Jack Wong Sue Explained

Jack Wong Sue
Birth Date:12 September 1925
Birth Place:Perth, Western Australia
Death Place:Perth, Western Australia
Allegiance:Australia
Branch:Royal Australian Air Force
Serviceyears:1943–1946
Rank:Leading Aircraftman[1]
Servicenumber:83783
Unit:Z Special Unit No. 82 Operational Base Unit
Battles:
Awards:Medal of the Order of Australia
Distinguished Conduct Medal

Jack Wong Sue, (12 September 1925 – 16 November 2009), also known as Jack Sue, was a Chinese Australian from Perth, Western Australia.[2] Wong Sue served as a member of the commando/special reconnaissance section, Z Special Unit,[3] during the Second World War and was decorated with the Distinguished Conduct Medal. After the war, Wong Sue was a businessman, owning a diving store in the Perth suburb of Midland. He was also an author, a guide for tours of Borneo and a musician, who performed with bands in Perth for about 60 years.[2]

War service

On 25 September 1943, Wong Sue joined the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). During 1945, Wong Sue was among members of Z Special Unit who landed in Borneo, as part of Operation Agas 3.[4] He reached the substantive rank of leading aircraftman,[5] but acted as a sergeant for an extended period and was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM).[6]

In 2010, Australian military historian Lynette Silver disputed claims made by Wong Sue in his memoirs and said that official archives prove that he "lied". In particular, she questioned Wong Sue's claims that he:

In early 2011, Jack Wong Sue's son, Barry, released a report in which he refuted the claims made by Silver against his father.[8] [9]

Return to civilian life

Wong Sue was discharged from the RAAF on 21 January 1946, after which he returned to Perth and subsequently opened a retail store devoted to diving equipment in Midland, the first such store in Western Australia.[10] On 13 September 1958, Wong Sue and his family were injured in a car accident near Kalamunda that resulted in the death of the driver of the other vehicle.[11]

His published works include two books published circa 2001: a memoir of his military service, Blood on Borneo, and a collection of anecdotes regarding a 1963 shipwreck, Ghost of the Alkimos. In 2006, Wong Sue was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for "service to the community, particularly through the preservation and recording of military and maritime history."[12] He died in a Perth hospice, aged 84, on 16 November 2009.[13]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Jack Wong Sue. Honours and Awards. Australian War Memorial. 13 August 2016.
  2. Web site: Jack Wong Sue: About. jackwongsue.com. 13 August 2016.
  3. Web site: Nicolaides. Harry. Mind Your Language, Mr Howard. https://web.archive.org/web/20140227082340/http://australiansall.com.au/archive/post/mind-your-language-mr-howard/. Australians All: Justice, Security, a Fair Go. 27 February 2014.
  4. Agas is a Malay word for "gnat". Agas 3 was also known as Phase IV of Operation Stallion. Ooi Keat Gin, "Prelude to invasion: covert operations before the re-occupation of Northwest Borneo, 1944–45", Journal of the Australian War Memorial (No. 37, October 2002)
  5. Web site: WW2 Nominal Roll, WONG SUE, JACK. 3 May 2020. Australian Government.
  6. Web site: It's an Honour website. 12 April 2008. Australian Government . https://web.archive.org/web/20110526093111/http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/honours/honour_roll/search.cfm?aus_award_id=1069314&search_type=simple&showInd=true . 26 May 2011.
  7. Web site: Historian casts doubt on war hero's record . The West Australian. Rod . Moran. 9 July 2010. 3 May 2020.
  8. News: Phillips. Yasmine. Jack Sue did not fabricate his wartime heroics, says his son. 17 April 2011. The Sunday Times. 16 April 2011.
  9. Web site: Silver vs Jack Wong Sue Report. 4 September 2010. Australian Investigation Corporation. Scribd. 13 August 2016.
  10. Web site: Jack Wong Sue: World War Two Hero. jackwongsue.com. 13 August 2016.
  11. News: The West Australian . 15 September 1958.
  12. Web site: Sue, Jack Wong awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia. It's and Honour. Australian Government. 12 December 2017.
  13. Web site: World War II hero dies . . 16 November 2009.