Publication:Papers in Australian Maritime Affairs No. 17/Humpheries, John Thomas (1903-1987)
HUMPHERIES, JOHN THOMAS (1903-1987), naval petty officer, was born on 26 October 1903 in Sebastapol, Victoria, the first surviving child of John Thomas Humphries, a miner and later AIF veteran. Educated at the Redan State school and Ballarat Technical school, the younger Humphries entered the RAN as a Boy 2nd class in July 1918, listing his trade as messenger. After fourteen months in the Training Ship Tingira he moved into the seagoing fleet, signing on for a seven year engagement at the end of his training.
Leaving the Navy as a seaman Petty Officer in October 1928, Humphries moved to Brisbane. Here he briefly joined the Lighthouse Service, then trained as a diver on the Grey Street Bridge foundations, later performing similar work on the Story Bridge and receiving high praise for his skills and courage. In July 1938 he enrolled in the Royal Australian Fleet Reserve.
Humphries was mobilised on the outbreak of war and joined the armed merchant cruiser HMAS Kanimbla where he remained until December 1942. In August 1941 she was sent to Bandar Shahpur in Iran as part of a combined Allied force. Eight enemy merchant vessels were sheltering in the port, and to avoid capture their crews attempted to scuttle them. One vessel, the 15,000-tonne Hohenfels, sank in 15 metres of water. On board was a vital cargo of 7000 tonnes of ilmenite sand, used for case hardening steel.
Although not qualified as a naval diver, Humphries' professional skills were called upon. For five weeks he dived for up to three hours at a time and, despite working in total darkness, he completed the repairs that allowed Hohenfels to be refloated and towed to a British port. On twelve occasions he descended into the flooded engine-room to shut bilge suction valves. This required him to go down three long ladders, thence forward along the entire length of the engine room and then down two short ladders to the tunnels under the bunker. Some 40 metres of air pipe and rope were required with the constant risk of the lines becoming fouled. As there was no telephone communication, as soon as Humphries descended the first ladder he was out of communication with his attendants, with no hope of assistance should something go wrong.
Humphries was quoted as saying 'It was a job to be done, and I did it', and claimed that the greatest incentive to complete the task was the thought of seeing again his wife and children. For his 'skill and undaunted devotion to duty in hazardous operations' he was awarded the George Medal on 17 February 1942, the highest award made to an Australian rating during the war. In addition, having proved his ability, he was also granted the non-substantive rank of Diver 1st class. Except for a brief period in the tug HMAS Heros, Humphries spent the remainder of the war years on shore service.
Demobilised in May 1946, Humphries returned to Brisbane where he remained until his death at the Repatriation General Hospital, Greenslopes on 23 August 1987. He was survived by his wife and two daughters.
David M. Stevens
David M. Stevens, 'Humphries, John Thomas (1903-1987)', prepared for Papers in Australian Maritime Affairs, No. 17.
