Leonard George Siffleet was an Australian commando of World War II.
Born in Gunnedah, New South Wales, he joined the Second Australian Imperial
Force in 1941, and by 1943 had reached the rank of sergeant. Posted to M
Special Unit of the Services Reconnaissance Department, Siffleet was
on a mission in Papua New Guinea when he and two Ambonese companions were
captured by partisan tribesmen and handed over to the Japanese. All three
men were interrogated, tortured and later beheaded. A photograph of
Siffleet's impending execution became an enduring image of the war, and his
identity was often confused with that of other servicemen who suffered a similar
fate, in particular Flight Lieutenant Bill Newton, VC.
Early life Len Siffleet was born on 14 January 1916
in Gunnedah, New South Wales. The son of an itinerant worker of Dutch ancestry,
his siblings included a sister and two brothers. Siffleet made his way to
Sydney in the late 1930s, seeking to join the police force, but was prevented
from doing so because of his eyesight. He was nevertheless called up for the
militia in August 1940, and attached to a searchlight unit at RAAF Station
Richmond. Discharged from the militia after three
months, Siffleet returned to his family to help look after his young brothers
following their mother's death. He was working as a shop assistant when he
enlisted in the Second Australian Imperial Force in September 1941.
Allotted to a signals company based at Ingleburn, New South Wales, he was
reported absent without leave on two occasions; he was by this time engaged
to Clarice Lane. New Guinea campaign
After training in radio communications at Melbourne Technical College, Siffleet
volunteered for special operations in September 1942 and was posted to the
Services Reconnaissance Department of the Allied Intelligence Bureau in
Melbourne. He joined Z Special Unit in October and was transferred to Cairns in
Far North Queensland for further operational training. Assigned to the
SRD's Dutch section as a radio operator, Siffleet was promoted sergeant in May
1943. He moved across to M Special Unit the same month to take part in a mission
to set up a coastwatching station in the hills behind Hollandia in Papua New
Guinea. Described by Commander Eric Feldt, director of the Coastwatchers, as
"the best type of N.C.O. of the A.I.F., young and competent", Siffleet joined a
party led by Sergeant H. N. Staverman of the Royal Netherlands Navy, which
included two Ambonese privates, H. Pattiwal and M. Reharing. Code-named
"Whiting", this team was to work in concert with another group known as
"Locust", led by Lieutenant Jack Fryer. Staverman's reconnaissance group
commenced its mission in north-east New Guinea in July, trekking across
mountainous terrain through August and September. At some point Staverman and
Pattiwal separated from the others to undertake further exploration of the
countryside, and were ambushed by a group of natives. Both were captured and
reported as killed, but Pattiwal later escaped and rejoined Siffleet and
Reharing. Siffleet signalled Fryer to warn him of the hostile natives and of
Japanese patrols, indicating that he was preparing to burn his party's codes and
bury its radio. No more was heard from them after early October. Clarice Lane
had in the meantime received two letters from the Allied Intelligence Bureau in
July and September, stating that Siffleet was "safe and well".
Death and legacy After Pattiwal rejoined Siffleet and
Reharing, they attempted to make their way to the Dutch border. They were
ambushed by a hundred native villagers near Aitape and, after a brief melée
during which Siffleet shot and wounded one of their attackers, the group was
captured and handed over to the Japanese. Interrogated and tortured, the
team was confined for approximately two weeks before being taken down to Aitape
Beach on the afternoon of 24 October 1943. Bound and blindfolded, surrounded
by Japanese and native onlookers, they were forced to the ground and executed
by beheading, on the orders of Vice-Admiral Michiaki Kamada of the
Imperial Japanese Navy. The officer who executed Siffleet, Yasuno Chikao,
detailed a private to photograph him in the act. Chikao has been variously
reported as having died before the end of the war, and as having been captured
and sentenced to be hanged, with his sentence subsequently commuted to 10
years' imprisonment. The photograph of Siffleet's execution
was discovered on the body of a dead Japanese major near Hollandia by
American troops in April 1944. It is believed to be the only surviving
depiction of a western prisoner of war being executed by a Japanese soldier.
The photo was published in Australian newspapers and in Life magazine but was
thought to depict Flight Lieutenant Bill Newton VC, who had been captured in
Salamaua, Papua New Guinea, and beheaded on 29 March 1943. It later went on
display at the Australian War Memorial. Elsewhere, despite positive
identification in 1945 of Siffleet as the soldier pictured, the image
continues on occasion to be misidentified as Newton. Siffleet is
commemorated on the Lae Memorial in Lae, Papua New Guinea, together with all
other Commonwealth war dead from actions in the region who have no known grave. A
memorial park commemorating Siffleet was also dedicated at Aitape in May 2015.
Notes References
Adam-Smith, Patsy. Prisoners of War: From Gallipoli to Korea. Ringwood,
Victoria: Penguin Books Australia. ISBN 0-670-90308-6.
Dexter, David. Australia in the War of 1939–1945: Series 1 Volume VI – The New
Guinea Offensives. Canberra: Australian War Memorial.
Feldt, Eric. The Coastwatchers. Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
Ind, Colonel Allison. Allied Intelligence Bureau. New York: David
McKay Company. Lakin, Shuane. Contact: Photographs from
the Australian War Memorial Collection. Canberra: Australian War Memorial. ISBN
0-9751904-6-6. McKernan, Michael. The Strength of a
Nation. Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-74114-714-X.
Richmond, Keith. "'Locust', 'Whiting' and New Britain: Guy Black's covert war
with M and Z Units". Sabretache.