Tom Eastick

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Brigadier Sir

Tom Eastick

CMG, DSO, ED, JP

Brigadier Tom Eastick in Sarawak in late 1945

Nickname(s) February Tom

Born 3 May 1900

Hyde Park, South Australia

Died 16 December 1988 (aged 88)

Somerton Park, South Australia

Allegiance Australia

Service/branch Army

Years of service 1918–1946

 1950–1953

Rank Brigadier

Commands Kuching Force (1945)

held Royal Australian Artillery, 9th Division (1944–1945)

Royal Australian Artillery, 7th Division (1943–1944)

2/7th Field Regiment (1940–1943)

13th Field Brigade, Royal Australian Artillery (1939–1940)

Battles/wars World War II

 Western Desert campaign

o First Battle of El Alamein

o Second Battle of El Alamein

 New Guinea campaign

o Salamaua–Lae campaign

o Markham, Ramu and Finisterre

campaigns

 Borneo campaign

Awards Knight Bachelor

Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George

Distinguished Service Order

Efficiency Decoration

Mentioned in Despatches

Companion of the Order of the Star of Sarawak

Relations Bruce Eastick (son)

Other work State President of the Returned Sailors', Soldiers' and

Airmen's Imperial League of Australia (the Returned &

Services League from 1965) 1950–1954 and 1961–1972

Brigadier Sir Thomas Charles Eastick, CMG, DSO, ED, JP (3 May 1900 – 16 December

1988) was a senior Australian Army artillery officer during World War II and a post-war
leader of the principal ex-service organisation in South Australia. He commanded
the 2/7th Field Regiment during the First and Second Battles of El Alamein in
the Western Desert campaign in North Africa in 1942, leading to his appointment as
a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order. Upon return from the Middle East, he
commanded the artillery of the 7th Division during the final stage of the Salamaua–Lae
campaign and during the Markham, Ramu and Finisterre campaigns in New Guinea
between August 1943 and April 1944. He commanded the artillery of the 9th Division in
the Borneo campaign in 1945. Eastick was military governor of the Raj of Sarawak after
taking the Japanese surrender at Kuching, and he was commander of the Headquarters
Group of Central Command in South Australia from 1950 to 1953.
Eastwick was the state president of the Returned Sailors', Soldiers' and Airmen's
Imperial League of Australia (the Returned & Services League from 1965) between
1950 and 1954 and again from 1961 to 1972. He was appointed a Companion of the
Order of St Michael and St George in 1953, and knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1970,
for his volunteer work on behalf of ex-servicemen.

Contents

 1Early life and career

 2World War II
o 2.1Service in the Middle East
o 2.2Service in the Pacific
 3Post-war career
 4Footnotes
 5References
o 5.1Books
o 5.2News and documents
o 5.3Gazettes
o 5.4Websites

Early life and career[edit]

Thomas Charles Eastick was born on 3 May 1900 at Hyde Park, South Australia, the
eldest of six children of Charles William Lone Eastick, who was a plumber, and his wife
Agnes Ann née Scutt. Known as Tom, Eastick attended Goodwood Public School, but
his formal education ended at the age of 12 when he left school to care for his ill mother
and his five younger siblings. His father was at that time struggling to support the family.
[1]
 Despite leaving school, Tom remained active in the Boy Scout movement.[2] He worked
for the hardware company Colton, Palmer and Preston Ltd., as a purchasing officer. It
was during this time that he acquired managerial skills that he employed effectively in
his later career.[1]
Having served four years in the compulsory senior cadets, in 1918 Eastick enlisted as a
part-time soldier in the Australian Field Artillery of the Citizen Forces. He
was commissioned as a lieutenant in 1922, and was posted to the 13th Field
Brigade where he soon earned a reputation as an effective trainer of artillerymen. He
was appointed as the commander of the 50th Battery of the four-battery brigade in
1924.[1][3] On 31 October of the following year, Eastick married Ruby Sybil Bruce, a
saleswoman and youngest daughter of Mrs A. H. Bruce, in the Baptist
church at Richmond, and after a honeymoon at Port Noarlunga[4] they lived in the
northern part of Colonel Light Gardens known as Reade Park. The couple had five
sons: Bruce, who was later the state Leader of the Opposition from 1972 to 1975
and Speaker of the South Australian House of Assembly from 1979 to 1982;[1] Keith,
David, Geoff and Barry.[5]
Eastick was promoted to captain in 1926. His proficiency as an artillery officer was
demonstrated by his involvement in two innovations: in 1926, he was the first Australian
artillery officer to use survey procedures to accurately predict gun data to engage
targets without ranging,[1] and the following year a Royal Australian Air
Force pilot adjusted the fire of Eastick's battery during field firing. Also in 1927, he took
over the management of an engineering company in Adelaide. This led to him co-
founding a small engineering business, Angas Engineering Co. (Pty Ltd) at premises in
Moore Street, Adelaide,[1][5] with a mechanic friend. The business venture went well until
the Great Depression began around 1929, after which difficulties mounted. [1] In 1930,
Eastick was promoted to major in the recently renamed Militia.[1][6] Eastick was appointed
as a justice of the peace in 1935.[7] In 1938 his battery won the Mount Schank Trophy as
the most efficient Militia field battery in the country. The following year, Eastick was
temporarily promoted to lieutenant colonel and appointed as the commanding officer of
the 13th Field Brigade.[1]

World War II[edit]

Service in the Middle East[edit]
In early 1940, shortly after the outbreak of World War II, Eastick put the 13th Field
Brigade through a training program over a three-month period. In April his promotion to
lieutenant colonel in the Militia was made substantive, and he was appointed at the
same rank to raise and command the 2/7th Field Regiment, part of the Second
Australian Imperial Force (Second AIF) which was being raised for overseas service.
[1]
 Initially consisting of the 13th Battery raised in South Australia, and the 14th Battery
raised in Western Australia, its original members were mainly Militia artillerymen who
had volunteered for the Second AIF. In October the regiment was allocated to the 9th
Division and the following month the regimental headquarters and 13th Battery
embarked on the troopship SS Stratheden at Port Adelaide, and picked up the 14th
Battery at Fremantle en route to the Middle East.[8][9]
Eastick's regiment arrived in the Middle East in December 1940, and was garrisoned
at Qastina in Palestine where it conducted training with World War I-vintage QF 18-
pounder guns and QF 4.5-inch howitzers. In March 1941 the 9th Division was moved to
Egypt, but due to lack of vehicles the 2/7th Field Regiment did not join them until the
following month. Initially deployed to a staging area at Ikingi Maryut,[1][8] in late May the
regiment moved forward into defensive positions at Mersa Matruh.[10] By the end of July,
the regiment had received most of its entitlement of 24 modern Ordnance QF 25-
pounder guns.[11] In the same month, a troop of the regiment was sent to the Siwa
Oasis on the edge of the Great Sand Sea. At the beginning of September, the rest of
the regiment – less another troop that remained at Mersa Matruh to calibrate its newly
received guns[12] – moved forward to a position between the Axis-controlled Halfaya
Pass and the Allied-held fortress of Sidi Barrani.[1][8] Eastick took over the control of
artillery in the coastal sector, which included anti-tank and light anti-aircraft batteries.
[12]
 The regiment remained there, harassing the enemy, until it was relieved on 22
September.[13]
The 2/7th Field Regiment moved to reserve positions, and Eastick was briefly in
command of one of the reserve columns between 26 September and 1 October. [12] In
early October he was advised that his regiment was to rejoin the 9th Division, [14] which
had been withdrawn from Tobruk and was rebuilding in Palestine.[1][8] As part of the
withdrawal, the regiment was to be reorganised to include three batteries, the 13th, 14th
and 57th.[14] The regiment remained in the desert for a while longer, harassing the
enemy. On 12 October Eastick went forward to watch a troop conduct counter-battery
fire in support of a raid. During the withdrawal, Eastick's vehicle was machine-gunned
by German aircraft and he witnessed a British fighter pilot being shot while parachuting
from his stricken aircraft. Eastick arranged a proper burial service and laid the pilot to
rest where he fell. After a further successful operation coordinated with bombers against
enemy camps, on 16 October the regiment drove eastwards, its fighting in the Middle
East having come to an end.[15] During his time as commanding officer, Eastick became
known as "February Tom", due to his proclivity to sentence disciplinary cases to 28
days' punishment.[7]
Instead of rejoining the division immediately, the 2/7th was transferred to become the
depot regiment at the Royal Artillery-run Middle East School of Artillery near Cairo in
Egypt for three months.[1][8] This was an honour granted in recognition of the level of
efficiency reached by the regiment under Eastick's command. [1] From February to June
1942, the regiment was deployed in defensive positions at Bsarma near Tripoli in Allied-
occupied French Syria.[8]

Eastick (second from left) speaking with General Sir Harold Alexander, Commander-in-Chief Middle East (left)
in August 1942

In June, the 9th Division was deployed back to Egypt to bolster Allied defences at El
Alamein. The division was allocated to the northern sector and the 2/7th Field Regiment
was placed under the command of the division's 26th Brigade, taking up a position at
Kilo 91, east of El Alamein, on 8 July. Two days later the 26th Brigade attacked German
positions on the high ground of the Tel el Eisa, supported by the whole of the divisional
artillery, as part of the First Battle of El Alamein. The Germans subsequently counter-
attacked, and over a five-day period, the 2/7th Field Regiment fired 20,129 rounds. In
September, the regiment supported Operation Bulimba, a diversionary attack launched
by the 20th Brigade.[8]
The 2/7th Field Regiment again supported the 20th Brigade during the Second Battle of
El Alamein in October and November 1942, by firing 65,594 rounds across the 13 days
of fighting. The regiment also participated in the pursuit of the enemy as they withdrew,
pushing forward as far as El Dabaa. Following this vital success, the 9th Division,
including the 2/7th Field Regiment, returned to Australia to prepare for operations
against the Japanese closer to home.[8] On 15 December, Eastick was mentioned in
despatches for "gallant and distinguished services in the Middle East during the period
November 1941 to April 1942".[1][16] The regiment arrived in Fremantle on 18 February
1943.[8] On the same day, Eastick was made a Companion of the Distinguished Service
Order in recognition of "gallant and distinguished services in the Middle East during the
period May 1942 to October 1942", covering the period of both battles of El Alamein.
[17]
 The citation stated:[18]
Lieutenant Colonel Eastick commanded his regiment with exceptional ability during
difficult operations. The successful performance of tasks given to his regiment was
largely due to his forcefulness and determination. He was an inspiration to his
observation post officers who were always willing to act most boldly to ensure the
effectiveness of the firing of the regiment. Throughout operations Colonel Eastick used
his regiment aggressively and the effectiveness of its work was due largely to his
leadership and personal example.
After dropping off its Western Australian members in Fremantle, the regiment
disembarked in Melbourne a week later.[8] In March, Eastick was awarded the Efficiency
Decoration (ED) for twenty years' service in the Citizen Forces and Militia. [5] The
members of the regiment were given leave, and the regiment moved to Queensland in
April for further training.[8]
Service in the Pacific[edit]
In June 1943, Eastick was appointed commander of the 7th Division artillery with the
temporary rank of brigadier.[8] He deployed to New Guinea with the division in August,
and commanded the artillery assets of the division during the landing at Nadzab and
advance to Lae in September as part of the closing phase of the Salamaua–Lae
campaign, and then during the Markham, Ramu and Finisterre campaigns until April
1944 when the division returned to Australia. [19][20] Two months later Eastick was
appointed as commander of the 9th Division artillery. The 9th Division was at that time
re-forming and training on the Atherton Tablelands in North Queensland after fighting in
the Salamaua–Lae and Huon Peninsula campaigns in New Guinea.[21]
Major General Hiyoe Yamamura handing his sword to Eastick (left) to symbolise the unconditional surrender of
Japanese forces in the Kuching area

Due to rapid developments in the war and strategic uncertainty over the role of
Australian forces in the Pacific, the 9th Division remained in Australia for over a year
before seeing action once more. While the Australian I Corps (of which the 9th Division
was part) had originally been intended to participate in the liberation of the Philippines,
these plans were dropped, and the Corps was instead tasked with the liberation of
Borneo between 1 May and 15 August 1945.[22] This was the division's final involvement
in the war and its participation in the campaign was split into two primary operations:
the Battle of Tarakan, a landing on Tarakan Island also known as Operation Oboe One;
and Operation Oboe Six, which consisted of a landing at Brunei on the
north Borneo coast, and a landing and subsequent battle on the island of Labuan.[23]
The 9th Division was responsible for administering the Japanese surrender in British
Borneo, including Sarawak, Brunei and Labuan Island, and the Natuna Islands. This
territory was divided into five zones, one of which was the Raj of Sarawak south of the
mouth of the Rajang River. Eastick was appointed commander of Kuching Force, which
was responsible for the latter zone, Kuching being the capital of the Raj of Sarawak.
Kuching Force totalled around 2,000 men from the 2/4th Pioneer Battalion, 2/12th
Commando Squadron, engineers from the 2/7th Field Company, and assorted other
units.[24] On 6 September, Eastick flew to Kuching in a Consolidated PBY Catalina flying
boat and gave instructions to Japanese officers regarding the surrender before
departing. Two days later, he sailed back to Kuching aboard the Bathurst-
class corvette HMAS Kapunda, and at 14:35 on 11 September he took the surrender
from Major General Hiyoe Yamamura aboard Kapunda. Kuching Force disembarked
that afternoon. Eastick was responsible for: accepting the surrender of the Japanese in
his zone and interning them; releasing and evacuating around 2,017 Allied prisoners of
war (POWs) and internees, including 400 stretcher cases and 237 women and children;
and establishing military control in the zone. [25] This included liberating and repatriating
Allied POWs held in the large Batu Lintang camp.[1] By 14 September, 858 POWs and
internees had been evacuated.[26] By the end of October, 6,124 Japanese troops and
1,770 Japanese civilians were interned in the Kuching Force zone. [27] Eastick
was military governor of Sarawak until December, when a British Indian Army garrison
arrived to relieve Kuching Force.[28] Eastick then administered command of the 9th
Division until February 1946, and on 28 February he transferred to the Reserve of
Officers with the honorary rank of brigadier. He was subsequently made a Companion
of the Order of the Star of Sarawak,[1] which he was later authorised to wear alongside
his other medals.[29]

Post-war career[edit]
Eastick returned to civilian life and his business and became involved in ex-service
organisations. He became a member of the Colonel Light Gardens sub-branch of
the Returned Sailors', Soldiers' and Airmen's Imperial League of Australia (RSSAILA)
(the Returned & Services League (RSL) from 1965), the principal Australian veterans'
organisation. He was recalled to service in January 1950 with the rank of brigadier, and
was posted as the commander of the Headquarters Group of Central Command in
Adelaide. During this posting he was also an honorary aide-de-camp to the Governor-
General of Australia, Sir William McKell. Eastick had a leading role in the development
of A Call to the People of Australia,[1] an exhortation to Australian citizens to "Fear God,
Honour the King", which was launched on Remembrance Day 1951 and signed by
church leaders and the chief justices of the states.[30] From 1950 to 1954 he was the
state president of RSSAILA,[1] and in Queen Elizabeth II's 1953 Coronation Honours was
appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) for his work
with the organisation.[31] In the same year, Eastick was profiled in the Adelaide
newspaper The News, which detailed some of his wide-ranging volunteer work and
concluded that "he seems to have deserved that CMG". [7]
Eastick returned to the Reserve of Officers on 1 October 1953. From 1955 to 1960,
Eastick was the colonel commandant of the Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery. He
was again the state president of RSSAILA and then the RSL between 1961 and 1972.
[1]
 Early in his second stint as president, Eastick urged the state premier, Sir Thomas
Playford, to investigate RSSAILA allegations about communists working within state
government departments.[32] Playford later tabled a report that detailed an investigation
into suspected communists and commended the RSSAILA for bringing the issue to
public notice.[33] Eastick was a Freemason, and the federal president of the Australia Day
Council from 1963 to 1965. He served in honorary roles in about 25 organisations,
many of which were ex-service related.[1]

A plaque commemorating Tom Eastick on the Eastick family grave at West Terrace Cemetery, Adelaide
A knighthood in recognition of his work for the interests of ex-servicemen was
announced in the 1970 New Year Honours.[34] It was conferred on him in person by
Queen Elizabeth II on 24 April 1970 at Government House, Canberra.[35] In September
1972, following the discovery of a National Socialist Party of Australia training camp
at Gawler, South Australia, Eastick said that there was "no room in Australia for
anybody with subversive thoughts like the Nazi Party". [36] In 1974 several harness
races at a Globe Derby Park charity race day were named in Eastick's honour.[37] Eastick
continued to work at Angas Engineering until 1977, and was again federal president of
the Australia Day Council from 1976 to 1980. His wife, now Ruby, Lady Eastick, died
suddenly in 1980, and after a few years he moved to the Masonic Nursing Home
in Somerton Park. He died there on 16 December 1988 and was cremated. [1]
Eastick's entry in the Australian Dictionary of Biography by David N. Brook states that:[1]
Integrity, professional competence, steadfastness, self-discipline and self-reliance had
been instilled in Eastick at an early age. He inspired the officers and men he
commanded with his proficiency and resolution. He was a valued and trusted
businessman and servant of the many organisations with which he was involved.
Despite the hardships of his early life and war service, he remained a kindly and
charitable man who was tough and forceful when those attributes were required. He
was not flamboyant, but a consistent performer who lived by the dictum with which he
had been brought up—'near enough is never good enough'.

Footnotes[edit]
0. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Brook 2007.
1. ^ The Daily Herald 10 April 1915.
2. ^ Palazzo 2001, p. 102.
3. ^ The Mail 5 December 1925.
4. ^ Jump up to:a b c The Advertiser 16 March 1943, p. 2.
5. ^ Palazzo 2001, p. 110.
6. ^ Jump up to:a b c Miles 6 June 1953.
7. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f g h i j k l AWM 2021.
8. ^ Rungie 1986, pp. 92–93.
9. ^ Maughan 1966, p. 356.
10. ^ Rungie 1986, p. 94.
11. ^ Jump up to:a b c Maughan 1966, p. 358.
12. ^ Maughan 1966, p. 365.
13. ^ Jump up to:a b Maughan 1966, p. 366.
14. ^ Maughan 1966, pp. 367–368.
15. ^ The London Gazette 11 December 1942.
16. ^ The London Gazette 16 February 1943.
17. ^ The News 6 May 1944, p. 3.
18. ^ Johnston 2005, pp. 172–208.
19. ^ Keogh 1965, pp. 345–359.
20. ^ Johnston 2002, p. 186.
21. ^ Keogh 1965, pp. 395–396.
22. ^ Keogh 1965, pp. 431–433.
23. ^ Long 1963, p. 561.
24. ^ Long 1963, pp. 562–563.
 25. ^ Long 1963, p. 563.
26. ^ Long 1963, p. 565.
27. ^ Long 1963, p. 564.
28. ^ Commonwealth Of Australia Gazette 21 November 2021.
29. ^ A Call to the People of Australia 1951.
30. ^ The London Gazette 26 May 1953.
31. ^ The Canberra Times 6 December 1962.
32. ^ Tribune 20 February 1963.
33. ^ The London Gazette 30 December 1969.
34. ^ The London Gazette 12 May 1970.
35. ^ The Australian Jewish News 8 September 1972.
36. ^ The Coromandel Times 25 April 1974.

References[edit]
Books[edit]
 Johnston, Mark (2002). That Magnificent 9th: An Illustrated History of the 9th
Australian Division 1940–46. Sydney, New South Wales: Allen &
Unwin. ISBN 978-1-86508-654-5.
 Johnston, Mark (2005). The Silent 7th: An Illustrated History of the 7th
Australian Division 1940–46. Crows Nest, New South Wales: Allen &
Unwin. ISBN 1-74114-191-5.
 Keogh, Eustace (1965). South West Pacific 1941–45. Melbourne, Victoria:
Grayflower Publications. OCLC 7185705.
 Long, Gavin (1963). "Chapter 23 – After the Cease Fire". Official History of
Australia in the Second World War. Australia in the War of 1939–1945.
Series 1 – Army. Vol. VII – The Final Campaigns (1st ed.). Canberra,
Australian Capital Territory: Australian War Memorial. pp. 548–
583. OCLC 494058950.
 Maughan, Barton (1966). "Chapter 8 – Last Counter-Attack and a
Controversial Relief". Official History of Australia in the Second World War.
Series 1 – Army. Vol. III – Tobruk and El Alamein (1st ed.). Canberra,
Australian Capital Territory: Australian War Memorial. pp. 305–
383. OCLC 954993.
 Palazzo, Albert (2001). The Australian Army: A History of its Organisation
1901–2001. Melbourne, Victoria: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-
551506-0.
 Rungie, R.H (1986). "2/7th Australian Field Regiment AIF". In Brook, David
(ed.). Roundshot to Rapier: Artillery in South Australia 1840–1984.
Hawthorndene, South Australia: Royal Artillery Association of South
Australia. pp. 93–111. ISBN 0-85864-098-8.
News and documents[edit]
 "A Call to the People of Australia" (Press release). Australia: Individuals.
1951. nla.obj-2545178137. Retrieved 21 November 2021 – via National
Library of Australia.
  "Ban Nazis Call in S.A." The Australian Jewish News. Vol. XXXIX, no. 1.
Victoria, Australia. 8 September 1972. p. 15. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
 "Boy Scouts". The Daily Herald. Vol. 6, no. 1576. South Australia. 10 April
1915. p. 12. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
 "EASTICK—BRUCE". The Mail. Vol. 14, no. 706. South Australia. 5
December 1925. p. 21. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
 "Globe Derby". The Coromandel Times. Vol. 29, no. 36. South Australia. 25
April 1974. p. 4. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
 "Inquiry into Reds Promised". The Canberra Times. Vol. 37, no. 10, 401.
Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 6 December 1962. p. 25. Retrieved 21
November 2021.
 "Lieut.-Col. Eastick Awarded D.S.O."  The News. Vol. 42, no. 6, 480. South
Australia. 6 May 1944. p. 3. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
 Miles, John (6 June 1953). "The Good Soldier". The News. Vol. 60, no. 9,
305. South Australia. p. 4. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
 "S.A. Officers Decorated". The Advertiser. Vol. LXXXV, no. 26347. South
Australia. 16 March 1943. p. 2. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
 "Witch-hunters' S.A. contest". Tribune. No. 1293. New South Wales,
Australia. 20 February 1963. p. 8. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
Gazettes[edit]
 "Government Gazette Appointments and Employment" . Commonwealth Of
Australia Gazette. No. 136. Australia. 31 July 1947. p. 2203.
 "No. 35821". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 December 1942.
pp. 5437–5446.
 "No. 35908". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 February 1943. p. 863.
 "No. 39863". The London Gazette (Supplement). 26 May 1953. p. 2944.
 "No. 44999". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 1969. p. 2.
 "No. 45098". The London Gazette. 12 May 1970. p. 5343.
Websites[edit]
 "2/7th Field Regiment". Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 21
November 2021.
 Brook, David N. (2007). "Eastick, Sir Thomas Charles (Tom) (1900–
1988)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 17. Melbourne University
Press. ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 20 November 2021 – via National Centre
of Biography, Australian National University.