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Hector Macdonald (Hec) Waller (1900–1942)

by J. V. P. Goldrick

This article was published:

Hector Macdonald Laws Waller (1900-1942), by Joshua Smith, 1957

Hector Macdonald Laws Waller (1900-1942), by Joshua Smith, 1957

Australian War Memorial, ART27505

Hector Macdonald Laws (Hec) Waller (1900-1942), naval officer, was born on 4 April 1900 at Benalla, Victoria, youngest of ten children of William Frederick Waller, storekeeper, and his wife Helen, née Duncan, both Victorian born. Hec was educated at the Benalla Higher Elementary School and was appointed cadet midshipman in the Royal Australian Navy on 31 December 1913. He entered the R.A.N. College, Osborne House, Geelong (relocated at Jervis Bay, Federal Capital Territory, in 1915). Chief cadet captain in his final year, he was awarded the King's medal on graduating in 1917. On 1 January 1918 he was promoted midshipman.

Sent to Britain, Waller was appointed to the battleship H.M.S. Agincourt in the Grand Fleet in April. He transferred to the cruiser H.M.A.S. Melbourne in February 1919 and returned to Australia in April. Made acting sub-lieutenant in September that year and lieutenant in March 1921, he went to sea as a watch-keeper and undertook professional courses in Britain before joining the staff of the R.A.N.C. in March 1923. At the Methodist Church, Lewisham, Sydney, on 7 April that year he married Nancy Bowes.

Waller began training as a signals officer in England in 1924. He topped the advanced course and in May 1926 took charge of the Signals and Wireless-Telegraphy School at Flinders Naval Depot, Westernport, Victoria. In 1928-30 he served with the Royal Navy as signals officer in the destroyer leader H.M.S. Broke. A lieutenant commander from 1929, he was posted to the flagship of the Australian Squadron, H.M.A.S. Australia, as squadron signals officer in July 1930. He continued to specialize in communications, developing an impressive reputation. Promoted commander in 1934, he was appointed executive officer of the R.A.N.C., which had been moved to Flinders Naval Depot.

In 1936-37 Waller spent six months with the British Admiralty's Naval Intelligence Division before taking up an exchange posting as executive officer of the repair ship H.M.S. Resource. More importantly, in 1937-39 he commanded the destroyer H.M.S. Brazen. This was a learning experience for Waller, who found—as did many other specialists in their first seagoing command—that he needed to develop his shiphandling skills. In a busy fourteen months which included monitoring the Spanish Civil War, he learned his trade well.

After a short stint at Navy Office, Melbourne, in September 1939 Waller was given command of the destroyer leader H.M.A.S. Stuart. In December she and her four consorts arrived in the Mediterranean. Derisively nicknamed the 'Scrap-Iron Flotilla' by German propaganda, the Australian ships rapidly made their mark. Waller gained the respect of both the commander-in-chief, Admiral Sir Andrew (Viscount) Cunningham, and the vice admiral (destroyers), John (Baron) Tovey. The seamanship he displayed in the salvage of the disabled tanker Trocas confirmed their initial impressions. He was appointed to command the 10th Destroyer Flotilla (incorporating the Australian ships) in May 1940 and promoted captain on 30 June.

By this time Italy had entered the war. The flotilla took part in the battle of Calabria in July. For his 'courage, enterprise and devotion to duty', Waller was awarded the Distinguished Service Order in September. He won a Bar to his D.S.O. for the role played by Stuart in the battle of Matapan in March 1941. The flotilla continued to be prominent in operations off Greece and Crete, and along the North African coast, particularly in the 'Tobruk Ferry' which supplied the besieged fortress. When Prime Minister (Sir) Robert Menzies visited the Middle East that year, Cunningham introduced Waller to him as 'one of the greatest captains who ever sailed the seas'.

Twice mentioned in dispatches, Waller returned to Australia in September and next month took command of the cruiser H.M.A.S. Perth. In January 1942 the ship was sent to the American-British-Dutch-Australian area to help defend the Netherlands East Indies. The hastily assembled allied naval forces proved no match for the Japanese, and suffered severe losses in the battle of the Java Sea on 27 February. That night Waller withdrew Perth and her sole remaining consort, U.S.S. Houston. This action was later criticized by Waller's Dutch superior, Admiral C. E. L. Helfrich, because it contravened his instruction to fight to the last ship. But Waller, of all people, knew the difference between gallantry and suicide and had both the combat experience and the moral courage to make the distinction. There can be no doubt that his action was correct. The following day Perth and Houston attempted to break out of the archipelago but encountered a Japanese invasion convoy and its escort at the entrance to the Sunda Strait. The allied cruisers destroyed at least four transports and a minesweeper, but both were eventually sunk in the early hours of 1 March 1942.

Waller was listed as missing, presumed killed. Survived by his wife and their two sons, he was posthumously mentioned in dispatches. Cunningham wrote that Waller's death was 'a heavy deprivation for the young Navy of Australia'. He had been the outstanding officer of his generation. A Collins-class submarine, launched in 1997, was named after him. Joshua Smith's posthumous portrait of him is held by the Australian War Memorial, Canberra.

Select Bibliography

  • L. E. Clifford, The Leader of the Crocks (Melb, 1945)
  • F. B. Eldridge, A History of the Royal Australian Naval College (Melb, 1949)
  • A. B. Cunningham, A Sailor's Odyssey (Lond, 1951)
  • R. McKie, Proud Echo (Syd, 1953)
  • G. H. Gill, Royal Australian Navy 1939-1942 (Canb, 1957)
  • L. J. Lind and A. Payne, Scrap Iron Destroyers (Syd, 1976)
  • A. Payne, H.M.A.S. Perth (Syd, 1978)
  • Naval Historical Review, Aug 1972, p 5
  • Sydney Morning Herald, 14 Sept 1940, 5 Feb, 14 Mar 1942
  • private information.

Related Entries in NCB Sites

Citation details

J. V. P. Goldrick, 'Waller, Hector Macdonald (Hec) (1900–1942)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/waller-hector-macdonald-hec-11945/text21409, published first in hardcopy 2002, accessed online 29 March 2024.

This article was published in hardcopy in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 16, (Melbourne University Press), 2002

View the front pages for Volume 16

© Copyright Australian Dictionary of Biography, 2006-2024

Hector Macdonald Laws Waller (1900-1942), by Joshua Smith, 1957

Hector Macdonald Laws Waller (1900-1942), by Joshua Smith, 1957

Australian War Memorial, ART27505

Life Summary [details]

Birth

4 April, 1900
Benalla, Victoria, Australia

Death

1 March, 1942 (aged 41)
at sea

Occupation