Publication:Papers in Australian Maritime Affairs No. 29

HMAS Leeuwin: The story of the RAN's Junior Recruits

by Brian Adams

Download PDF version (3.15Mb)

Abstract

Over nearly 25 years, between January 1960 and December 1984, approximately 13,000 15 and 16 year old boys joined the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) as junior recruits – a group the size of our current Navy workforce. The world of the ‘JRs’, as they were called, was often a very different one from the modern entry processes to the RAN. The majority served in warships before turning 18, some experiencing active service in the Indonesian Confrontation and the Vietnam War.

Before joining the Fleet, most of the boys trained for a year in the Junior Recruit Training Establishment located in HMAS Leeuwin, a Navy base located on the banks of the Swan River at Preston Point in Fremantle, Western Australia. Some received their junior recruit training at HMAS Cerberus, a base near Westernport south of Melbourne, Victoria.

Most of these former Junior Recruits have retired after serving Australia in peace and war for up to 40 years. However, some still serve throughout the three Services of the Australian Defence Force. I myself joined Leeuwin as a JR in 1970, making the long train journey from Queensland to Perth to pursue what has become my life’s career in the RAN.

This book is the story of their – our – experience while under training and of how, late in the 20th century, the Australian Navy still relied on boys to help crew its ships. It is also a record of a unique training scheme that had its origins in the Royal Navy of Nelson’s day, one that is unlikely to be used in the Australian Navy again. Paul Kerr, a junior recruit of the 60th intake, began researching and writing the story; it was completed by Brian Adams of the 22nd intake with the willing assistance of many other former junior recruits. Our gratitude is due to all of them for their tenacity and effort in recording this unusual chapter in the history of the RAN.

Vice Admiral RH Crane, AM, CSM, RAN
Chief of Navy

Canberra, December 2009