CAMBRIDGE, Rolf Charles
| Service Number: | VX81159 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 3 August 1942 |
| Last Rank: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Unit: | Not yet discovered |
| Born: | Windsor, New South Wales, Australia, 11 August 1901 |
| Home Town: | Sydney, City of Sydney, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Windsor Superior Public School, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation: | Plantation Inspector |
| Died: | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia , 3 March 1972, aged 70 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
St Matthew's Anglican Church Cemetery, NSW |
| Memorials: |
World War 2 Service
| 3 Aug 1942: | Enlisted VX81159 | |
|---|---|---|
| 6 Feb 1946: | Discharged VX81159 | |
| 14 Feb 1946: | Honoured Mention in Dispatches, Captain: Australian New Guinea Administrative Unit: 'Distinguished services SW Pacific Region' London Gazette: 14 February 1946 on page 944 at position 46 Commonwealth of Australia Gazette: 21 February 1946 on page 410 at position 21 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Captain Rolf Charles Cambridge (Service No:VX91159) was in Melbourne when he enlisted in the AIF on 3 August 1942 as a Lieutenant and was posted to Z Special Unit, and to M Special Unit on 7 May 1943. Promoted to Captain on 8 December 1944, he served in New Guinea with 2nd Echelon Z Special Unit (29 October 1942 - 17 December 1943 and 29 January 1944 - 7 April 1944) and with Australian New Guinea Administrative Unit (Native Labour Section: 28 June 1944 - 9 July 1945 and 30 August 1945 - 22 December 1945). Captain Cambridge was Mentioned in Despatches in 1946 for 'Distinguished Services in the South West Pacific Region' and was Discharged on 6 February 1946.
Rolf was born in Windsor, NSW in 1901, seventh of eight children of Thomas William Cambridge (b1860 in Sydney, NSW) and Alice Amelia Haslem (b1859 in Maitland, NSW). Thomas was a Letter Carrier - third generation, following in his father's and grandfather's footsteps - in 1886 when he and Alice married in Windsor, where they settled and raised their family. Thomas delivered the mail on horseback, and was renowned for his 'unvarying courtesy and obliging nature' (Trove: Obituary 1942).
Rolf was working as a Plantation Manager in Bougainville New Guinea in 1939 when he married Kathleen Helen Howell (b1911 in Sydney, NSW) in Soroken, PNG - Kathleen worked in Sydney as a Clerk. Rolf and Kathleen settled in Wahroonga in Sydney NSW and Rolf worked as a Plantation Inspector in PNG. Following his Discharge in 1946, Rolf continued working in New Guinea while Kathleen raised theiir family in Sydney. Following his retirement in the late 1960s, Rolf and Kathleen lived at Wahroonga, where Rolf died in 1972. Kathleen died in 1989.
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