Piece of a Union Jack : Midshipman R S Veale, Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force

Small corner piece of a Union Jack.

This piece came from a flag that was worn around the waist of Signal-Boatswain (later Lieutenant Commander) William David Hunter during the action on the Kabakaul-Bitapaka Road in New Britain.

Hunter commanded the rear guard, made up of men who had been overtaken by reinforcements coming in from the beach and other men who had become separated from their sections. During the action he discovered an unoccupied German lookout station, after one of his men found a wire which was thought to be attached to a mine.

The Union Jack carried by Hunter was raised at Herbertshohe on 11 September 1914 by a party of the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force. This event occurred two days before the official flag raising ceremony at Rabaul.

This piece of the flag was souvenired by Midshipman (later Commander) Richard Stanley Veale in January 1915. Veale had landed at Simpsonhafen on 11 September and was involved in the fighting along the Bitapaka-Kabakaul Road. The following day, he and half a company of troops marched inland to capture the wireless station at Bitapaka.

Following the surrender of German troops, Veale was involved in garrison duty and patrols in New Britain. He returned to Australia in January 1915. Veale served at several Naval stations through the rest of the war. He later also served in the Second World War. He retired from the Navy in 1952.