GOWLAND, Kenneth William
| Service Number: | VX41088 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 25 June 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/5th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Stawell, Victoria, Australia, 8 September 1919 |
| Home Town: | Fyans Creek, Northern Grampians, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Fyans Creek State School, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Wood Cutter |
| Died: | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 12 March 2014, aged 94 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: | Halls Gap Memorial Gates |
World War 2 Service
| 25 Jun 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Corporal, VX41088 | |
|---|---|---|
| 5 Feb 1941: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, VX41088, 2nd/5th Infantry Battalion , embarked Port Melbourne for the Middle East | |
| 11 Jul 1942: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, VX41088, 2nd/5th Infantry Battalion , embarked Ceylon for Melbourne | |
| 30 Nov 1942: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, VX41088, 2nd/5th Infantry Battalion , embarked Townsville for New Guinea | |
| 23 Sep 1943: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, VX41088, 2nd/5th Infantry Battalion , embarked Milne Bay for Cairns | |
| 16 Jan 1946: | Promoted Corporal, 2nd/5th Infantry Battalion | |
| 30 Jun 1947: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Corporal, VX41088, 2nd/5th Infantry Battalion | |
| 25 May 1948: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Corporal, VX41088 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Corporal Kenneth William Gowland (Service No:VX41088) enlisted in the AIF on 25 June 1940 as a Private, and served with 2nd/5th Infantry Battalion in the Middle East (5 February 1941 - 11 July 1942) and New Guinea (30 November 1942 - 23 September 1943). Recovering from malaria in 1944, Private Gowland was attached to 1 Australian Central Ordnance Depot, and was promoted to Corporal on 16 January 1946. Corporal Gowland Discharged from the AIF on 30 June 1947 to enlist the following day in the Interim Army, and was attached to 2nd/5th Infantry Battalion at Discharge on 25 May 1948.
Ken was born in Stawell, Victoria in 1921, third of four children of Joseph Frederick Gowland (b1880 at Pleasant Creek via Stawell, Victoria) and his second wife Annie Jane Duffy (nee Osler; b1881 in Dooboobetic, Victoria). Joseph (a Widower with a small daughter) and Annie (a Widow with three children) married in 1916 in Stawell, where they settled and raised their family and Joseph worked as a Labourer.
Ken was working in Stawell as a Wood Cutter in 1940 when he enlisted in the Army, and in 1945 in Melbourne married Joyce Alma Turner (b1920 in Melbourne, Victoria). Following his Discharge from the Army, Ken and Joyce settled in Melbourne, where they raised their family and Ken worked as a Trimmer, and in the 1960s as Postmaster at Moonee Ponds. In the 1970s Ken was a Grocer in Melbourne, then in Frankston until retirement. Joyce died in 2006 and Ken died in 2014.
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