Brigadier General Robert Heber Van Volkenburgh

BRIGADIER GENERAL ROBERT HEBER VAN VOLKENBURGH
COMMANDING OFFICER 40TH COAST ARTILLERY BRIGADE
IN AUSTRALIA DURING WWII

Brigadier General Robert Heber Van Volkenburgh was an important but rather overlooked American antiaircraft commander in the early Southwest Pacific Area SWPA campaign, closely associated with General Douglas MacArthur, Port Moresby, the proposed Buna operation called Providence, and later the American antiaircraft organisation headquartered in Brisbane.

Robert Heber Van Volkenburgh was born in Detroit on 5 February 1890 and graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1913. He was a career Coast Artillery Corps officer specialising in coastal and antiaircraft defence.

His pre-war career is significant because he had unusually broad staff and technical experience. He served on the War Department General Staff, attended the Naval War College, commanded Coast Artillery units in Hawaii, and was the antiaircraft artillery officer of the Fourth Army before the Pacific War.

His promotion to temporary Brigadier General was authorised in September 1941, just before the United States entered the war. The Congressional Record identifies him as Colonel Robert Heber Van Volkenburgh, Coast Artillery Corps, appointed to Brigadier General.

Van Volkenburgh commanded the 40^th Coast Artillery Brigade from 17 November 1941 until 28 August 1944 according to the detailed U.S. General-Officer chronology.

The following units boarded HMT Queen Mary at Boston, Massachusetts on 18 February 1942:-

Headquarters and Headquarters Battery
‘A' Battery
'B' Battery
'C' Battery
'D' Battery

Headquarters and Headquarters Battery
‘E' Battery
'F' Battery
'G' Battery
‘H' Battery

Headquarters and Headquarters Battery
‘I’ Battery
'K' Battery
'L' Battery
‘M' Battery
Medical Detachment

Headquarters and Headquarters Battery
'A' Battery
‘B' Battery
'C' Battery
'D' Battery
Medical Detachment

Headquarters and Headquarters Battery
'A' Battery
‘B' Battery
‘C' Battery
'D' Battery
Medical Detachment

The 40^th Coast Artillery Brigade (AA) arrived in Sydney, Australia on the HMT Queen Mary as part of Task Force 5691 (East) in the early evening of 28 March 1942.

They boarded troop trains near the wharves and departed for Brisbane in south east Queensland arriving there on the evening of 29 March 1942. The Brigade proceeded to Camp Doomben and temporary Headquarters were established at Ascot Racecourse the following day.

6^th AA Btry, RAA (8 – 3.7” guns) – Brisbane
16^th AA Btry, RAA (8 – 3.7” guns) – Townsville
154^th Lt AA Btry, RAA (12 – 40mm guns) – Brisbane
2/9^th Aust Lt AA Btry, RAA (12 – 40mm guns) – Townsville
56^th AA Coy, RAE (8 – Slt stations) – Brisbane
68^th AA Coy, RAE (8- Slt stations) – Brisbane
71^st AA Coy, RAE (8 Slt stations) – Townsville
6^th AA Workshop, AAOC – Brisbane
16^th AA Ordnance Workshop, Hvy, AAOC – Townsville
56^th AA Slt Ordnance Workshop, Hvy, AAOC - Brisbane

On 1 April 1942 Brig Gen Van Volkenburgh made a reconnaissance of airfields and other important installations in northern and western Queensland. He also travelled to Port Moresby. On his return to Brisbane he recommended that one automatic Weapons Battalion be sent to Port Moresby to stop the low-level Japanese aircraft that were regularly making harassing attacks on Port Moresby. The 101^st CA Battalion (AA) (Sep) was sent to Port Moresby on 26 April 1942.

On 8 May 1942 Headquarters NEAAC relocated to the 4^th floor of the Rich Building on the corner of Wharf and Adelaide Streets in the Brisbane city area. The Rich Building also provided living and messing facilities for the enlisted men, a complete medical and dental clinic and a complete photographic laboratory. The officers were quartered at the Montpelier Hotel on nearby Wickham Terrace.

In July 1942, General Douglas MacArthur selected Van Volkenburgh to command a special task force associated with the proposed occupation of Buna, on the north coast of Papua. The operation was given the code name PROVIDENCE.

The 40^th Coast Artillery Brigade (AA) and presumably NEAAC and Brig Gen Van Volkenburgh moved from Brisbane to Townsville by rail on 26 July 1942 arriving in Townsville on 29 July 1942. They camped at Camp Cutheringa in Townsville.

Brigadier Burrows of 1 Aust Infantry Brigade in the Newcastle area received a signal to advise that HQ 1 Aust Infantry Brigade and the Signal Section would come under the control of Brigadier Van Volkenburgh, Commander Northeastern Antiaircraft Artillery Command (NEAAC) in Townsville from 24 July 1942. In a further signal Brigadier Burrows was directed to report to Brigadier Van Volkenburgh in Townsville as soon as possible for “personal liaison”.

Operation PROVIDENCE was eventually cancelled due to the Japanese occupying the area before PROVIDENCE could be activated. See more information on PROVIDENCE further below.

On 27 September 1942, Brig Gen Van Volkenburgh and Captain Cleveland as Aide-de-camp were placed on detached service and the General was assigned to command the Joint Operations Overseas Training School JOOTS at Port Stephens in New South Wales.

Brig Gen Van Volkenburgh and his aide returned from JOOTS on 15 March 1943 and the General resumed command of the 40^th Coast Artillery Brigade (AA) which by then was located at Port Moresby. The General, by agreement with New Guinea Force, assumed command of AA defences in New Guinea, except for Merauke, which was under the control of the First Australian Army. His command was known as Antiaircraft Defense Command, New Guinea Force.

Whilst Van Volkenburgh went on leave from 20 January 1944 until 4 February 1944, Colonel H.L. Chandler assumed command.

Brig Gen Van Volkenburgh met with General Douglas MacArthur on two occasions. Initially for a short while at noon on Saturday 18 April 1942 in the General’s GHQ SWPA in Collins Street in Melbourne and again at noon on Tuesday 9 March 1943 in his relocated GHQ SWPA in Brisbane.

The objective of Providence was not initially to launch a major ground offensive against Buna. It was to:-

The U.S. Army history says that Van Volkenburgh was to command Buna Force while it was moving toward Buna, with an Australian Brigadier subsequently taking command once the force reached the objective.

An ANU study of the campaign makes the chain of command particularly clear. The task force was established separately from the Allied Land Forces and reported directly to MacArthur as Commander-in-Chief, SWPA.

An American-Australian reconnaissance party visited the Buna area on 10-11 July 1942 and identified the area around Dobodura, south of Buna, as particularly suitable for a large airfield. The proposed airfield was to have a runway approximately 7,000 feet long.

On 15 July 1942, General Richard Kerens Sutherland, MacArthur's Chief of Staff, issued instructions concerning the occupation and construction of the Buna airfield, and Van Volkenburgh was designated task-force commander.

Brig Gen Van Volkenburgh’s command was therefore directly involved in the planned introduction of American antiaircraft and radar capability into the Buna/Dobodura area.

The first serial was scheduled to leave Port Moresby on 31 July 1942, with the main operation planned for early August 1942.

The Japanese landed in the Buna area on 21–22 July 1942, putting the Japanese forces between the proposed Allied occupation and the intended objective. The Providence operation consequently had to be abandoned.

This is a fascinating episode because Van Volkenburgh therefore became one of the American senior officers associated with an operation that was planned as an offensive penetration north of the Owen Stanley Range, but which was overtaken by the Japanese advance.

Instead, the Allies had to fight the much more difficult campaign that became the Kokoda–Buna–Gona campaign.

As mentioned earlier Brig Gen Van Volkenburgh met with General Douglas MacArthur on at least two occasions, which are documented in MacArthur’s Office Diary; on 18 April 1942 in Melbourne and again on 9 March 1943 in Brisbane.

A later recollection by Van Volkenburgh describes MacArthur discussing the Battle of the Coral Sea with his staff. Van Volkenburgh remembered MacArthur’s theatrical recounting of events and said:-

The surviving account identifies Van Volkenburgh as MacArthur’s antiaircraft chief. This indicates that Van Volkenburgh was sufficiently close to MacArthur’s headquarters to be part of the general’s senior operational circle.

Van Volkenburgh’s role sat at an interesting junction between the American and Australian commands.

This demonstrates how early the SWPA command structure was developing into the hybrid American-Australian system that became characteristic of MacArthur’s headquarters.

Van Volkenburgh was therefore involved in one of the early experiments in integrating:-

Royce flew to Archerfield Airfield in Brisbane from Melbourne in a B-17C Flying Fortress piloted by Bob Northcutt on 9 April 1942. Royce recorded in his diary that on 10 April 1942 Brigadier General Van Volkenburgh drove him back to Archerfield Airfield, after which Royce flew to Charters Towers in a B-17C Flying Fortress again piloted by Bob Northcutt. Royce flew on to Del Monte via Batchelor in the Northern Territory to lead the famous Royce Mission which comprised ten B-25 Mitchells equipped with auxiliary fuel tanks and three B-17 Flying Fortresses which went on to operate from Mindanao for a number of days carrying out a series of daring bombing raids on Japanese installations.

General Royce arrived back in Batchelor in the Northern Territory on 14 April 1942. He returned to Melbourne via Adelaide the following day arriving at Laverton at 19:30 hours on 15 April 1942. Royce met up with Brig Gen Van Volkenburgh again in Melbourne at 3pm on Friday 17 April 1942.

On 18 April 1942, General Royce picked up Van Volkenburgh and took him to Seymours for cocktails, and then picked up Mrs Moulton and took her and Van Volkenburgh to his house for dinner. Mrs Beryl Stevenson, General Brett’s secretary, was also there for dinner.

Brig Gen Van Volkenburgh is shown in Royce’s diary attending a conference on Saturday 2 May 1942 and again with his staff on Tuesday 14 July 1942.

“…. Col Lars of GHQ here as chief of staff for Van Volkenburgh – task force CO for occupation of Buna - ….”

Field Order No. 3 dated 1 June 1942 shows Van Volkenburgh as Commanding General for HQ Northeastern A.A.A. Command in Brisbane.

Field Order No. 6 dated 12 April 1943 through to Field Order No. 34 dated 13 February 1944 show him as the Commanding General of 40^th Coast Artillery Brigade (AA) at APO 929 which was Port Moresby.

Field Order No. 35 dated 23 March 1944 shows him as the Commanding General of the 40^th Coast Artillery Brigade (AA) at APO 713-1 which was Base “E” Nadzab, New Guinea.

On 15 November 1943 all anti-aircraft units in the SWPA were assigned to the newly formed 14^th AA Command which remained in Brisbane until 3 July 1944.

Left to right:- Col A. E. Baker, Col F. J. French, Brig Gen H. Case, Brig Gen R. H. Van Volkenburgh,
Brig Gen W. F. Marquat, Col A. E. Colburn, Col H. L. Chandler, Col C. L. Carter, Lt Col D. C. Sanderson

The Australian War Memorial states that the Australian War Cemetery at Lae was officially dedicated on 23 April 1944. The official party included:

The general-officer chronology indicates that Van Volkenburgh ceased commanding the 40th Coast Artillery Brigade on 28 August 1944.

He then commanded the 62nd Antiaircraft Artillery Brigade from 29 August to 2 October 1944.

His subsequent assignments were increasingly concerned with antiaircraft training and organisation rather than the Australian operational theatre.

Van Volkenburgh was subsequently awarded the U.S. Army Distinguished Service Medal.

The award citation identifies his service as commanding officer of the 40th Coast Artillery Brigade from 1941 to 1944 and describes it as exceptionally meritorious and distinguished service in a position of great responsibility.

He was sufficiently close to MacArthur to be described as his antiaircraft chief and participated in the highest-level discussions of air defence and operations.

MacArthur personally used him to command Buna Force, an unusual temporary formation established outside the normal Allied Land Forces chain of command.

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