Kate Webb
Kate Webb | |
---|---|
Born | Catherine Merrial Webb 24 March 1943 |
Died | 13 May 2007 | (aged 64)
Nationality | New Zealander and Australian |
Other names | Highpockets |
Occupation | War correspondent |
Known for | Held prisoner while reporting on Vietnam War |
Honours | Kate Webb Prize, and depicted on a $1 stamp |
Kate Webb (24 March 1943 – 13 May 2007) was a
Biography
Born Catherine Merrial Webb in Christchurch, New Zealand, Webb moved to Canberra, Australia, with her family while she was still a child. Her father, Leicester Chisholm Webb, was professor of political science at the Australian National University,[1] and her mother, Caroline Webb, was active in women's organisations.[2]
On 30 March 1958, at the age of 15, Catherine Webb was charged with the murder of Victoria Fenner, the adopted daughter of Frank Fenner, in Canberra. She supplied a rifle and bullets to Fenner and was present when Fenner shot herself in what was intended as a Suicide pact. After a Children's Court hearing the charge was dropped.[3]
Her parents were killed in a car accident in Tasmania when she was 18.[4]
She graduated from the
: 136–7She was the first wire service reporter to reach the
In 1969, she began a relationship with a
Following the killing of Phnom Penh bureau chief Frank Frosch on 28 October 1970, while covering Operation Chenla I, Webb was selected to fill his position; she later claimed it was because she spoke French.[6]
In early 1971, she broke the story that Cambodian premier Lon Nol had suffered a stroke and was partially paralyzed, a story that was being kept secret by the Khmer Republic government.[5]: 184
On 7 April 1971, she made news herself when she, a Japanese photojournalist Toshiichi Suzuki and Cambodian journalists Tea Kim Heang, Chhim Sarath, Vorn and Charoon were captured by People's Army of Vietnam troops fighting Khmer National Armed Forces in an operation on Highway 4.[5]: 189 On 20 April, official reports claimed that a body discovered was Webb's, and The New York Times and other newspapers published obituaries for her.[8] On 1 May Webb and the others were released by the PAVN near where they had been captured, after having endured forced marches, interrogations, and malaria.[5]: 190–7 She described her experiences in a book called On the Other Side published in 1972.
After her release from captivity, she flew to Hong Kong to be treated for malaria and wrote a series of stories about her captivity.[5]: 199 After 20 days in Hong Kong, she then flew back to Australia to recuperate but was met by a media frenzy.[5]: 200 Given her sudden fame, UPI sent her to Washington DC as their show piece. On her arrival in New York, colleagues became concerned about her health and she was diagnosed with cerebral malaria and put into a medically induced coma. Following her recovery, she insisted on returning to Cambodia arriving in mid-1971; however, her nerves were shattered and UPI posted her to Hong Kong in early 1972.[5]: 201–2 Soon thereafter, she threatened to resign if she did not get a "real job". She was reassigned to the Philippines as the UPI bureau chief in Manila. She briefly returned to Phnom Penh in July 1973, reporting on the effects of continued U.S. bombing on the country.[5]: 219–22
As Cambodia and South Vietnam were falling to Khmer Rouge and PAVN offensives in April 1975, she requested that UPI send her back into the war zone, but instead she was sent to Clark Air Base which was used to support the evacuations of Phnom Penh and Saigon. She was then reassigned to the USS Blue Ridge the United States Seventh Fleet flagship and command ship for the Saigon evacuation.[5]: 232–5
After the war, she continued to work as a foreign correspondent for UPI based in Singapore, but quit after being sexually harassed by her boss. She then moved to Jakarta where she worked in public relations for a hotel and began a long-term relationship with John Stearman, an American oil engineer.[5]: 242
She returned to journalism in 1985 joining
External videos | |
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Panel discussion featuring Webb on War Torn, September 24, 2002, C-SPAN |
Webb retired to the
: 243–4She is survived by a brother, Jeremy Webb, and a sister, Rachel Miller.
References
- ^ John Warhurst, "Webb, Leicester Chisholm (1905–1962)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 16, (MUP), 2002. Via ADB Online.
- ^ For example Caroline's article in The Press, September, 1942, cited in Official History of New Zealand, chapter 21, "Women at War".
- ^ "Suicide Finding Death of Girl 15 In Canberra", Sydney Morning Herald, 20 June 1958, p. 3.
- ^ Woo, Elaine (15 May 2007). "Kate Webb, 64; pioneering UPI foreign correspondent was captured in Vietnam War". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
- ^ ISBN 9781541768208.
- ^ a b c "Kate Webb, 64; pioneering UPI foreign correspondent was captured in Vietnam War", The Los Angeles Times, 15 May 2007.
- ^ a b "Kate Webb: Veteran war reporter held captive in the Cambodian jungle", The Independent, 15 May 2007.
- ^ 'A Masked Toughness', The New York Times, 21 April 1971.
- ^ "AFP Kate Webb Prize". Facebook.
- ^ "AFP journalist Kate Webb featured on Australian stamp". AFP.com. Agence France-Presse. 27 September 2017. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
External links
- "Fearless reporter in search of truth", Obituary, The Sydney Morning Herald, 18 May 2007