ALDERTON, John
| Service Number: | WX8599 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 18 October 1940, Claremont, WA |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/4th Machine Gun Battalion |
| Born: | Kalgoorie, WA, 23 February 1911 |
| Home Town: | Maylands, Bayswater, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | French Polisher |
| Died: | Suicide - Struck by Train, Maylands, WA, 20 May 1952, aged 41 years |
| Cemetery: |
Karrakatta Cemetery & Crematorium, Western Australia Anglican-Wb-0272 |
| Memorials: | Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial |
World War 2 Service
| 18 Oct 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Private, WX8599, 2nd/4th Machine Gun Battalion, Claremont, WA |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Faithe Jones
Son of William and Mary Elizabeth ALDERTON
After parking his car with his engine running a few yards away, John Alderton (45), single, french polisher, of East Street Maylands, stood on the railway line at the Central avenue crossing, Maylands, yesterday morning, and was struck by a north-bound train and killed. Two children saw him get out of the car and they screamed to him as they saw him standing in front of the approaching train. The driver of the locomotive, John McCaughey, of Sexton road, Inglewood, saw the man standing on the line about 50 yards away and he applied the brakes immediately. He said that he couuld not stop the train in time and that as it approached the man put his hands across his eyes and stood facing the engine. He was dragged 32ft before the train stopped and was extricated from under the second set of wheels. His body was extensively mutilated. Mr. Alderton had been a member of the Australian Imperial Forces at Singapore during the war, and for some time recently he had been in the Hollywood General Repatriation Hospital.
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