'It’s important to ... ensure he’s not forgotten'

Warning: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, please be advised the following article contains names and images of deceased people.

It’s a striking portrait of an Australian soldier serving in Korea.

He’s been campaigning hard and is wearing a pile cap, scarf and windproof jacket to ward off the cold. But it’s his piercing gaze that says it all.

The man is Temporary Sergeant Stafford Kenny James “Len” Lenoy, one of more than 60 Indigenous Australians known to have served during the Korean War.

The picture was taken in the Chuam-ni area of South Korea, days after the Australians had taken part in fighting there in February 1951.

Lenoy had served in New Guinea during the Second World War, and then with the British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF) in Japan, but was killed in April 1951 during the battle of Kapyong, a few months after the photograph was taken.

It’s a story Australian War Memorial historian Michael Kelly knows well. He researched and wrote Lenoy’s story for a Last Post Ceremony commemorating Lenoy’s life.

“It’s important to tell his story and ensure he’s not forgotten,” Kelly said.

“He’s one of 340 Australians who died as a result of their service in Korea and whose names are listed on the Roll of Honour at the Memorial.

“It’s important to remember them, and to remember who they were as an individuals, because otherwise, who does remember them? You could walk down the street today and ask people about Korea. They might be able to tell you what’s happening there now, but most couldn’t tell you about the Korean War and what happened there between 1950 and 1953.

“Seventy years later, it’s known as the forgotten war, but each one of these names on the Roll of Honour represents a life, with a mother, a father, and families that remember them.

“It doesn’t matter about race, colour, religion, creed, anything like that, they all wore the Australian uniform.

“His family are so grateful his story is being remembered and that we are taking the time and making the effort to research him and get his story right.”

Stafford Kenny James “Len” Lenoy was born in Cairns, far north Queensland, on 21 October 1923, the middle child of Octavius “Ockie” Lenoy and wife “Janie”.

“Lenoy was from a fairly large family and grew up in the town of Ayr,” Kelly said. “But then he and his parents were removed by authorities to Palm Island, along with his siblings.

“It was all part of that thinking around the forceable removal of Aboriginal people and their children.

“Lenoy and his siblings were still with or around their parents, but they were taken out of their home, and then they were removed to the Aboriginal reserve at Palm Island.

“The authorities at that time were removing Aboriginal people from places like Cairns or Ayr and sending them out to these reserves or missions.

“It would have been pretty confronting for them. Palm Island was a tough place, with harsh conditions, limited infrastructure, and rudimentary services. As you would expect, it was not a pleasant place for families and for kids to grow up in. It was just rudimentary, grass huts, and not much else, so it was a pretty nasty place at the time.

“When Lenoy was finally able to return to Ayr, it was because he was sent there to work as a cane cutter.

“He’d spent a lot of time there as a child growing up, but it would have been a tough life for him, I’m sure. Those cane fields wouldn’t have been easy places to work. Even today, with all the machinery we have, it’s still a harsh environment to work in, with the heat, snakes, and all the other bits and pieces that are in and around the canes.

“But then you’ve got the other cutters as well, who would have been pretty hard men too. So you’ve got this young lad, who’s sent there to work in the cane fields. He’s still just a teenager at the time, and it would have been hard.

“He’s finally allowed time away from the island, but when he’s sent back to the mainland, he’s sent back to work. It’s our version of slavery really, which is pretty harsh.”

Lenoy was 19 years old when he was called up for service in the Militia during the Second World War.

“He was called up in March 1943 and four days later he volunteered for service with the AIF,” Kelly said. “He did his basic and specialist training with the 2nd Australian Machine Gun Training Battalion, at Tenterfield, New South Wales. But then his mum died in February 1944, and I couldn’t find out whether he was actually given leave to attend her funeral or not. You would hope so, but it was wartime, so it was never a guarantee.”

In December 1944, Lenoy deployed to New Guinea with the 2/3rd Machine Gun Battalion, taking part in the Aitape-Wewak campaign.

After the war, Lenoy transferred to the newly raised 67th Battalion at Morotai, which was raised for service as part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force in Japan. By the end of 1948, the battalion became the 3rd Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment. Lenoy remained with the battalion and joined the Australian Regular Army Special Reserve in March 1950.

When the Korean War began a few months later, on 25 June 1950, Australia committed army, navy, and air force personnel to a United Nations force in defence of South Korea.

Lenoy, now a member of 3RAR’s medium machine-gun platoon, arrived in Korea at the end of September.

The following year, on the night of 22 April 1951, Chinese forces launched a major offensive against UN forces defending the South Korean capital, Seoul.

The following morning, the 27th British Commonwealth Brigade, which included 3RAR, was ordered to the Kapyong Valley, about 60 kilometres north-east of Seoul, where South Korean forces were being driven back.

Lenoy was attached to A Company in the forward-most defensive positions. The Chinese began their attacks on the company in the late afternoon, and despite heavy casualties, maintained pressure on the Australians throughout the night.

“3RAR are right in the thick of it,” Kelly said.

“The battalion holds off a Chinese division along with a Canadian battalion, the 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, so it’s basically two under-strength battalions holding off a major Chinese thrust down the Kapyong Valley as they’re trying to recapture Seoul.

“It’s rocky, so they can’t really dig in properly, and it’s a pretty close run battle. They’re exposed on the hilltops, and they only have time to make basic offensive positions. They don’t get any time to put any wire out because the Chinese breakthrough is so sudden and the Korean 6th Division, which was up in front, collapses so rapidly.

“There’s no time to make proper defences. The Chinese are infiltrating the Koreans as they are coming down and are starting to pour through 3RAR and through the Canadians positions.

“They’re a little nervous, because they can tell something has gone horribly wrong.

“A lot of the Koreans are fleeing in a mad panic, trying to get away, but the Chinese have infiltrated these troops and manage to strike at battalion headquarters further down the valley.

“By this time, the battalion is four kilometres behind enemy lines. So even before the major attack starts to happen, they’re cut off, isolated, and have to fight a terrific fight to get out. They withdraw in full contact with the Chinese, and each rifle company leap-frogs the others as they attempt to break contact. It’s only chance, a missed turn off, that actually allows them to get a clean break away from the Chinese. It’s a mighty battle, but sadly, it’s during an attack in the early hours of the 24th, that Lenoy is killed.”

The Chinese division broke off its attack on Anzac Day.

Captain Reg Saunders, the first Aboriginal Australian to be commissioned as an officer in the Australian Army, was Officer Commanding C Company, 3 RAR. After the battle, he said: “At last I felt like an Anzac, and I imagine there were 600 others like me.”

His now-famous quote has become synonymous with the battle of Kapyong, one of the most important battles fought by Australian troops in Korea. But for 3RAR, the cost was high: 32 men killed, 59 wounded, and three taken prisoner.

Lenoy, 27, was among the dead. He was initially buried near Kapyong, but was later reinterred at the United Nations Memorial Cemetery at Pusan.

Today, his name is listed on the Memorial’s Korean War Indigenous Service List.

His striking portrait is a poignant reminder of the Australian experience of war in Korea.

Lenoy’s mate, Henry “Chappie” Chaperlin, was a fellow Second World War veteran who also served in Korea. He had trained with Lenoy in Japan, and was also wounded during the battle of Kapyong. He kept a photograph of Lenoy by his bedside table for the rest of his life.

Stafford Lenoy is one of more than 60 Indigenous Australians known to have served during the Korean War. The Memorial’s Indigenous Liaison Officer, Michael Bell, has been working to identify and research the service of people of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent. A proud Ngunnawal/Gomeroi man, he is interested in further details of the military history of all those people and their families. He can be contacted via Michael.Bell@awm.gov.au