Chasing Esther Williams
Chasing Esther Williams
- By Louise Butcher
A piece of Naval folklore involving Esther Williams, two men, one girl and 61 years of history is about to be brought to the small screen.
Mick De Jong, an Australian filmmaker, happened upon the remarkable story that he hopes to develop into a documentary, due out next year.
The story dates back to 1943 and involves two young Navy Lieutenants.
Lindsay Brand and David Stevenson (who later went on to become Chief of Naval Staff) were stationed aboard HMAS Nepal, an N-Class Destroyer attached to the British Eastern Fleet.
During a night out at the Stardust nightclub, they met an appealing young lady who caught the attention of them both.
Unfortunately for Brand he was romantically outmanoeuvred by Stevenson.
However, to ease Brand’s loss, Stevenson presented him with a framed photo of Esther Williams, a movie star and popular pin-up girl during the 1940s.
For security reasons on board HMAS Nepal, christian names and surnames were never used.
Instead the officers called each other either “George" or “Charles."
Before giving Brand the photo, Stevenson inscribed the photo with the words “To my own Georgie, with all my love and a passionate kiss, Esther".
Brand hung the picture in his cabin until one day it mysteriously disappeared. He heard on the grapevine that the picture had been stolen by another officer and set about getting it back.
Once back with Brand, the original thief set about stealing it again only to have it stolen from him again by another ship.
This started the ball rolling and before too long the “Esther Williams Trophy" had become a sought after prize between wardrooms.
Over the years the trophy has been fought over by US, British and Canadian ships and is believed to have been held by more than 200 vessels. In 1957, “Esther" was retired by the US Navy and sent to the Naval Historical Collection at Spectacle Island in Sydney.
She was stored there until officers on HMAS Brisbane put her back into circulation in 1997.
Lindsay Brand saw Esther a few more times during his Naval career after several successful attempts to retrieve the trophy again, but when he retired from the Navy in 1946, he thought he had seen the last of her.
That is until he recently received a call from Mick De Jong. De Jong set about tracking down the original owner of the picture by going through the white pages.
By luck, there was one name that stood out and strangely was the only number that he ended up ringing. Betty Brand answered the phone that day and according to De Jong, it was difficult to convince that her that was not a salesman.
However, as soon as he said the words “Esther Williams", Betty knew that the call was authentic.
When asked about the day that De Jong contacted him about Esther and his proposed documentary, Brand said that it was all quite a big shock to him.
“Getting the phone call, that was really a big deal. I had never heard of Mick De Jong and he had never heard of me really. I still didn’t really understand the full ramifications of my role in the [history of the] Esther Williams Trophy," he said.
De Jong also contacted Chief of Navy, VADM Chris Ritchie for assistance in obtaining information.
It was decided that Brand should be reunited with the photo of Esther.
In a ceremony held at the Australian War Memorial on June 30, Brand came face to face with Esther again for the fourth time. Mick De Jong is currently searching for information from people who may have been involved in battles for the Esther Williams Trophy between 1943- 1947.
He can be contacted on oceanconcepts@ledanet.com.au
Navy News would also like to encourage people with any stories relating to the Esther Williams Trophy to write to us at navynews@defencenews.gov.au.
See also The Esther Williams Trophy and/or Chasing Esther Williams
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