads and bridges leading into the village of Cléry, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
In the book, The Great War, author Les Carlyon
Les Carlyon
Les Carlyon is an Australian writer, who was born in northern Victoria in 1942. He has been editor of Melbourne's journal of record, The Age, as well as editor-in-chief of The Herald and Weekly Times Ltd, and has twice won the Walkley Award for journalism...
details the experiences of Lyall Howard on the front line, captured by the handwritten notes in Lyall's war diary. The entries were always brief: "Shoved in old barn", "Inoculated again", "First day in trenches". One laconic entry underscored the horrors the soldiers faced: "Will wounded and dies". Will was Lyall's best friend.
Meanwhile, Lyall's father, Walter Howard, enlisted as a private in the 55th Battalion of the 5th Division and was also transferred to the battlefields of Europe. Walter's battalion was moving in for an attack on Péronne
Péronne, Somme
Péronne is a commune of the Somme department in Picardie in northern France.It is close to where the Battles of the Somme took place during World War I...
. In an extraordinary situation of chance during the mass movement of troops near Cléry, the father and son's paths crossed. Against the odds, Lyall and Walter met on the eve of the Battle of Mont St. Quentin
Battle of Mont St. Quentin
The Battle of Mont Saint-Quentin was a battle on the Western Front during World War I. As part of the Allied counteroffensives on the Western Front in the late summer of 1918, the Australian Corps crossed the Somme River on the night of August 31, and broke the German lines at Mont Saint-Quentin...
in what has been described as a one-in-a-million handshake in the battle zone.
An entry in Lyall Howard's diary, dated 30 August 1918, simply reads: "Met dad at Cléry."
Lyall's son, the 25th Prime Minister of Australia
Prime Minister of Australia
The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
, John Howard
John Howard
John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
recounts: "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."
In battle, Lyall Howard was wounded by a mustard gas attack in Passchendaele and spent 10 weeks in hospital. The gassing caused chronic bronchitis
Bronchitis
Acute bronchitis is an inflammation of the large bronchi in the lungs that is usually caused by viruses or bacteria and may last several days or weeks. Characteristic symptoms include cough, sputum production, and shortness of breath and wheezing related to the obstruction of the inflamed airways...
and skin rashes which would continue to plague him after the war.
When World War I ended, Lyall returned to the Clarence River
Clarence River (New South Wales)
The Clarence River is situated in northeastern New South Wales, Australia. The river originates on the watershed that marks the Queensland border. After flowing south and northeast for 394 km it then empties into the Pacific Ocean at Iluka/Yamba. On its journey it passes through the towns of...
region in Northern New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
and worked as a fitter and turner
Machinist
A machinist is a person who uses machine tools to make or modify parts, primarily metal parts, a process known as machining. This is accomplished by using machine tools to cut away excess material much as a woodcarver cuts away excess wood to produce his work. In addition to metal, the parts may...
for the Colonial Sugar Refining Company
CSR Limited
CSR Limited is a major Australian industrial company, producing aluminium and building products. It is publicly traded on the Australian Securities Exchange. In 2009, it has approximately 10,000 employees and during a period of a major cyclical downturn the company made an after-tax profit of...
(CSR). The onset of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
brought hard economic times, and Lyall was retrenched.
In 1925, he married an office worker, Mona Kell. Lyall and Mona Howard moved into a comfortable Californian-style bungalow
Bungalow
A bungalow is a type of house, with varying meanings across the world. Common features to many of these definitions include being detached, low-rise , and the use of verandahs...
at 25 William Street, Earlwood
Earlwood, New South Wales
Earlwood is a suburb in the inner-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Earlwood is located 12 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Canterbury...
, a working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
suburb of Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
. Their first son, Walter (junior), was born in 1926, followed by Stanley (1930), Robert (1936), and the youngest, John Howard
John Howard
John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
in 1939.
The copra trade
In 1926, Australian Prime Minister Billy HughesBilly Hughes
William Morris "Billy" Hughes, CH, KC, MHR , Australian politician, was the seventh Prime Minister of Australia from 1915 to 1923....
declared that he would make "New Guinea for the returned serviceman". He offered Australian ex-servicemen land parcels in New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
at very generous prices. Like many other ex-servicemen, Lyall Howard took up the offer and acquired two copra
Copra
Copra is the dried meat, or kernel, of the coconut. Coconut oil extracted from it has made copra an important agricultural commodity for many coconut-producing countries. It also yields coconut cake which is mainly used as feed for livestock.-Production:...
plantations on Karkar Island
Karkar Island
Karkar Island is an oval-shaped volcanic island located in the Bismarck Sea, about 30 kilometres off the north coast of mainland Papua New Guinea in Madang Province. The island is about 25 km in length and 19 km in width. In the centre is an active volcano with two nested calderas...
in New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
valued at the time at more than £100,000 (over A$
Australian dollar
The Australian dollar is the currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Island states of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu...
4 million in today's currency) where 200 native labourers worked.
Two Australian companies, Burns Philp
Burns Philp
Burns Philp was once a major player in the food manufacturing business. Since its delisting from the Australian Stock Exchange in December 2006 and the subsequent sale of its assets, the company has mainly become a cashed up shell company...
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.
The Howard land holdings raised the attention of the Australian Administrator of New Guinea. In 1929, the Administrator sent a cable to the Investigation Branch (now known as ASIO
Australian Security Intelligence Organisation
The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation is Australia's national security service, which is responsible for the protection of the country and its citizens from espionage, sabotage, acts of foreign interference, politically-motivated violence, attacks on the Australian defence system, and...
) in Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
:
"Walter and Lyall Falconer Howard apply consent purchase property valued at £25,000 and £100,000 respectively. Strongly suspect dummies for Carpenter and Coy. Could Investigation Branch enquire into status and financial circumstances these men and report the result urgently?"
In 1928, Commonwealth Auditor General, Sir John Latham, commissioned a report into the 'dummying' affair. Sir Latham concluded that, in the Howard's case, there is "no doubt whatever that dummying exists", but said "the offence is not so open and the pretence is better maintained" compared to other cases. With the assistance of Treasurer Ted Theodore
Ted Theodore
Edward Granville Theodore was an Australian politician. He was Premier of Queensland 1919–25, a federal politician representing a New South Wales seat 1927–31, and Federal Treasurer 1929–30.-Early life:...
, the Administrator pursued the Howard case for many more months, but eventually declared he was "satisfied with the bona fides of the Howards".
Sir John Middleton, a former PNG
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
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.
Later life
Filling station
A filling station, also known as a fueling station, garage, gasbar , gas station , petrol bunk , petrol pump , petrol garage, petrol kiosk , petrol station "'servo"' in Australia or service station, is a facility which sells fuel and lubricants...
where in later years John Howard
John Howard
John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
worked as a boy. The first was located on the corner of Ewart Street and Wardell Road in Dulwich Hill
Dulwich Hill, New South Wales
Dulwich Hill is a residential suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Dulwich Hill is located 9 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Marrickville Council...
. In 1938 they purchased a second, which they named Prince Edward Service Station, across the Cooks River
Cooks River
The Cooks River is a 23 kilometre long urban waterway of south-western Sydney, New South Wales, Australia emptying into Botany Bay. The course of the river has been altered to accommodate various developments along its shore...
on the corner of Permanent Avenue and Wardell Road in Earlwood
Earlwood, New South Wales
Earlwood is a suburb in the inner-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Earlwood is located 12 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Canterbury...
.
By the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Lyall was strongly against appeasement
Appeasement
The term appeasement is commonly understood to refer to a diplomatic policy aimed at avoiding war by making concessions to another power. Historian Paul Kennedy defines it as "the policy of settling international quarrels by admitting and satisfying grievances through rational negotiation and...
, and an admirer of Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
. The turmoil of the 1949 Australian coal strike
1949 Australian coal strike
The 1949 Australian coal strike is the first time that Australian military forces were used during peacetime to break a Trade union strike. The strike by 23,000 coal miners lasted for seven weeks, from 27 June 1949 to 15 August 1949, with troops being sent in by the Ben Chifley Federal Labor...
and subsequent petrol rationing caused difficulties for the two Howard family petrol businesses, a dispute which ended when the army was sent in to defeat the unions. Both Lyall and Mona Howard became enthusiastic supporters of the newly created Liberal Party of Australia
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
, and celebrated the election night of 1949 which brought Prime Minister Robert Menzies
Robert Menzies
Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, , Australian politician, was the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia....
to power, defeating the Labor
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
government of Ben Chifley
Ben Chifley
Joseph Benedict Chifley , Australian politician, was the 16th Prime Minister of Australia. He took over the Australian Labor Party leadership and Prime Ministership after the death of John Curtin in 1945, and went on to retain government at the 1946 election, before being defeated at the 1949...
. When the election results were declared, Lyall built a bonfire in the backyard to burn his petrol rationing card. He later became a paid-up member of the Liberal Party.
According to a Sydney Morning Herald report published on 7 January 1989, there were some suspicions in the Howard family that Lyall was a member of the New Guard
New Guard
The New Guard was a fascist movement in Australia formed in 1931. It was opposed to communism and democracy, called for class collaboration to replace class conflict, and engaged in street fighting against opponents and in plans for a coup d'etat against the Australian government...
, an unofficial paramilitary organisation active in the 1930s which stood for "unswerving loyalty to the Throne; all for the British Empire; sane and honourable government throughout Australia; suppression of any disloyal and immoral elements in government, industrial and social circles; abolition of machine politics, and maintenance of the full liberty of the individual." Lyall's son Walter Howard disputes the claim. However, when interviewed by author Peter van Onselen
Peter van Onselen
Professor Peter van Onselen is the Contributing Editor at The Australian newspaper where he writes a weekly Saturday Focus column, a Wednesday column for the Business back-page and a fortnightly column in the Higher Education section. He also writes a weekly column in the Sunday Telegraph and...
about his father's involvement in the New Guard, another son, Bob, an academic and a member of the Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
recalls Lyall defending New Guard activities, and said his father probably was a member of the New Guard.
Lyall never recovered from the gassing on the battlefields of World War I. He died of chronic bronchitis
Bronchitis
Acute bronchitis is an inflammation of the large bronchi in the lungs that is usually caused by viruses or bacteria and may last several days or weeks. Characteristic symptoms include cough, sputum production, and shortness of breath and wheezing related to the obstruction of the inflamed airways...
in 1955, at the age of 59. John Howard
John Howard
John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
, who was age 16 at the time, remembers: "You never think at that age that your father was going to die. I'd always hoped that my father would be proud of me ... My mother lived to see me become treasurer and go into politics, came to my first Budget, had dinner at The Lodge. My dad, my dad didn't, unfortunately."
Further reading
- 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
External links
- Lyall Howard Military enlistment document 1916. Document held in the National Archives of Australia.