Stanley Raymond Tuckett

Stanley Raymond Tuckett was born on the 8th of March 1919 in Kensington, Victoria, Australia.

 He was the second eldest son of Ambrose Percival Tuckett and Violet Maude Gibb.

Stanley married Hazel Stephens on the 14th of August 1939 at Collingwood, Victoria.

He was a painter and decorator. 

Hazel and Stanley.
Photo courtesy of their daughter Lynne Evans.

Stanley served in the Citizens Military Forces from the 26th of March until the 20th of October 1942.

Stanley in uniform
Photo courtesy of his daughter Lynne Evans.

Stanley enlisted and served with the Australian Army Ordnance Corps.

He served in the Army from the 21st of October, 1942 until the 1st of February, 1946.

At the time of enlistment Stanley and Hazel were living at 2 Kiewa St, Clifton Hill, Victoria.
Sadly, in 1943, their firstborn son Raymond Lyle Tuckett passed away aged only 9 months.

• 17-03-45 Transferred in from 3rd Australian Base Ordnance Depot
• 10-03-45 Embarked Townsville per Katoomba
• 17-03-45 Disembarked Jacquinot Bay (New Guinea)
• 14-04-45 Evacuated to 2/8 Aus General Hospital* (Tonsilitis) and ? x list
• 28-04-45 ? 2/8 AGH to unit
• 28- 04-45 Rejoined Unit from 2/8 AGH
• 07-07-45 Promoted Corporal (clerk)
• 20-12-45 Appointed Lieutenant Sergeant
• 04-01-46 Transferred to Leave and Transit Depot Vic* for discharge

                     

Photo from
https://www.navy.gov.au/hmas-katoomba

           

* Part of the 2/8 Australian General Hospital at Jacquinot Bay, New Guinea

At some stage during his war service, Stanley contracted Malaria and suffered relapses throughout the rest of his life.

Stanley and Hazel went on to have a daughter and another son during the war. 

In early 1946 Stanley was transferred to the Camp Pell leave and transit depot at Royal Park, Parkville for discharge.

Camp Pell leave and transit depot

After the war, Hazel and Stanley had two more daughters.

Stanley passed away on the 24th of April 1972  and Hazel on the 20th of June 2015.

Remembering our family's Servicemen

Private William Robert Musson WW2

My grandfather's older brother William Robert "Bill" Musson was born on the 27th of November 1903 at Belfast, Canterbury, New Zealand.  His birth was registered early in 1904.

Bill was the eldest son of James Christopher Musson (1873-1950) and Margaret Ann Hay Forsyth (1877-1928) of Belfast, Canterbury, New Zealand.

He had 2 older sisters, Jessie Catherine (1899-1969) and Mary Margaret "Molly" (1902-1970) and 6 younger siblings, James Richard (my grandfather 1906-1976), Walter Phillip (1908-1919), Esther Helen (1911-1966), Eric Mark "Mac" (1913-1991), Ian Alexander "Fat" (1915-1989) and Ivor Forsyth "Hip" (1918-1993).

Bill enlisted in the New Zealand Military Forces on the 14th of February, 1940.  He gave his birthdate as 28th of November 1905.  Perhaps he thought 1903 was getting a bit close to the cut off age for enlistment, perhaps a recording error was made.  He gave his address as Rangiora, his occupation as a tractor driver and next of kin  E. M. Musson (his brother Eric Mark)

Bill joined the 21st Battalion 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force and trained at Papakura Military camp South of Auckland.

This photo, from the family collection courtesy of Nola Bennett nee Musson, would have been taken around the time of Bill's enlistment.  Bill is the one in uniform. 
Nola, the baby in the photo, is Bill's god-daughter and niece, daughter of  Eric Mark Musson.

Bill served 38 months and 12 days Overseas service from the 1st of May 1940 until the 12th of July 1943 and had a total of 176 days leave.  

photo courtesy of Bill's daughter Judy and grandson Levi Simpson-Musson.
Bill 3rd from right back row

On the 29th of June 1940 after arriving in England Bill was transferred from E Company to H.Q. Company.

For a more detailed account of the Battalion's movements, I referred to Wikipedia:-

From Wikipedia - "By April 1940, training had been completed and 21st Battalion was preparing to depart overseas. It duly embarked aboard the Empress of Japan on 2 May 1940 and travelled in convoy with other troopships to Scotland^[8] with its first port call at Perth.^[9] The next stop would have been at Ceylon as the convoy travelled on towards its planned destination of the Middle East, but the invasion of Holland and France, followed by the entry of Italy into the war on the side of the Germans, forced a diversion. The convoy was now to make for England^[10] and thus it stopped at Cape Town, and then Freetown,^[11] arriving at Gourock, in Scotland, on 16 June."

Greece

The British Government anticipated an invasion of Greece by the Germans in 1941 and decided to send troops to support the Greeks, who were already engaged against the Italians in Albania. The 2nd New Zealand Division was one of a number of Allied units dispatched to Greece in early March.^[13] By late March, 21st Battalion had arrived in Athens where it was to carry out guard duty of vital installations around the city while the rest of the division proceeded to the north of the country to garrison the Aliakmon line.^[14] On 6 April, the day after Germany declared war on Greece, elements of the battalion guarding docks near Athens experienced a bombing raid which caused minor wounds to a couple of men.^[15] On 8 April, the battalion began moving to the front to rejoin 5th Infantry Brigade, which was now stationed at Olympus Pass.^[16] However, en route, the battalion was diverted to the Platamon Tunnel, which was 15 miles from the town of Larisa. The defences here had been prepared by D Company, of 26th Battalion.^[17] Orders were to hold the position and should any part of it be lost, a counterattack was to be immediately made. The battalion, which arrived on 9 April, set to work further improving the defences, assisted for three days by the company from 26th Battalion until its departure.^[18]

Casualties during the 21st Battalion's campaign in Greece amounted to 40 killed and wounded with 230 personnel captured and made prisoners of war.^[19]

Crete

The Glengyle arrived at Crete on 25 April and 21st Battalion were unloaded at Suda Bay. Initially, it was believed that Crete was to simply be a staging point for the New Zealanders as they returned to Egypt. However, as military intelligence indicated a likely attack by the Germans, it was necessary to defend the island.^[20] The 5th Brigade was assigned the defence of Maleme airfield, with 21st Battalion positioned to the east, guarding the beach and river mouth. It was also tasked with supporting 22nd Battalion if required. At this time, the battalion numbered 237 personnel, and two companies of New Zealand Engineers were attached to boost its numbers.^[21] In early May several parties of men, including Macky, began arriving, having made their way to Crete from Greece by various means. However Macky was ill with dysentery and was soon taken to hospital, leaving Harding still as acting commander.^[22]

On 20 May 1941, German paratroopers began landing on Crete. After the initial drop, during which several Germans were killed as they descended, the day passed relatively uneventfully for the battalion. Lieutenant Colonel John Allen had taken command just a few days previously.^[23] After the Maleme airfield, defended by 22nd Battalion, was lost to the Germans, the entire 5th Brigade was withdrawn from its positions.^[24]

It was evacuated from Crete on the night of 31 May aboard the light cruiser HMS Phoebe and reached Alexandria the following day. Total casualties during the Battle of Crete were 33 killed in action, 33 wounded, and 80 men were captured.^[25]

North Africa

After a period of leave, the battalion's personnel reassembled at Helwan in Egypt. Reduced to about 270 men after the campaigns in Greece and Crete, it was brought back up to strength with over 500 reinforcements.^[26] By August, the battalion, along with the rest of 5th Brigade, was involved in training in desert warfare and by the end of the month construction, of defensive positions, known as the Kaponga Box, commenced. It remained here for a month^[27] before shifting further west to the Baggush Box.^[28]

Its training was in preparation for the 2nd New Zealand Division's role in the upcoming Operation Crusader, which was planned to lift the siege of Tobruk.^[29] The New Zealanders were to be one of the 8th Army's infantry divisions that were to surround and capture the main strong points along the front while the armoured divisions were to seek out and engage Generalleutnant (Lieutenant General) Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps. At the same time, the Tobruk garrison was to attempt a breakout.^[30]

Bill was recorded as safe in Crete May 1941, Egypt June 1941 and safe in December 1941 and September 1942 but no placenames were given for the last two dates.  

Much of the record is written in military abbreviations that I can't understand.

NZETC (New Zealand Electronic Text Collection) has a wonderfully detailed account of the 21st Battalion in a digitised electronic version HERE

Bill wasn't in all the battles written about as he had intermittent furloughs and hospital stays.
He was discharged in June 1944.

courtesy of Levi and his mum Judy

courtesy of Levi and  Judy.

Bill married Veronica "Vicki" Whittle.  Vicki had a daughter from a previous marriage.  Bill and Vicki went on to have another daughter, Judy.

Bill passed away in November 1979 at Rotorua and Vicki in 1980.
Burial is at Block 16 section B plot 11, Kauae cemetery, Ngongotaha Road

Tribute page for our Servicemen

Birthday remembrance Great Uncle Frank Adams.

Today is the birthday anniversary of my Great Uncle Francis Edward Adams who for some reason later called himself Frank Francis Adams. 
He was my paternal grandmother's youngest brother, born on the 12th of July, 1906 at 35 Smith Street, Kensington, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria.  
Frank was the youngest child of Mary Agnes Adams nee Morgan and her husband John Adams who had separated and went through a lengthy maintenance battle in court ... read here 

My childhood memories of perhaps my only visit to my grandmother's brother's house were that Uncle Frank had red hair and Auntie Dot had bright red lipstick!

Photo from the slide collection of my grandmother Brenda Adams in my possession.

I remember being told that Uncle Frank and Auntie Dot weren't married.  Not sure why I was told that.  Uncle Frank was quite a small man and apparently had been a groom and a jockey.  Dad said he used to work on the De Havilland aeroplanes made for the airforce because he was small enough to crawl through the cramped spaces and that he was deaf.  The story Dad heard was that with a friend, Frank used to ride sidecars and the leaning over in the sidecar, toward the engine of the motorcycle affected his hearing.

When I started researching my Adams family I was told that the family story was that Uncle Frank was batman for General Thomas Blamey in World War 2.

I searched but found nothing that corroborated that story.  I did find some very surprising facts though.  Talk about a tight-lipped lot!

I looked up Uncle Frank's war service details and found that he enlisted on the 15th of June 1940.  He was single, a groom (strapper) and listed next of kin as his sister Mrs Catherine Goodwin of Darnum.  Aunty Kit and Uncle Willie (as I knew them) lived at Darnum in Gippsland all their married lives.  
Frank's address at the time was 155 Epsom Road, Ascot Vale.

Image from Frank's army service record at National Library of Australia

He was recruited to the 8th Division petrol company and then in August 1940 was detached to the G.M.H school of fitters mechanics.  He was discharged by the 23rd of October 1940 as "medically unfit for service, not occasioned by his own default".  Quite a short stint of only four months.  I thought that was it but no ......

I don't know why I revisited the World War 2 army records but one day I stumbled quite by accident on another war service record for a Frank Francis Adams with the same birthdate. 
World War 1 war service records are available openly but World War 2 records need to be purchased.  So I paid the fee and after a short wait, the records were opened to me.  

Well, what a surprise!

Uncle Frank Francis Adams had re-enlisted on the 19th of October 1942 at Paramatta, in New South Wales. His second service records were rather confusing.

This time his attestation paper named his next of kin as his wife, Florence Adams of 20 Claude St, Northcote and his occupation was a cabinetmaker.   It also listed his previous service and his sister's address.  So it was definitely the same Frank Adams.  How strange.

Image from Frank's army service record at National Library of Australia

He was posted to HQ 2 Aust. Army.  Maybe this was where General Blamey came into it but I still found no mention of him. 
In March 1944 it seems Frank was transferred from HQ 2 to another area which was 3 A.T.T.D .  He was a student at 3 Australian Army Trades Training Depot (staff) whatever (staff) meant.  His service records contained a student report for this section. 
Uncle Frank didn't do well at carpentry apparently and failed to qualify.

Image from Frank's army service record at National Library of Australia.

I emailed Dad's cousin's wife who had started on this family history and she was gobsmacked.  No one had ever mentioned Frank was married.  I doubt they even knew either that or they just never spoke about it which fits with the way the family was.
She did say there were a few pieces of furniture in Aunty Kit's house that were said to have been made by Uncle Frank but they were very nicely made and valued by the family, so his work must have improved.
My next step was to find a marriage certificate.  There was one. 

On the 2nd of October, 1942 Frank Francis Adams had married a Florence Francis.  She was a widow, born in Middlesex, England, the daughter of John Woods and Florence Gay.  She had three children and was ten years older than Frank. 
All I could think of was to look in ancestry.com for a Florence Woods married to someone Francis.  I found a tree with them in it and it showed that Ralph Russell Francis had died in 1925 leaving Florence with three children.  I sent a message to the tree owner who was also amazed.  He lived in England and was connected to Ralph Francis.  He had traced him to Melbourne Ports working on the docks but had no further details.  He did give me the email address of a lady who was connected to Florence though.   She was also surprised by my message.  She said it was known that Florence had remarried but not who he was.  Apparently they were friends and as Florence was a widow and Frank re-enlisted, he put her as next of kin so if anything happened to him she would receive his war pension.

What a gesture by a very kind man.  Frank was discharged on the 30th of October 1945 and I couldn't find him again for sure in the electoral rolls until 1963 at 3 Hobson Street, Altona with a Dorothy May Adams.  Aunty Dot.  From 1977 he was with Dot living at 3 Prismall Street, Altona. (pictured below)

Photo from the slide collection of my grandmother Brenda Adams in my possession.

Frank died on the 17th of February 1979.  He was cremated on the 27th of February 1979 and his remains were interred at Altona Memorial Park [A] Rose Garden AL-RG*12*RP**225 

When I obtained his death certificate the informant was Dorothy May Adams, friend, living at the same address.  So he had never divorced Florence who had continued to live at 20 Claude Street Northcote and who died in 1976.

I could never find anything concrete on Frank being batman for General Blamey and I would love to find out if Aunty Dot - Dorothy May Adams, had other family.  All I know about her is her name and that she was still listed at 3 Prismall Street in the 1980 electoral roll.  

The family tree can be seen at https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Adams-17170

Fine record of Service

My maternal Great-Grand-Uncle Thomas Fitzherbert MORGAN and his wife Sarah MCNAY were married in Victoria in 1894.
Thomas was born at Euroa in 1868, Sarah at Moonee Ponds in 1873.
They had eleven children born between 1895 and 1918, eight boys and three girls who, all except one of the girls who died of Meningitis at the age of 12, survived to adulthood.  One son, William was killed in World War One and another son Benjamin died in a German P.O.W camp in World War Two.

FINE RECORD OF SERVICE (1940, February 9). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), p. 5. Retrieved December 19, 2017, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11295149

Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), Friday 9 February 1940, page 5

---

FINE RECORD OF SERVICE

EUROA Thursday - The Morgan family of Euroa has a fine record of service. Seven of the eight sons of Mr. and Mrs. T F Morgan, of McGuiness street, Euroa have served or are serving King and country.
Privates A. T. Morgan and T. F. Morgan and Bugler W. J. P. Morgan killed in action on Gallipoli served with the A.I.F:  Petty-Officer J G Morgan has served his term in the Navy. Private John S. G. Morgan and Private B. R. Morgan have enlisted in the Second A.I.F and are in camp: and Lance Corporal H.C.S Morgan is in camp with the Militia at Seymour.

Born 1895 Euroa, died 1978 Euroa.

Born 1899 Euroa died 1982 Heidelberg, Victoria.

Born 1897 Euroa died 1915 at Gallipoli.

Born Euroa 1907 died at Essendon in 1982.

Sgt John Morgan born at Euroa, Victoria in 1918. Died Tallangatta, Victoria in 2004.

Benjamin was born at Euroa in 1910 died 1945 Germany.

Harry Somerville Halliday Morgan was born at Euroa in 1912.
 He died at Heidelberg in 1976.

Photos are from the Morgan Family Reunion book 1980 which was contributed to by many family members and compiled by Rhonda Morgan, then Payne.

Ossie Maxwell Joffre GRANT - WW2 war service

Continuing on from my earlier post on the 6 March 2017 about 

Ossie Maxwell Joffre GRANT (1915 - 2000)

Ossie's mother Jessie Anna HULME died when he was 3 years old.

His paternal Aunt, Ethel Grace GRANT helped his father Walter raise him. She died in 1939.

Ossie joined the Citizen Air Force in March 1941 at the age of 26 years.

He enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force at Armadale, Melbourne on 17 September 1942 as a trainee radio operator.  

On enlistment, his employment was given as a factory manager for R. B. Shankey Pty Ltd of Bourke Street for whom he had worked for 8 years.

National Archives Australia - NAA: series no. A9301 control symbol 118601

Next of kin was his father Walter, address 11 Moodie Street, Carnegie.

Ossie used a reference given by P. Langford, Headmaster of Dandenong High School dated 16 December 1932.

He was first posted to No. 1 Recruit Depot at Shepparton, Victoria where he passed the radio operators course.  

His next postings were to:
No. 1 radio school at Richmond 2 October 1942
No. 1 Embarkation Depot at Ascot Vale 7 November 1942
No. 55 Operational Base Unit at Birdum NT 14 December 1942 

On the 25 January Ossie was promoted to Radar Operator.

He was then posted to:
No. 39 Radar Station at Port Keats NT 30 January 1943
No. 44 Radar Wing at Adelaide River NT 20 March 1943

Ossie was promoted to Leading Aircraftman (LAC) on 25 April 1943.

later postings were:
No. 1 Personnel Depot at Ransford 31 July 1944
No. 14 Radar Station at Wilson's Promontory 11 September 1944
No. 1 SD at Port Melbourne 12 October 1944
No. 1 Personnel Depot at Ransford 6 January 1945
No. 1 Reserve Personnel Pool at Townsville 30 January 1945
No. 331 Radar Station Tami Island New Guinea 28 March 1945
ADHQ at Madang 29 November 1945
No. 1 Reserve Personnel Pool at Townsville 6 January 1946
No. 1 Personnel Depot at Ransford 7 January 1946

No. 1 Reserve Personnel Pool was disbanded on 15 April 1946. Over the life of the unit a total of 133,606 personnel were moved though the unit, 66,804 personnel coming into the unit and the same number leaving the unit. - ozatwar.com

Ossie became ill several times during his service but the nature of his ailments wasn't recorded in his file.

He was in the 52 Operational Base Unit SSQ in Darwin from the 17th to the 24th of October 1943.
Then at the Fighter Sector Headquarters SSQ in Darwin from the 6th to the 20th of December 1943.
Final sick days were at 119 hospital Madang area from 29 May 1945 to 8 June 1945

Ossie was discharged on demobilisation on the 9th of February 1946.
His father Walter died in 1947.

From 1954 until his death in 2000 Ossie lived at 8 Haslemere Avenue, Mitcham.
He was more generally known as Max and devoted many years of service to the Mitcham Repertory Company.

A story of Anzac by Allan FLEMING

THE LIFT-OUT SATURDAY SECTION (1953, April 25). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), p. 7.  from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article23240875

Many writers and orators have tried to express what is meant by "the Anzac spirit" but few have succeeded.

"The Argus" believes this simple and unpretentious short story, written by an Australian soldier fresh from the Battle of Greece in 1941, does express the meaning of the term.

The story appeared in "Active Service," published in 1941, the first of the series of 20 Services books published by the Australian War Memorial.
It is reprinted by permission of the Memorial Trustees.

Originally, it was published above the initials "A.P.F."

Its author is now revealed as Mr. Allan P. Fleming, an Assistant Secretary of the Defence Department.

WITH HILLS LIKE

HOME

By ALLAN

FLEMING

HE wasn't a fast thinker.

When he was home, in the hills of Victoria's Great Divide, milking cows and mending fences earned

him enough to live on.

So there was no cause to think too hard. Not about -those things, anyhow.

Perhaps he thought about other things. He never

mentioned them. He didn't think too much about the war.

He'd done that before he enlisted ......

Photo captions:

Left:  THAT mountain in Greece . . . saved you from thinking. It expressed itself . . .

Right:  THE HILL he'd tackled with his pony . . . back home.

 

 

   

Herbert John OXLEY (1919 - 1943)

Herbert John OXLEY and his twin brother William Reid OXLEY were born in New Zealand on the 5th of April 1919 to Australian-born father Hubert OXLEY and New Zealand-born mother Amelia Beatrice nee BENJAMIN.

In the New Zealand Ballot list for 1940, Herbert's occupation was  listed as process engraving and he lived in Richardson Road, Mount Roskill.

photo courtesy of the Mount Roskill People 1840 to 1940 Facebook page

Today is the anniversary eve of the death of Herbert who was killed in action in Europe on air operations on the 4th of April 1943. His last rank was Sergeant in the Royal New Zealand Air Force, 485 (NZ) Squadron, RAF, service number 412725.

Along with other Mount Roskill residents who gave their lives, Herbert is commemorated on the town's War Memorial.

'Mt Roskill War Memorial Park', URL: http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/photo/mt-roskill-war-memorial-park, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 1-Dec-2015licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 New Zealand Licence.

Memorials for Herbert are at Runnymede Memorial, Surrey, United Kingdom, Auckland War Memorial Museum, World War 2 Hall of Memories and Mt Roskill War Memorial, War Memorial Park, 13 May Road, Mt Roskill, Auckland.

http://www.cwgc.org/

Huge thanks to cousins and fellow family history researchers Shelley Chambers and Denise McCracken.  

Herbert's grandmother was Emma MORGAN (1840-1903).

Maternal great-great-grand aunt of Shelley and myself and great-grand-aunt of Denise.

Shelley's sleuthing for this branch of our family paid off big time.

It is wonderful being part of such a team and to share the thrill of family history research with like-minded cousins.

Tribute page for our Servicemen