Mitchell, Reuben Joseph Edwin, DSM; Able Seaman; RAN 7476
Reuben Mitchell was one of the most courageous submariners of WWI. Born in Ballarat, Victoria, on 28 July 1894, he was selected for submarine service on the AE2 in 1912. He served aboard AE2 for her voyages to and from Australia, including action off German New Guinea and in the Pacific. At the time of the Dardanelles campaign he had been temporarily transferred to the submarine repair ship, Penguin.
After the capture of AE2 and his former crewmates, Mitchell served aboard the E14, which subsequently followed AE2, entered the Sea of Marmara and sank many ships. In 1918, E14 was sent to attack the German ship, Goeben. E14 was hit by enemy fire and sank with the loss of 22 men, including the captain and two officers. Mitchell was one of only nine survivors. A fellow crew member recorded his heroism:
Reuben Mitchell acted most gallantly. He was on the conning tower with the three officers, passing orders below to the helmsman. All the officers were swept off the bridge by shell fire and he was left alone. Although the enemy had the exact range and he was clearly visible he stuck to his post, and took charge of the doomed boat until she sank. When in the water, he then rescued the wireless operator who was unconscious from head wounds. There was no senior officer [left] to recommend him for his outstanding gallantry, and his only reward was the self-evident fact that he had done his duty.
Taken prisoner by the Turks, Mitchell survived harsh treatment and recovered from his wounds. While imprisoned in solitary confinement at Samatyra, the battered submariner one day heard a familiar tune being whistled—‘Waltzing Matilda’—followed by a broad Australian accent. Calling out, he discovered it was the RAAF’s Captain Thomas H. Piper. This small incident proved such a psychological boost to Mitchell that he never forgot it. Years later back in Australia he contacted Piper in Tasmania and asked him to be best man at his wedding. While still in Turkey in 1918, Mitchell also met up with his two closest friends and AE2 crewmates Alex Nichols and John Wheat, before all three were finally released.
Mitchell reached London where he recuperated, and received a DSM on 12 December 1919. He returned home to Ballarat, where he and his wife Hazel raised three children. In the 1930s the family settled in Port Kembla NSW, where Mitchell renewed his friendship with John Wheat. He re-enlisted in the navy’s RAFR from June 1935 until June 1940, serving at both Cerberus and Penguin. He died on 16 August 1954, aged 60.
