Gordon Raymond KUHNELL

KUHNELL, Gordon Raymond

Service Number: NX39382
Enlisted: 22 July 1941
Last Rank: Private
Last Unit: 2nd/7th Australian Advanced Workshop
Born: Northcote, Victoria, Australia, 10 February 1916
Home Town: Queanbeyan, Queanbeyan, New South Wales
Schooling: Not yet discovered
Occupation: Butcher
Died: Murwillumbah, New South Wales, New South Wales, Australia, 9 July 1994, aged 78 years, cause of death not yet discovered
Cemetery: Murwillumbah Lawn Cemetery, New South Wales
The New South Wales Garden of Remembrance
Memorials:
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World War 2 Service

22 Jul 1941: Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, NX39382
1 Nov 1941: Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, NX39382, Australian Army Ordnance Corps, embarked Sydney for ME
12 Sep 1942: Transferred Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Craftsman, 2nd/1st Field Workshop
27 Feb 1943: Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Craftsman, NX39382, 2nd/1st Field Workshop, embarked Middle East for Sydney
7 Oct 1943: Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Craftsman, NX39382, embarked Australia for New Guinea 1 Australian Ordnance Reserve Workshop Coy
23 Feb 1945: Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Craftsman, NX39382, embarked New Guinea for RTA 1 Australian Ordnance Reserve Workshop Coy
3 Jun 1945: Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Craftsman, NX39382, 2nd/7th Australian Advanced Workshop, embarked Cairns for Buma per Duntroon
30 Aug 1945: Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Craftsman, NX39382, 2nd/7th Australian Advanced Workshop, emplaned Lae for Brisbane
8 Nov 1945: Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, NX39382

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Biography contributed by Chris Buckley

Craftsman Gordon Raymond Kuhnell (Service No:NX39382) initially served with the ACMF (Service No:N43892) as a Private attached to 3rd Battalion before enlisting in the AIF on 22 July 1941. Private Kuhnell - appointed Roof Repairer - served with the Army Ordnance Corps in the Middle East (1 November 1941 - 27 February 1943) where, in 1942 he was transferred to 2nd/1st Australian Field Workshop. Craftsman Kuhnell then served in New Guinea (7 October 1943 - 23 February 1945 and 3 June 1945 - 30 August 1945) with 1 Australian Ordnance Reserve Workshop Coy, 2nd/7th Advanced Workshop Coy and Fortress Workshop (Lae) before being posted to 2nd/1st Australian Field Workshop. On return to Brisbane in 1945, Craftsman Kuhnell was hospitalised with Malaria before Discharge on 8 November 1945.

Born in 1916 in Melbourne Victoria, Gordon was second of eight children of Charles Rudolph Kuhnell (b1880 in Malmsbury, Victoria) and Henrietta Rebecca Smith (b1895 in Neerim, Victoria). Charles (a Labourer) and Henrietta married in 1914 in Melbourne, Victoria where they settled and raised their family and Charles worked as a Labourer. Four of their sons (Ron, Gordon, Bert and Lindsay) and daughter Rita served in WWII.

Gordon worked as a Labourer in Melbourne and was a Butcher in Queanbeyan, NSW when he enlisted in the Army. In 1945 in Sydney NSW he married Rita McLaren (b1917 in Kirribilli, NSW) - Rita worked as a Stenographer in Sydney before enlisting in the WAAF (Aircraftwoman; Service No:105612). Following Discharge, Gordon and Rita lived in Canberra ACT where Gordon was an Assistant Warehouseman with the Department of Treasury. In the mid 1950s Gordon and Rita settled at Reserve Creek in Murwillumbah, NSW where Gordon was a Banana Farmer. Gordon died in 1994 and Rita in 1999.

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