CHALLEN, William Robert
| Service Number: | W234457 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 22 March 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | 128 Brigade Workshop |
| Born: | Perth, Western Australia, 20 December 1905 |
| Home Town: | Bicton, Melville, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Fremantle Boys’ School, , Western Australia |
| Occupation: | Mechanic |
| Died: | Mandurah, Western Australia, 29 August 1997, aged 91 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Fremantle Cemetery, Western Australia MCB-368933-Z4W9D3 FC00028783 FREMANTLE CEMETERY Cremation |
| Memorials: |
World War 2 Service
| 22 Mar 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Sergeant, W234457 | |
|---|---|---|
| 22 Apr 1945: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Sergeant, W234457, 128 Brigade Workshop, embarked Brisbane for Torokina per Taroona | |
| 9 Nov 1945: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Sergeant, W234457, 128 Brigade Workshop, emplaned Torokina for Brisbane | |
| 27 Nov 1945: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Sergeant, W234457 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Sergeant William Robert Challen (Service No:W234457) initially served with Senior Cadets (13 Signal Coy AE) and the Militia (W247083) as a Sapper with 25th and 35th Fortress Coys. Sergeant Challen enlisted in the ACMF on 22 March 1940 as a Private attached to 5 Fortress Coy - classification Electrician. Promoted to Corporal in May 1940, he served with 7 Bomb Disposal Coy and 35 Fortress Coy before promotion to Sergeant on 2 January 1943. Sergeant Challen served in New Guinea (22 April 1945 - 9 November 1945) with 129 Australian Brigade Workshops, and was attached to Coastal Artillery (Fremantle) at Discharge on 27 November 1945.
Youngest of three children, Bill was born in 1905 in Perth, WA to Robert William Pearson Challen (b1871 in Emerald Hill, Victoria) and Elizabeth Nash (b1872 in Walhalla, Victoria). Robert (an Electrical Engineer) and Elizabeth married in 1894 in Walhalla, Victoria where they lived until the early 1900s. Robert arrived in Fremantle WA in 1902 on board the Pilbara and Elizabeth followed the next year. The family settled in Perth where Robert worked as an Electrician and Electrical and Mechanical Engineer, on occasion travelling to Mt Leonora and Collie for work, whilst Elizabeth and the children remained in Perth.
Bill worked as a Labourer, Mechanic and Motor Driver in Perth and Fremantle and in 1928 in Perth WA, married Dorothy Margaret Bettesworth (b1912 in Perth, WA). Bill and Dorothy settled at Bicton in Fremantle, and following Bill's Discharge the couple settled in Armadale, Canning WA where they raised their family and Bill worked as a Salesman. In the 1970s Bill and Dorothy retired to Belmont in Perth and later to Mandurah, WA. Bill died in 1997 and Dorothy in 2007.
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