TANNER, Clarence Joseph
| Service Number: | WX704 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 10 November 1939 |
| Last Rank: | Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/11th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Parkes, New South Wales, Australia, 6 November 1904 |
| Home Town: | Katanning, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Butcher |
| Died: | Mandurah, Western Australia, 8 February 1988, aged 83 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Karrakatta Cemetery & Crematorium, Western Australia |
| Memorials: | Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial |
World War 2 Service
| 10 Nov 1939: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Sergeant, WX704, 2nd/11th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Apr 1940: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Sergeant, WX704, 2nd/11th Infantry Battalion, embarked Fremantle for Kantara | |
| 10 Apr 1941: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Sergeant, WX704, 2nd/11th Infantry Battalion, embarked Middle East for Crete | |
| 5 Jun 1941: | Imprisoned Battle of Crete, 8 Nov 1941: Officially PoW, interned Stalag XIIIC; PoW No: 09679 | |
| 19 Jul 1941: | Honoured Mention in Dispatches, Battle of Crete, 'for distinguished service in the Middle East’ (Libya) | |
| 17 Jun 1945: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Sergeant, WX704, 2nd/11th Infantry Battalion, embarked Liverpool for Sydney | |
| 3 Oct 1945: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Sergeant, WX704, 2nd/11th Infantry Battalion |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
One of three brothers who served in WWII, Sergeant Clarence Joseph Tanner (Service Nos:W16559/WX704) had initially served in the AIF briefly (20 July - 24 December 1918) in WWI as a Private attached to 4th Reinforcements, and then served in the Militia as a Private (Service No:1511) with 10th Light Horse Regiment (1 July 1922 - 12 November 1923). Corporal Tanner (Service Nos:W16559/WX704) enlisted in the Army on 10 November 1939 - Trade Group Butcher then Cook. He gave an incorrect DoB in his Attestation - he was born in 1899, not 1904 (BDM NSW). Promoted to Sergeant, he served with 2/11 Infantry Battalion in the Middle East (Kantara and Libya), Greece and Crete, and was Reported Missing on 5 June 1941, confirmed as a PoW of the Germans on 8 November 1941 and interned (PoW No:O9679) at Stalag XIIIC. Recovered from the Germans on 13 April 1945, Sergeant Tanner was hospitalised at Pinder Fields Hospital in Wakefield UK before embarking from Liverpool for Sydney on 17 June 1945. Sergeant Tanner was attached to 2/11 Infantry Battalion at Discharge on 3 October 1945.
Dick was born in Parkes, New South Wales in 1899, second of seven children of Felix Ernest Tanner (b1877 in Lara via Geelong, Victoria) and Catherine Mary Kennedy (b1877 in Sale, Victoria). Felix and Catherine married in Victoria in 1896, moving to Parkes, New South Wales immediately. In the early 1900s Felix and Catherine settled in Perth, where they raised their family and Felix was an Engine Driver. In 1918 the family moved to Woodanilling via Wagin and then to Katanning - Felix worked as an Engine Driver at Katanning Flour Mill. he and Catherine retired to Perth in 1950.
Dick worked in Woodanilling and Katanning as a Mill Hand and Packer, and in 1922 in Katanning married Dorothy Catherine Seymour (b1904 in Katanning, Western Australia). Dick and Dorothy settled in Katanning, where they raised their family, and Dick was a Butcher in 1939 when he enlisted in the Army. Following his Discharge, Dick and Dorothy settled in Perth and later Mandurah, where they raised their family and Dick was a Master Butcher. Dick died in 1998 and Dorothy in 1997.
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