William Harold (Bill) ROURKE

William Harold (Bill) ROURKE Update Details

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ROURKE, William Harold

Service Number:	W47691
Enlisted:	30 March 1942
Last Rank:	Lieutenant
Last Unit:	8th (WA) Battalion Volunteer Defence Corps (VDC)
Born:	Albany, Western Australia, 11 December 1898
Home Town:	Boulder, Kalgoorlie/Boulder, Western Australia
Schooling:	Not yet discovered
Occupation:	Head Teacher
Died:	Perth, Western Australia, 13 October 1988, aged 89 years, cause of death not yet discovered
Cemetery:	Karrakatta Cemetery & Crematorium, Western Australia
Memorials:

World War 2 Service

30 Mar 1942:	Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Lieutenant, W47691
15 Oct 1945:	Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Lieutenant, W47691, 8th (WA) Battalion Volunteer Defence Corps (VDC)

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Biography contributed by Chris Buckley

Lieutenant William Harold Rourke (Service No:W47691) served in the ACMF with 8th Battalion (WA) VDC from 11 November 1943 to 15 October 1945. In WWI he served as a Gunner (Service No:38649) with 11th Field Artillery Brigade and was WiA in France.

Bill was born in 1899 in Albany Western Australia, second of six children of Henry Joseph Rourke (b1867 in Ballarat, Victoria) and Matilda (Tilly) Moroney (b1871 in Bendigo, Victoria). Henry (a Moulder) and Tilly married in 1895 in Fremantle WA, and lived in Albany and Guildford where they raised their family and Henry worked as an Iron Moulder and by 1916 had moved to Tambellup, where Henry was a Farmer.

Bill worked as a Teacher in Tambellup, and was a member of the Indian Motor Cycle Club (Secretary and President). In Pingelly in 1927 Bill married Eva (Billy) Helen Williams (b1903 in York, WA) - Billy was a Teacher in Collie and Perth. Bill and Billy lived in Yanmah and Merredin where Bill was a Teacher, and by 1940 were in Boulder, WA where Bill was Head Teacher. In the mid 1940s Bill and Billy moved to Perth where Bill was an Inspector of Schools. Bill died in 1988 and Billy in 1999.

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