Hi,
Wasn't sure where to post this on this forum, but I thought someone here might have been able to help me.
I'm wanting to engage a local Aus historian to a dig a bit deeper into my grandfathers service history during WW2. I was wondering if anyone would be able to point me in the direction of anyone they know. I have his service records and whilst they are somewhat informative, they lack a lot of information.
He was a member of the 2/6th Cavalry Commando Regiment and served in the middle east from 1939-start of 1944 he served in Palestine, Greece/Crete (Even though the 2nd weren't sent), Lebannon etc and did their jungle training placement in the NT in mid-late 1943 after the bombing of Pearl Harbour when they were recalled from Africa for the protection of Australia and preparation for the war in the Pacific.
A lot of the 2/6th requested discharges during the NT training to get back into the war in early 1944, which is what happened with my GF. He reenlisted in around May 1944, under a second serial no.
During this 5 month period he returned to his home in Melbourne in which time he married my grandmother, now during this time is where it gets interesting. According to my GF (now deceased) and my father, he got into a fight with an American marine in Melbourne over my grandmother, a fight ensued, long story short is, my GF cut his throat and tossed him over the Queen St. bridge. The American GI was killed.
My GF was detained during this time by the Australian Army and the story goes, was given the option of joining a special op's unit to be deployed to New Guinea in 1944/1945 or jail.
Now this story is pretty far fetched, if except for the fact my Grandfather was awarded a DCM with citation in April 1945 despite his service book showing he was on paper in Melbourne at Bonegilla during that time and was discharged in mid 1946.
He also swore he was involved in the battle of Crete and was evacuated in late May 1941, to the point he returned to Crete with my father in the late 70's before his death, and broke down at alot of the area's he had previously fought in. Now this conflicts with where the 2/6th were sent, as they weren't sent to Greece/Crete, they fought the Vichy French in Lebannon, however, he may of moved between units, as it appears he jumped around a lot in his service book.
Again, the service records, despite being 30 odd pages long for his period of 39-44, aren't expressly detailed enough to know where he was a lot of the time.
Hopefully this is but a snapshot, and someone might know of someone with some more in depth access to Australian WW2 records, especially potentially lifting the lid on the operations he did in 44/45, as he was never recognized as having fought in the Pacific with any service medals. The same applied to the Italian Star, which wasn't on option during his application for service recognition (There is an original copy of his application in his service records and the Italian Star wasn't an option.)
Wasn't sure where to post this on this forum, but I thought someone here might have been able to help me.
I'm wanting to engage a local Aus historian to a dig a bit deeper into my grandfathers service history during WW2. I was wondering if anyone would be able to point me in the direction of anyone they know. I have his service records and whilst they are somewhat informative, they lack a lot of information.
He was a member of the 2/6th Cavalry Commando Regiment and served in the middle east from 1939-start of 1944 he served in Palestine, Greece/Crete (Even though the 2nd weren't sent), Lebannon etc and did their jungle training placement in the NT in mid-late 1943 after the bombing of Pearl Harbour when they were recalled from Africa for the protection of Australia and preparation for the war in the Pacific.
A lot of the 2/6th requested discharges during the NT training to get back into the war in early 1944, which is what happened with my GF. He reenlisted in around May 1944, under a second serial no.
During this 5 month period he returned to his home in Melbourne in which time he married my grandmother, now during this time is where it gets interesting. According to my GF (now deceased) and my father, he got into a fight with an American marine in Melbourne over my grandmother, a fight ensued, long story short is, my GF cut his throat and tossed him over the Queen St. bridge. The American GI was killed.
My GF was detained during this time by the Australian Army and the story goes, was given the option of joining a special op's unit to be deployed to New Guinea in 1944/1945 or jail.
Now this story is pretty far fetched, if except for the fact my Grandfather was awarded a DCM with citation in April 1945 despite his service book showing he was on paper in Melbourne at Bonegilla during that time and was discharged in mid 1946.
He also swore he was involved in the battle of Crete and was evacuated in late May 1941, to the point he returned to Crete with my father in the late 70's before his death, and broke down at alot of the area's he had previously fought in. Now this conflicts with where the 2/6th were sent, as they weren't sent to Greece/Crete, they fought the Vichy French in Lebannon, however, he may of moved between units, as it appears he jumped around a lot in his service book.
Again, the service records, despite being 30 odd pages long for his period of 39-44, aren't expressly detailed enough to know where he was a lot of the time.
Hopefully this is but a snapshot, and someone might know of someone with some more in depth access to Australian WW2 records, especially potentially lifting the lid on the operations he did in 44/45, as he was never recognized as having fought in the Pacific with any service medals. The same applied to the Italian Star, which wasn't on option during his application for service recognition (There is an original copy of his application in his service records and the Italian Star wasn't an option.)
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