Norman Winning

Born at Oban in Argyll on 27 May 1906, Norman Winning was the second child of Isaac Winning, a school teacher, and his wife Eliza Clark (née Greenlees). His father served in the Highland Light Infantry in World War I from 28 May 1915 to 9 August 1916, when he was discharged due to illness.Ancestry.com. [http://search.ancestry.com//cgi-bin/sse.dll?gss=angs-c&new=1&rank=1&gsfn=Norman+Isaac&gsfn_x=0&gsln=Winning&gsln_x=0&msbdy=1905&msypn__ftp=Scotland%2c+Australia&cpxt=1&cp=9&MSAV=1&uidh=5vf&pcat=39&h=5234946&recoff=9+10&db=MedalRolls&indiv=1&ml_rpos=2 British Army WWI Medal Rolls Index Cards, 1914–1920] [database on-line]. Provo, Utah, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008. Retrieved 16 October 2015. {{subscription required}} Winning was educated in Troon, Ayshire, and apprenticed at a shipping company.{{cite book|last=McIntyre|first=Darryl|chapter=Winning, Norman Isaac (1906–1950)|title=Australian Dictionary of Biography|volume=16|year=2002|publisher=Melbourne University Press|location=Carlton, Victoria|chapter-url=http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/winning-norman-isaac-12052|isbn=9780522849974}} In 1926, at age 19, he travelled to Batavia, planning to settle in the Dutch East Indies.Ancestry.com. [http://interactive.ancestry.com/2997/40610_B001136-00220?pid=47716040&backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.com%2f%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3findiv%3d1%26db%3dUKOutwardPassengerLists%26h%3d47716040&treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true UK, Outward Passenger Lists, 1890–1960]. [database on-line]. Provo, Utah, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Retrieved 16 October 2015. {{Subscription required}}. As a young man, Winning managed an estate owned by the Anglo-Dutch firm Pamanoekan en Tjiasemlanden in Java.Ancestry.com. UK, [http://search.ancestry.com//cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&db=BT26&h=4825897&tid=&pid=&usePUB=true&rhSource=1207 Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878–1960] Class: BT26; Piece: 962; Item: 27I. [database on-line]. Provo, Utah, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008. Retrieved 16 October 2015. {{Subscription required}}.The Pamanoekan en Tjiasemlanden estates in Java included {{convert|70000|ha|acre}} of 37 estates upon which the estate managers grew variable crop land, most of which were rubber, but also included tea, coffee, cinchona, hemp, sisal, cassava, and kapok. See Hiroyoshi Kanō, Indonesian Exports, Peasant Agriculture and the World Economy, 1850–2000, NUS Press, 2008, [https://books.google.com/books?id=dbRPxzX1T_IC&dq=Pamanoekan++Tjiasemlanden&pg=PA192 pp. 192–193].

In September 1940, Winning travelled to Sydney to enlist in the Second Australian Imperial Force (AIF). After being accepted on 9 September,{{cite web |url=http://www.ww2roll.gov.au/Veteran.aspx?ServiceId=A&VeteranId=178165 |title=Winning, Norman Issac |work=World War II Nominal Roll |publisher=Commonwealth of Australia |access-date=18 October 2015}} he was posted initially to the 1st Cavalry Training Squadron.

File:2-5 commando company in New Guinea 1942.jpg

Upon completion of his training, he was promoted to temporary warrant officer, and, in December 1941, was commissioned lieutenant and transferred to the 4th Independent Company. Promoted captain in March 1942, he left for Port Moresby in April with the 2/5th Independent Company, which was later renamed the 2/5th Cavalry (Commando) Squadron. The company flew to Wau, New Guinea that May and, as part of the Kanga Force, began patrolling the tracks leading into the Bulolo Valley, from which they could harass the Japanese.{{cite news|last=Luck|first=Geoffrey|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/silent-and-deadly/story-e6frg6n6-1225740630878|title=Silent and Deadly|date=27 June 2009|journal=The Australian|access-date=16 October 2015}} Winning was widely respected among his men, earning the nickname The Red Steer. The Red Steer is also the name given to the wild brush fires that blaze across the outback, a useful tool against squatters and intruders.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71790991 |title=Plain Australian... |newspaper=The Argus |location=Melbourne |date=8 March 1956 |access-date=18 October 2015 |page=16 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}

He led the Salamaua Raid, the first offensive land action against the Japanese in World War II, on 29 June 1942, in which at least 100 Japanese soldiers were killed; the raid also captured Japanese equipment and documents. Described as a copybook action for its diligent scouting, meticulous planning and audacious, Winning, then a captain, led multi-pronged attack against a Japanese force 10 times the attackers' strength. The 2/5th returned to Australia in May 1943 for additional training, and in November Winning transferred to the 2/4th Commando Squadron as second-in-command. The unit deployed near Finschhafen, in New Guinea, for operations against the Japanese on the Huon Peninsula. After a brief trip to Australia in February 1944, he was sent to the Far Eastern Liaison Office in April; on 8 July he was promoted to major and given command of the 2/8th Commando Squadron. They trained at Lae in New Guinea before deploying to Bougainville. The unit engaged the Japanese several times near the Jaba River and in the area north of the Buin Road. Following the war, he left the army on 26 September 1945, and was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1947 for his services in Bougainville.

File:Australian 2-8th Commando Squadron personnel at Lae 1944.jpg: Major Winning was the officer in charge.]]

He resumed his work as a planter, managing an estate for P&T after the war. On 2 or 3 December 1950, he was shot by terrorists while driving from the plantation he managed to Subang.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article23023255 |title=Terrorists kill the 'Red Steer'. |newspaper=The Argus|location=Melbourne|date=5 December 1950 |access-date=22 September 2015 |page=3 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18191042 |title=Farewell, Red Steer, Commandos Said. |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=11 December 1950 |access-date=24 October 2015 |page=3 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}

He married Georgie Nell Morris Taylor, and the couple had no children. His wife remained in New South Wales while he served in the AIF.Ancestry.com. Australia, [http://search.ancestry.com//cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&db=AUSelectoralrolls&h=23073883&tid=&pid=&usePUB=true&rhSource=1518 Electoral Rolls, 1903–1980], [database on-line]. Provo, Utah, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. Retrieved October 2015. {{subscription required}}. His wife survived him.

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Category:1906 births

Category:1950 deaths

Category:Australian Army officers

Category:Australian military personnel of World War II

Category:British expatriates in Indonesia

Category:British people murdered abroad

Category:British planters

Category:Deaths by firearm in Indonesia

Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire

Category:People murdered in Indonesia

Category:British emigrants to Australia