WILKINS, Reginald Malcolm
| Service Numbers: | W25530, WX37366 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 19 December 1941 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | British Borneo Civil Affairs Unit |
| Born: | Cunderdin, Western Australia, 8 August 1920 |
| Home Town: | Bunbury, Bunbury, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Wyong, New South Wales, Australia, 26 May 2009, aged 88 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: |
World War 2 Service
| 19 Dec 1941: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Gunner, W25530 | |
|---|---|---|
| 28 Dec 1942: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX37366 | |
| 31 Jul 1945: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX37366, British Borneo Civil Affairs Unit, embarked Sydney for Morotai en route for Labuan on board the Joseph Corrigan | |
| 29 Jan 1946: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX37366, British Borneo Civil Affairs Unit, embarked Labuan for Sydney on board the Pauchaug Victory | |
| 1 Mar 1946: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX37366 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Private Reginald Malcom Franklin (Service Nos:W25530/WX37366) enlisted in the ACMF on 19 December 1941, and served as a Gunner attached to 5th and 135 Anti Aircraft Batterys in Darwin NT (4 February 1942 - 20 November 1944). Private Franklin enlisted in the AIF on 16 February 1943, and served with the British Borneo Civil Affairs Unit (BBCAU) in Morotai and Labuan (31 July 1945 - 29 January 1946). Private Franklin was attached to the BBCAU at Discharge on 1 March 1946.
Reg was born in Cunderdin, Western Australia in 1920, eldest of three children of Robert Malcolm Wilkins (b1886 in York, Western Australia) and Mary Matilda Gault (b1894 in York, Western Australia). Robert (a Farmer) and Mary married in 1918 in Beverley, and settled at Cunderdin where they raised their family and Robert was a Farmer at 'Sunnyside'. In the mid 1930s the family moved to Bunbury and Picton Junction, where Robert was a Labourer until his death in 1940.
Reg worked in Bunbury as a Labourer, and in 1941 in Picton married Margaret Jane Franklin (b1918 in Greenbushes, Western Australia). Following his Discharge from the Army, Reg and Margaret lived in Bunbury and Doodenanning via York, where they raised their family and Reg was a Labourer and Linesman. In the mid 1960s they moved to Kwinana, where Reg was a Tractor Driver and Leading Hand before retiring to New South Wales, where they lived at Bateau Bay and at Wyong via Newcastle. Margaret died in 1988 and Reg in 2009.
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