Blamey, the ABC and the big D.(LETTERS)(Letter to the Editor)

SIR: Neil McDonald's piece in the October issue of Quadrant about the New Guinea campaign is inflammatory.

Historically, generals who encourage journalists get a better press than those who abominate them. Funny about that.

So, Neil McDonald accuses Prime Minister John Curtin "of dereliction of duty" (he's been watching too many war movies) because "an ABC broadcaster" gave the Prime Minister "irrefutable evidence ... of the C-in-C's incompetence". Also, the C-in-C ignored the "ABC broadcaster's" advice to change the soldiers' uniforms. This was a serious matter, especially when it had been advocated by someone employed by the ABC!

Everything was different then, Neil. There were no ombudsmen, no grief counsellors, no shoulders to cry on, and no whistle-blowers. Armchair strategists had enlisted.

The idea that, at that highly dangerous stage in Australian history, possibly the most dangerous, the Prime Minister would have decided that "an ABC broadcaster has complained to me about General Blamey's incompetence so I'm going to sack him", is just plain silly. It does show, however, how important the ABC and one of its icons sees itself.

Additionally, Neil McDonald says, "we should have insisted on having our officers on his staff'--MacArthur's. This is armchair-post-event strategy at its best.

If Australia had senior officers on MacArthur's staff, and they had disagreed with MacArthur, what were they supposed to do? Go back home and recommend to the Prime Minister that we should take our bat and go home and sulk?