- page -
http://www.cdu.edu.au/cdupress
Go Back >> List of Entries
communities and tribal elders. The unit developed surveillance and Major Pike had hoped intelligence-gathering
role, following closely in the footsteps of the 2/1st North Australia Observer Unit, Australian Imperial Force, of
the Second World War as.
Among the activities planned for 1981 by Simon were horse-mounted, vehicle and foot patrols, and a
horse-mounted surveillance patrol in the Pine Creek-El Sharana-Jabiru area and an airboat trial patrol in the
Howard Springs/Mary River area, to assess their feasibility in wet season conditions. Restricted to the Northern
Territory until this time, the topographical and physical similarity between the ‘Top End’ and the Kimberley
prompted a consideration that 7IRC should also have a responsibility for this northwestern portion of Western
Australia. By April 1980, preliminary action had been taken by Reserve Branch to allow Simon to recruit in the
Kimberley.
Of the proposal to expand the scope of the unit, having aligned its training towards surveillance, the Chief of
the General Staff had been advised in April 1980 that the 7th Independent Rifle Company was ‘anxious for this
change in role to occur’. There was, at that time, still some consideration being given to establishing a Regular
Army presence in Darwin of around company strength. However, the viability of such a proposal was doubtful in
view of the manpower restrictions then in force. A proposal was submitted to the Chief of the Defence Force Staff
on 13 February 1981, a Warning Order was consequently released by Headquarters Field Force Command in May
and then, at 2400 hours on 30 June 1981, the 7th Independent Rifle Company was deleted from the Australian
Defence Force Order of Battle and replaced by the North West Mobile Force.
The 7th Independent Rifle Company had always been intended as a precursor for NORFORCE, and that there
was a successful absorption of everything that the company had learnt into the modus operandi of NORFORCE
was a great tribute to the efforts of both Pike and Simon. A subsequent Commanding Officer of NORFORCE
reflected that the tremendous success of NORFORCE in its first two years, ‘whilst driven by a personality-and-
a-half in the first CO, did come about through the fact that many members marched-in to that unit with their
knowledge from 7IRC days. [NORFORCE] was already inculcated with the [concept of] independent-type
operation’. Major Zot Simon became Operations Officer of NORFORCE until 1983; he also left his mark in the
Territory in a tangible way, a small ‘Z’ in the outer circle of NORFORCE’s original stable-belt, worn by members
of the regiment until the introduction of the second version in 1987. He is today a schoolteacher in Queensland.
The Army List of Officers of the Australian Military Forces, vol 1, 31 July 1970; D Horner, SAS, 1989; NORFORCE Newsletter, various
editions 1981–1983; personal correspondence and conversations with Lieutenant Colonel A J George OBE, Lieutenant Colonel W N N Forbes
AM, and former unit members; Major Z A M Simon, CV and records (NORFORCE Museum).
PAUL ROSENZWEIG, Vol 3.
SKELTON, JOSEPH (c1823–1884), businessman and newspaper proprietor, was born in England in about 1823
and arrived in Australia in 1856. He was a draper by trade and profited from a very successful wholesale drapery
warehouse he commenced in Gresham Street, Adelaide. During the 1860s, he espoused the cause of protection and
worked hard on the establishment of a local clothing industry, to the extent that his own business suffered. He then
moved to Fiji, intending to become a planter, but unsatisfactory land tenure and troublesome local people led him
to abandon this idea.
Having arrived in Palmerston, Northern Territory, in September 1873 he quickly established himself as a
storekeeper and importer. He had stores in both Palmerston and Southport and carried everything from wine to
‘best Adelaide flour’ and boots guaranteed to satisfy the needs of all who wore them. He quickly leased Lot 414
on the corner of Smith and Bennett Streets (later the site of the Westpac Bank) for five years at an annual rental
of 25 Pounds, which lease was renewable for a further five years at 50 Pounds per year but Skelton purchased the
freehold in 1879, one of the first Palmerston residents to do so. The home and store that Skelton erected on this site
succumbed to white ants in September 1887 when it was described as the first substantial building to be erected in
Palmerston. It was constructed ‘on piles well saturated with tar’ with a galvanised iron roof and board walls and
ceilings.
He intended to leave the Northern Territory in August 1874 but was persuaded to allow his name to be included
as a foundation Councillor when a petition was sent to the South Australian government in January of that year
requesting the formation of a District Council. When the first formal elections were held in July he received the
most votes. His election, however, was challenged on the grounds that he was ineligible as he held a liquor licence.
This challenge was successful but the legislation was later amended to remove this barrier and he was re-elected to
the Council at a by election in January 1879. He served until 1882 and was Chairman in 1879 and 1880.
In 1877 he again intended to leave but stayed on to purchase (with others who have not yet been positively
identified) the Northern Territory Times and Gazette, when the South Australian company which then owned
it decided to close it down, claiming lack of profitability. He then became Editor. Never slow to give tongue to
air any alleged grievance, in 1879 he found himself sued for libel by a policeman whom Skelton had accused of
taking bribes. He was convicted and fined 30 Pounds. Skelton’s public response was a vitriolic defence of the
freedom of the press, which Douglas Lockwood felt would ‘certainly have put him in gaol for contempt in a later
age’. Crime in the town, particularly petty larceny, was an ongoing problem and Skelton was continually critical
in the press. In 1881, Foelsche complained that it was revenge and was supported by the Government Resident.
This complaint coincided with the newspaper’s request to have its subsidy to publish the Government Gazette
renewed. The Government Resident reported to the Minister that he could not ‘speak highly about the way the
present paper is conducted’ though it was still of ‘some benefit.’