Ernest (Willy) enlisted on 15 Jul 1941 and was posted to Guerrilla Warfare School, Foster on 22 Aug 1941. He was a member of the First Reinforcements that arrive at Dili, Timor, aboard “KOOLAMA" on 22 Jan 1942, prior to the Japanese landing. He joined the unit as a Private and served in No 7 Section, “C” Platoon. After the campaign on Timor, he embarked with the unit, for Australia aboard the Royal Dutch destroyer “Tjerk Hides” on 11 Dec 1942.
After leave and reorganization, he was appointed Lance Corporal on 8 Jun 1943 and embarked with the unit for New Guinea aboard “DUNTROON” on 17 Jun 1943 as a Lance Corporal in No 7 Section, “C” Troop. He was appointed Paid Lance Corporal on 1 Jul 1943 and returned to Australia with them aboard “TAROONA” on 3 Sept 1944.
He was reverted to Trooper on 20 Apr 1945 and embarked for New Britain aboard “TAROONA” on 9 Apr 1945 with the unit as a Trooper in No 7 Section, “C” Troop.
He returned to Australia on 13 Dec 1945 and was discharged on 2 Jan 1946.
He was entitled to the 1939-45 Star, Pacific Star, War Medal and Australian Service Medal 1939-45, pictured below. He is now also entitled to the Australian Service Medal 1945-75 with a clasp
Edited by Peter Epps
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now