William Henry (Bill) COLEMAN

COLEMAN, William Henry

Service Number: WX11606
Enlisted: 9 April 1941
Last Rank: Warrant Officer Class 2
Last Unit: 2nd/11th Infantry Battalion
Born: Greenbushes, Western Australia, 2 November 1917
Home Town: Kirup, Donnybrook-Balingup, Western Australia
Schooling: Not yet discovered
Occupation: Labourer
Died: Perth, Western Australia, 2 November 1985, aged 68 years, cause of death not yet discovered
Cemetery: Bridgetown Cemetery
Memorials: Kirup War Memorial
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World War 2 Service

9 Apr 1941: Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Warrant Officer Class 2, WX11606, 2nd/11th Infantry Battalion
7 Sep 1941: Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX11606, 2nd/11th Infantry Battalion, ex Fremantle to Middle East
13 Nov 1941: Promoted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Lance Corporal, 2nd/11th Infantry Battalion
4 Feb 1942: Promoted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Corporal, 2nd/11th Infantry Battalion
18 Mar 1942: Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Corporal, WX11606, 2nd/11th Infantry Battalion, ex Middle East to Adelaide per Durban Castle
22 Mar 1943: Promoted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Sergeant, 2nd/11th Infantry Battalion
11 Aug 1944: Promoted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Warrant Officer Class 2, 2nd/11th Infantry Battalion
30 Dec 1944: Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Sergeant, WX11606, 2nd/11th Infantry Battalion, ex Cairns to Aitape
25 Nov 1945: Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Warrant Officer Class 2, WX11606, 2nd/11th Infantry Battalion, ex Wewark to Sydney per Shropshire
21 Dec 1945: Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Warrant Officer Class 2, WX11606, 2nd/11th Infantry Battalion

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Biography contributed by Chris Buckley

Bill was the sixth of seven children of Henry (Harry) Coleman (b1866 in Maryborough, Victoria) and Alice Jane Stinton (b1887 in Greenbushes, WA). Harry (a Miner) and Alice married in 1907 in Blackwood, WA and settled in Greenbushes where Harry was a Miner.

Bill was a Labourer in Kirup (near Balingup) WA when he enlisted in the Australian Army in April 1941. He served as a Private (Service No:WX11606) with 2nd/11th Infantry Battalion and by 1945 was a WOII. He served in the Middle East (9 September 1941 to 19 March 1942) and New Guinea (11 November 1944 to 30 November 1945) and was Discharged in December 1945.

Bill returned to Greenbushes WA and in 1947 married Dorothy Agnes Fleeton (b1922 in Bridgetown, WA). Bill and Dorothy settled in Bridgetown WA where Bill worked as a Tractor Driver and Truck Driver. Bill died in 1985 and Dorothy in 2009.

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