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Wally was born on August 31st, 1914, at Sister Turner's nursing home, Adelaide. His father was Walter George Spooner and his mother Mary Adelaide McCarthy.  Wally was made a ward of the State as a baby and remarked that ‘it was a thing that I was very bitter about during my childhood and teens. To me it always had a stigma about it.

 He was fostered by Elizabeth and Patrick Farrell at 14 months and this family raised him at Meadows in the Adelaide Hills.  Wally related to me how the teachers at the Meadows Primary School gave him a tough time because he was a foster child and Catholic.  Wally eventually learned to stick up for himself including threatening to clobber a teacher who kept harassing him.  Wally had a happy childhood with memories of picnics, race days, shows, card evenings, and rabbit shooting being particular highlights.  In the years after leaving school at 14 he worked around the Meadows district fencing, wattle barking, wood cutting, milking cows, hay carting and general farm work.

 In 1936 Wally joined the South Australian Militia Forces at Strathalbyn. His Unit was the 18th Light Horse (Mechanised) Machine Gun Regiment.  At 25 in 1941 he joined the 2/3rd Machine Gun Battalion reinforcements.  He recalls leaving home for his posting:

 On the Monday morning caught the bus just outside our Echunga home. As the bus moved off I looked out the rear window and saw Mum still standing there waving, with a handkerchief up to her eyes. Even today I can still see that dear lady, the dearest of dearest, standing there lost and dejected. I was never to see that dear face again.

 In September 1941, Wally sailed on the Queen Mary from Sydney to Egypt and traveled through Palestine to Lebanon.  The Battalion was involved in an occupation force after the defeat if the Vichy French forces in Lebanon and Syria.  Wally was stationed in the town of Fih near Tripoli and he stated that :

“I grew to love these people and believe me it was reciprocated. It was home from home, and another milestone along the road to education by experience. I for one will never forget those people in Lebanon.”

 Japan entered the war and Australian Prime Minister John Curtin was eventually able to recall Australian troops from Europe and the Middle east back home. Wally recounts:

 We sailed to Colombo. Singapore fell during this journey. We were anchored at Colombo wharf for around three days, but no‑one went ashore as we were confined to ship. We finally sailed from that port and headed in a southerly general direction and continued on this course for days. We must have been deep into the Indian Ocean. We all thought hurrah, we are going home. Then, late one afternoon a Corvette appeared out of nowhere and signals were flashed. Our course changed, we knew then where we were heading - the Netherlands East Indies. My heart fell and my dream was beginning to come true. During this voyage our officers read daily a bulletin of the greatest hogwash anyone was made to listen to. It concerned the inadequacies of the Japanese Forces.

 Wally ended up in Java engaging the advancing Japanese.  The defending forces tried to retreat and those who escaped by ship were doomed as all the vessels were sunk in the Saundra Straits.  The Dutch and British surrendered Java on March 9, 1942. 

 Recalling this episode later Wally was comforted that:

 Perhaps our stand in Java, although brief, was not in vain, as we all thought. We were told later by authentic sources that a strong Japanese force was recalled to Java. They were in ship convoy on their way to New Guinea and Australia.

 Wally remained in Japanese POW camps in Java for several months and then was taken in January 1943 by ship and train to Changi Camp and then other camps on the Thai- Burma railway. 

 He was a tough man with a penchant for finding humour in adversity and recounts a story from the voyage from Java:

"It was our third day out and I yelled at him (the guard) in good old Aussie terms where to go and where to put his head. Unfortunately seems he understood English. I was hauled up on deck and received a bashing. Apart from the contempt and hate I felt …I enjoyed the whole affair. At least I received some much needed fresh air and was made to stand at attention for an hour. I didn't think this was punishment at all and was highly amused at the outcome. Every now and then he would come and scream me in Japanese and my greatest pain was in stopping myself from bursting out laughing in his face. To have done that could have proved fatal. However, discretion being the better part of valour, I kept my mouth shut in future."

 Wally learned even more the value of mates in this period:

 "A word about mates. Almost everyone was mates in one way or another. However, we all had our little group of special mates, just like a family. We stuck very close together in these circumstances. It is difficult for me to explain on paper how close this relationship was, closer really than a family at home. We shared all and completely depended and relied on each member of the group, especially in times of sickness and great difficulties. Without this great mateship I doubt if many of us would have survived."

During this period as a POW he experienced and witnessed many brutalities.  He survived trauma, dysentery, diarrhoea, scabies, malnutrition, malaria and cardiac berri-berri:

 "Among other things, I had developed chronic diarrhoea, caused by overwork and an improper diet. The diet was awful, mildewed rice, dried vegetables which were half rotten and an occasional piece of dried fish or meat. Bad enough for a fit man to get down, let alone someone ill. I had terrible difficulty eating it. I used to retch with every mouthful, but sheer determination prevailed and eat it I did. Everyday I spoke to myself and always said "You are not going to lay and rot in this stinking jungle". It worked because I can assure everyone that my head was well on the chopping block every day I was becoming weaker. I do not know even today how I survived. Faith had a lot to do with it. I never lost that and I hung on grimly and I must be honest, sometimes I wondered. One existed on a day‑to‑day effort only. Tomorrow was another day and so on."

 The mental anguish of Wally was evident

"Most of us were now too far gone for this to do any good. I was no exception, I was down to about 6 1/2 stone. I used to literally drag myself to work and back and perform the day's work in a nightmare dream. How I did this I'll never know. My faith and my love for all the folk back home was what I hung on to…"

 And later:

"I was beyond this hard gruelling work on the railroad … I stuck it for two days, the last one being terrible. Guess I was next door to death, don't know how I survived that day and half the night. It was midnight when I got back to camp. Vaguely I recall it was about 9.00 p.m. when they knocked us off.  It took me from then until midnight to make it back to camp, that's how weak I was. I kept falling, slipping and falling. I remember it would have been between 11.00 p.m. and 11.30 p.m. when I was standing at the top of the cliffs. I had to negotiate. I was sobbing and desperate and at the end of the line. Momentarily I stood there at the top, fully aware, and I was contemplating ending it all there and then, suicide. All I had to do was step out into space. As I wavered there a vision of Mum's face appeared. That face was full of meaning. Sorrow was evident, also horror at me for my thoughts. It was there only for an instant, but that saved my life. Readers may say that it was only a figment of imagination, but I have other ideas. That face was sent to me at my hour of greatest need and saved me from a foolish act. I never ever faced this same ordeal again.  I climbed down the steps and back to camp. Major Corlette knew I was out working and was waiting up for me. I was sobbing like a child, even as I write this after all these years my eyes are misty, so vivid is the scene. He put his arm around me, as a father would to a son, and said "Son, you will not go out there again, believe me". He handed me a cup of soup and told me to drink it.

 Afterwards he showered me, assisted by a medical orderly, then took me to the hospital and put me to bed. Is it any wonder that I had great love for this little hard faced man with a heart as big as an elephant. Words on paper can never express this. I owe this great man my life."

 Eventually the war ended:

 "We all prayed as one and our prayers were always to the Holy Mother of God, Mary Most Holy. Father Burke was responsible for this. Our prayers were answered on August 15, Feast of the Assumption, the war ended. Take this for what it's worth to you, but to me this had a great significance and one I and many more are never likely to forget. She answered our prayers, full stop!

 About 2.00 am. on the morning of August 31st we moved out of camp and boarded a train, open trucks, but we couldn't care less and at 3.00 am. the train moved out. I shall never forget it, it was my 31st birthday. Best birthday present ever. No man could have wished for more, we were starting our return home. Everyone on my truck and others next to us sang Happy Birthday. I cried. Three and a half long years I had been a POW and had made it. Those years, believe me, seemed like 10 years…"

 Arriving back in Australia was a profound moment for Wally:

"Finally the huge coastline of dear old Australia loomed in our windows and we were nearly home. I could never put on paper what my feelings were as we touched down. This was my dear homeland Australia. When the hatch was opened and we walked down the gangway I went down on my knees and thanked God, and scooped up a handful of red earth and literally kissed it and vowed I would never leave its shores again for conflict in another land. I could go on and on, but to explain one's feelings at a moment like this is nigh impossible."

 In the years after the war Wally’s mental and physical health was fragile.  He started work in the Post Master General’s department in 1947, becoming a lineman and over time a supervisor and manager.  This was the stepping stone to a good career with the PMG and later, Telecom. He was a manager to large groups of men and had a huge work load running projects in the South east, Riverland, the red Centre and Northern territory and elsewhere.  Wally stated:

 "My… last management job was the laying of a coaxial cable from Pt. Augusta to Cobar in New South Wales, via mainly the Barrier Highway. This was a job I really liked and what I was really cut out for, managing large gangs of men, equipment and working to a schedule."

Wally’s body and mind were ravaged over the years but we should remember that in his prime he was strong and athletic:

 "I played by far my best football in the army, mainly because of fitness and my brain was keen due to physical training. I was never brilliant, but just a handy rugged follower and defender. I could turn and dodge quickly. I think I developed this through amateur army boxing and unarmed combat which I used to participate in whenever the opportunity arose. I was also strong at the inter‑camps sport in Palestine. I won the trophy against all corners in the Scratch Pull."

 Even at the end of 2006 Wally still walked everywhere, caught buses to events like mass at the Cathedral his regular lunch with the POWs (all with 5% sight) and was mentally ‘as sharp as a tack’. 

 In his later years Wally was very active in Legacy and other community causes.  As his sight faded he moved to the Blind Welfare units at Gilles Plains. 

I would like to emphasize that Wally was a man of  faith.  He was baptised at Burra and brought up Catholic.  However his war time experiences most profoundly shaped his faith.  While on guard duty on Christmas Eve in Lebanon in 1941 he reflected that:

 "I think by living in these countries, where Christ actually walked and taught his message, and visiting many holy places and the shrines, entering and leaving villages, brought home to many the true meaning of Christ's coming, his life on earth, his death on the cross, the resurrection and ascension ‑ all that Christianity stands for."

 It was during the harsh years as a POW that his faith deepened with the encouragement of others and the instruction of the Chaplains who visited the POW camps.  His journey of faith was marked by several special moments.  One was the day of ending of the war in the Pacific on August 15 1945 – The Feast of the Assumption.  Wally developed a deep devotion to Mary the Mother of God from this time and this relationship sustained him over the rest of his life when rosary beads were never far from him…

 Secondly, his foster mother passed away during Wally’s time as a POW not knowing whether he was alive.  At a moment of desolation when he contemplated ending it all (story mentioned above) Wally ascribed a vision of his mother to the intercession of Mary, Mother of God, and this vision sustained him.

 Finally, the visit of Pope John Paul II to Adelaide in 1986 was another key moment for Wally.  He was deeply moved by this man and often spoke of him as an inspiration for his life and faith. The death of John Paul II was something Wally spoke about as his health started to fade, an example for him to follow.  He was so proud to receive a papal blessing from Pope John Paul II on his 90th Birthday.

 In his writing Wally reflected on his faith journey and particularly his struggle to forgive:

 "It's hard to believe that after almost 40 years recalling the events of those lost years could have caused me to have a mental breakdown, so badly did it affect me. It's understandable I guess because of the horrific experience culminated over three and a half years of captivity. One cannot live in the past, nor bear malice or hate, and those years are best forgotten. A new generation has arisen since these sad events occurred and it would be completely wrong to hold them responsible for the past. As Christians we are taught to forgive and forget, like Christ did when he was nailed to and dying on the cross. He beseeched his Father in Heaven to forgive his persecutors because they didn’t know any better. So it was with the Japanese. In those bad days, they knew no better. War does no good for anyone, all it leaves in its wake is death, destruction and the needless loss of thousands upon thousands of young men's and women's lives throughout the nations concerned. Let's hope that we can look forward to a long reign of peace for all nations, remembering that it was purchased with barrels upon barrels of human blood.

 I used to be very bitter against the Japanese and Koreans, but have mellowed through the years. That all happened 50 years ago. One can hardly blame the present generation of Japanese for the sins of their forefathers. Hopefully this summary is of historic interest to all my readers, especially as I was involved in all this and is the absolute truth by one who was there."

 

And so in conclusion:

We give thanks to God for Wally

Grateful that he passed our way and befriended us

Self deprecating

Without guile

One full of the character and spirit of our nation

A man from a different age

Your star has fallen in the dark of night

This darkness colder and blacker now

we feel your absence

bereft

agitated

We know something rare has passed into memory

Someone who healed our hearts

embodying our hope

That suffering will not destroy us

that unforgivable may be forgiven

That faith will endure trial

That friendship will salve the deepest wounds

You learned mateship on foreign fields

A way of survival against war’s curse

Amongst men who became accidental heroes through their trials

And through mateship true friendship

Enduring, loyal and honest

You loved to stride out

work and travel this broad, hard land

To visit and make friends

These a comfort against the terrors that haunted you

Wally

We mediate upon your life

We salute you

We celebrate your memory

We seek to live your legacy

Part of Eulogy for Wally Spooner, delivered by friend Mark McCarthy at his Requiem Mass, St Paul of the Cross Church, Glen Osmond Adelaide.  24 July 2007.