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Bull Allen
Leslie ‘Bull’ Allen was a stretcher-bearer in the Middle East and New Guinea in the Second World War who displayed great bravery in rescuing the wounded.
His most celebrated act of heroism took place on the 30th July 1943 on Mount Tambu in New Guinea. He walked alone into a live battlefield and carried twelve wounded American soldiers out on his shoulders. Bull’s heroism was documented in a famous photograph by war correspondent Gordon Short. Bull was decorated by the US Government and awarded a US Silver Star for bravery, but his action on Tambu was never recognised by the Australian Government.
Born in Ballarat in 1916, Allen came from a background of hardship and poverty. He survived the war, returning home to Ballarat and raising a family, but suffered significant post-traumatic stress from his war experience. He died in 1982.
Film - 'In Memory of Bull Allen', 2013, Wind and Sky Productions
Courtesy of Wind & Sky Productions and Ballarat RSL
Film - 'In Memory of Bull Allen', 2013, Wind and Sky Productions
NARRATOR: That's where Bull Allen kept running out and bringing one in. 'Did you know that?' he asked me. He went again and came back. Go and get your mate. Jesus Christ. You think you'll make it back this time. They're having bets on it. He went again and came back.
That bloke should have got a case of medals. He had holes in his hat. He had holes in his sleeves. He had holes in his pants. He had holes under his shirt, and that bastard went in and out 12 times.
[SOFT CHATTER]
-It was amazing, because the story that I tell about dad and the action on Tambu. It was like a moon scape of mud and rubble, and trees that had been chopped down with machine gun fire. And dad come in there and helped them out, because their own medics had been shot. And there was an aura about him, because they was taking every bit of protection they could against machine gun fire from the Japs, and you'd just go and attend to whoever it was.
He didn't care about what was happening around him with the gun fire. His focus was to attend to those people that were injured. And the American said it was god sent, sent by god.
NARRATOR: A clean rifle may mean life or death in the jungle, and these are the Australians that defeated the Japs at Kokoda. Now, over trails never travelled by whites, they follow up the attack. Soldiers skilled in all the tricks of jungle warfare, with field motors and Tommy guns, they blast away at the slightest sound.
[GUN FIRE]
-The level of battles in New Guinea was usually at the company level, or smaller, down to section level. And so these were important engagements just fought between a few men, which made a difference. It wasn't a large scale battle at all.
NARRATOR: These dramatic pictures show the Australians opening their phase of the attack that took Salamaua.
VET: It was hell's battlefield. It was an extraordinary place to fight a battle-- the terrain, the climate, the insidious insects, the diseases, the malaria. It was just an extraordinary place to fight, let alone, against an enemy, like the Japanese, and they suffered even more so. But they were a tirelessly ruthless enemy, and they had to be fought on the ground to win that battle.
NARRATOR: In dugouts and foxholes, enemy dead marked the path of the Australians.
-The Australians had moved in initially at the start of July. And they had taken the Japanese by surprise at the southern end of Mount Tambu, and taken the main positions. They're held against considerable counter attacks. And then over the next week or two, had taken most of the top of the mountain, but hadn't taken this final highest position. Then the Americans moved up and took over from the Australians, and so you had the Americans and the Australians together on Mount Tambu at that stage.
-A chap had said-- an Australian had said that when he was on Tambu, it was some of the most formidable country that he had fought in. Now, you're fighting it. But to carry your men out in it is something special. And your dad, his uniform was just tatters from shrapnel and bullet. Your dad would certainly have felt fire going past him, yet, he continued on, doing what he did. That's amazing.
-They talk about 12. I talked to a person there by the name of Fritz. I can't think of his other name, a real big fellow. He's about 7 feet tall, I reckon, a real big fellow. And he was saying they'd talked about it, and there was more like eight airmen that he saved in such a short time. And even if he carried him length of a football field, imagine anyone doing it.
And he was telling me how they could see dad walking down along Kaffney's Track with the wounded over his shoulder, and snipers having a go at him. So they could see all this happening. Nothing they could to do about it, but they could see it happening.
-There's a lot of newspaper articles of different stories of his action and what it was like--
LESLIE ALLEN: Yeah.
- --carrying souls out of the mud. And not just a straight walk. It was like the down a gully, up a hill sort of thing, pretty steep hill. So it's ragged sort of stuff.
LESLIE ALLEN: Well, we're not superheroes.
BILL ALLEN: People have said, someone like that would probably never ever be able to do something like that again sort of thing.
LESLIE ALLEN: But he continued to do it.
-When you think the Americans bestowed on him their highest gallantry award, a silver star, without a doubt, if he had been an American, he would have been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Not only that, but if he'd been an American at Crystal Creek he would have probably got two congressional medals of honour.
-His childhood was not a good one. He was in and out of an orphanages from 11-years-old.
-Of a Sunday, we used to go around the car yards here in Ballarat, and he used to look at a Mercedes Benz. He said, oh, I've got to get one of those one day.
-We don't really probably understand just how much. And it's not only dad, it's other people, as well, like other soldiers that have gone too. We don't appreciate how much they probably put their life on the line for what we've got today.
-Absolutely.
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Courtesy of Wind & Sky Productions and Ballarat RSL
This short film tells the little-known story of Leslie ‘Bull’ Allen, brought up in hardship in Ballarat in regional Victoria, to become a courageous, complex war hero.
Corporal Leslie ‘Bull’ Allen was a stretcher bearer in the Australian Army in World War II who showed extraordinary bravery in recovering wounded men during battle. This short documentary tells the story behind the famous photograph of Allen carrying a wounded soldier over his back during the battle of Mt Tambu, New Guinea, in 1943. Allen was never officially recognised in Australia for his actions on that day.
Credits
Wind and Sky Productions
Written and produced by Jary Nemo and Lucinda Horrocks
Directed by Jary Nemo
Photograph - Gordon Short, 'Bull Allen on Mount Tambu, 30 July 1943', 1943, Australian War Memorial Photograph Collection
Courtesy of Australian War Memorial (Item Number 015515)
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Courtesy of Australian War Memorial (Item Number 015515)
This famous photograph by war correspondent Gordon Short captures Leslie ‘Bull’ Allen rescuing a wounded soldier on Mount Tambu, New Guinea, 30 July 1943.
Allen was awarded a US Silver Star for action on this day. He had been awarded an Australian Military Medal for a similar act of bravery involving Australian casualties at Crystal Creek a few months before.
The Australian War Memorial record for the photograph states: “1943-07-30. Mount Tambu, New Guinea. 2/5th Battalion stretcher bearer Corporal Leslie (Bull) Allen MM, age 26, of Ballarat, Vic, carrying to safety an American soldier who had been knocked unconscious by a mortar bomb. Allen carried out twelve American casualties while under fire on Mount Tambu. For this gallantry he received the United States Silver Star. He had won his Military Medal as a Private on 7 February 1943 at Crystal Creek, Wau. (Negative by G. Short).”
Photograph - Robert John Buchanan, 'Australian Signalmen of the 17th Australian Infantry Brigade Headquarters and the 6th Australian Division on Guadagasal Ridge, Salamaua Area', 7 July 1943, Australian War Memorial Photograph Collection
Courtesy of Australian War Memorial (Item Number 054508)
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Courtesy of Australian War Memorial (Item Number 054508)
Steep Ridges
The terrain in New Guinea was steep and treacherous, covered with the infamous 'razorback ridges.' Here, signal operators of the 17th Australian Infantry Brigade Headquarters and the 6th Australian Division carry supplies down Guadagasal Ridge, in the Mubo-Salamaua area, 7 July 1943.
Photograph - Robert John Buchanan, 'Troops of the 2/5th Battalion Encounter Heavy Going on the Mount Tambu Track, Salamaua Area', 23 July 1943, Australian War Memorial Photograph Collection
Courtesy of Australian War Memorial (Item Number 056762)
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Courtesy of Australian War Memorial (Item Number 056762)
Muddy Terrain
The jungle terrain was not only steep it was damp and muddy. This made travelling slow and warfare difficult. Pictured here are members of Bull’s Battalion, the 2/5th, attempting to navigate the slope of the Mount Tambu track, 23 July 1943.
Photograph - Robert John Buchanan, 'Men of "D" Company, 2/5th Battalion Covering Track from a Captured Japanese Weapon Pit, 50 Yards from the Japanese Lines, Salamaua Area', 23 July 1943, Australian War Memorial Photograph Collection
Courtesy of Australian War Memorial (Item Number 056767)
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Courtesy of Australian War Memorial (Item Number 056767)
Dangerous Foe
The Japanese were skilled at jungle warfare, and would build dangerous camouflaged 'nests' or 'pits' from which to ambush their enemies. This photograph features members of Bull’s company – “D” Company of the 2/5th Battalion, covering a track from a captured Japanese weapons pit, 50 yards from the Japanese lines, near Mount Tambu in the Salamaua area, 23 July 1943. This photograph is taken near the time that Australian forces tried to take Tambu.
Postcard - 'Leslie "Bull" Allen and Two Other Soldiers', c. 1939-1943, Allen Family Private Collection
Courtesy of Allen Family Private Collection
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Courtesy of Allen Family Private Collection
This wartime Christmas postcard was sent by Bull back to his family. The studio photograph on it features Bull Allen (standing, right) and two other Australian soldiers.
Postcard - 'Leslie "Bull" Allen and Two Other Soldiers, Detail', c. 1939-1943, Allen Family Private Collection
Courtesy of Allen Family Private Collection
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Postcard - Leslie Allen, 'Leslie "Bull" Allen and Two Other Soldiers, Reverse', c. 1939-1943, Allen Family Private Collection
Courtesy of Allen Family Private Collection
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The reverse is written in Bull’s hand and reads "Dear Auntie and Family. I think this his [sic] the best Xmas card I can send to you all. Les Allen 12513. May you pluck lifes [sic] way / Roses fragrant roses gay / May serene uncloud skies Shine where'er, your Pathway lies / And may love forever near Guide you through The coming year."
Photograph - 'Leslie "Bull" Allen and Two Men in the Snow in Syria', c. 1941, Allen Family Private Collection
Courtesy of Allen Family Private Collection
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Courtesy of Allen Family Private Collection
Greetings from Syria
This photograph is of Bull in the snow (marked with the ‘x’) with two other men, taken in Syria.
Photograph - Leslie Allen, 'Leslie "Bull" Allen and Two Men in the Snow in Syria, Reverse', c. 1941, Allen Family Private Collection
Courtesy of Allen Family Private Collection
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The reverse is written in Bull’s hand and reads: "This is taken in Syria in the snow you would have a fair Idear [sic] of what it was like your Brother Les."
Photograph - Thornton Studios, 'Springbank Premiers', 1939, Allen Family Private Collection
Courtesy of Allen Family Private Collection
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Courtesy of Allen Family Private Collection
Bull in a China Shop
Bull earned his nickname from his notorious football-playing technique - he would knock players over, even those on his own team. His friends said he played football like a ‘Bull in a China shop.’ Bull played football for Springbank, a country football team in the Bungaree-Gordon area. In this 1939 photograph of the premier team Bull is standing in the back row on the far right.
Photograph - 'Bull on Construction Site, Ballarat', c. 1945-49, Allen Family Private Collection
Courtesy of Allen Family Private Collection
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Courtesy of Allen Family Private Collection
Life After War
Bull survived the war, though not unscathed. He was medically discharged in 1944 for “constitutional temperamental instability and emotional retardation with anxiety symptoms.” He had already experienced a bout in hospital for anxiety neurosis in Palestine in 1941, and after the action on Mount Tambu Bull started displaying volatile and erratic behaviour. He suffered psychologically from the effects of war. ‘War anxiety’ or ‘anxiety neurosis’, which was known as ‘shell shock’ in World War One, is known as post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, today.
Plaque - Jary Nemo (photographer), 'Commemorating the Bravery of Cpl. L.C. Allen', c. 1979, Ballarat Returned Servicemen's League
Courtesy of Ballarat Returned Servicemen's League, production still from 'In Memory of Bull Allen', 2013, held George Hotel, Ballarat
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Courtesy of Ballarat Returned Servicemen's League, production still from 'In Memory of Bull Allen', 2013, held George Hotel, Ballarat
Bull's Plaque
This plaque at the Ballarat RSL Headquarters at the George Hotel Ballarat commemorates Bull Allen’s bravery. It originally hung on the wall of the CPL L.C. Allen MM Canteen at Puckapunyal, which was officially named on the 8 December 1979.
TRANSCRIPT
"THE CPL L.C. ALLEN MM CANTEEN WAS OFFICIALLY NAMED ON 8 DEC 79
CPL Leslie Clarence Allen served with the 2/5 Bn AIF. During the New Guinea offensive in 1943 he was awarded the Military Medal and the American Silver Star for bravery in action."
Envelope - 'Letter from Eleanor Roosevelt', 1962, Allen Family Private Collection
Courtesy of Allen Family Private Collection
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In the years after Bull’s action on Tambu saving wounded US soldiers, he received many letters of thanks from American families.
Eleanor Roosevelt wrote several letters to Bull and his family. Bull named his only daughter ‘Eleanor’ to honour the US’s wartime First Lady.
This envelope from New York is postmarked "New York 30 Nov 1962" with "From Eleanor Roosevelt USA" handwritten on the front.
Medal - 'Silver Star Awarded to Leslie Allen', 1943, Ballarat Returned Servicemen's League
Courtesy of Ballarat Returned Servicemen's League, issued by US Government, held George Hotel, Ballarat
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Courtesy of Ballarat Returned Servicemen's League, issued by US Government, held George Hotel, Ballarat
Silver Star
Photograph of Bull’s Silver Star medal, awarded to him for bravery on Mt Tambu 30 July 1943 by the US Government. Bull’s Silver Star is on display at the Ballarat RSL Headquarters at the George Hotel Ballarat.
