Vernon Ragless PADMAN

Badge Number: S2773, Sub Branch: Mitcham
S2773

PADMAN, Vernon Ragless

Service Numbers: 17418, S70157
Enlisted: 1 September 1915
Last Rank: Private
Last Unit: Army Medical Corps (AIF)
Born: Middleton, South Australia, 31 July 1891
Home Town: St Peters (SA), Norwood Payneham St Peters, South Australia
Schooling: Norwood Public School
Occupation: Warehouseman
Died: South Australia , 31 July 1980, aged 89 years, cause of death not yet discovered
Cemetery: Centennial Park Cemetery, South Australia
04/08/1980Centennial Park Cemetery, South Australia, Australia
Memorials: Middleton Soldiers Memorial Garden, Norwood Primary School Honour Board, Port Elliot Institute Roll of Honor, St Peters Spicer Memorial Church Stained Glass Window Honor Roll WW1 (1)
Show Relationships

World War 1 Service

1 Sep 1915: Enlisted
23 Jun 1917: Embarked Private, 17418, Army Medical Corps (AIF), HMAT Borda, Adelaide
23 Jun 1917: Involvement Private, 17418, Army Medical Corps (AIF), --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '23' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Borda embarkation_ship_number: A30 public_note: ''
11 Nov 1918: Involvement Sergeant, 17418

World War 2 Service

11 Apr 1942: Involvement Private, S70157
11 Apr 1942: Enlisted Adelaide, SA
11 Apr 1942: Enlisted Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Private, S70157
10 Oct 1945: Discharged

Help us honour Vernon Ragless Padman's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.

Biography contributed by Adelaide Botanic High School

Vernon Padman was born on the 31st of July 1891 in Middleton, South Australia. He was born into a family of five with two brothers, Clarence and Eric Padman. His father was Samuel Waterhouse Padman who was born on December 4th, 1857, in North Adelaide. His mother, Annie Elizabeth Jane Ragless of North Adelaide, was born in 1859. Padman was born to a well-known small-town family.

Padman’s parents owned the Middleton General Store for numerous years. Padman’s father was a highly religious man belonging to the Christian methodist denomination undoubtedly due to the Padmans’ relations to the Wesleyan family, known for their establishment of the rival movement inside the Church of England known as Methodism. Vernon Padman was a member of the Home Service for one and a half years before his enlistment in the Australian Imperial Forces. He was also a multiple award-winning member of the Soft Goods Rifle Club. Padman was also an extremely successful businessman, learning skills in a warehouse that would be highly valued in his time in the AIF.

Vernon Padman enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on October 17, 1916, in Adelaide at the age of 25 years and 5 months. From his attestation papers, we learn that he was five foot and five and a half inches. He embarked on the HMAT A30 Borda in Adelaide on the 23rd of June 1917, 243 days after he enlisted. After spending two months at sea, Padman disembarked the HMAT Borda on the 25th of August 1917 in Plymouth, United Kingdom. On the 18th of February 1918, Padman was attached to the duty of the Australian Army Medical Corps in London inspecting the material to be made into uniforms, undoubtedly drawing on his logistical experience as a warehouseman in his civilian life. Padman was promoted to the rank of Staff Sargent in the AMMC on the 24th of May 1918. In 1919, Padman was granted leave with pay and benefits to visit Westhoek Ridge on the Western Front, where his brother Eric Padman perished. Vernon Padman located the area not far from the Anzac House pillbox. It was still littered with the debris of war. He placed a Cross in his memory of his brother. Vernon described his feelings in his diary:

I felt it a privilege even to be at the place where Eric was. I knew I had walked up the road from Ypres along which our boys advanced and had walked along the duckboards that he used to tread and now I stood on the ridge where he was killed.

(Vernon Padman documented his journey photographically which can be found on the photos tab)

Whilst still in active service, Padman married his first wife Mabel Minnie Heath of Wendon, Vine Cour Road, Sevenoaks. In St Johns Church Kent on the 7 of July 1919. Padman continued his administrative duties until after the war ended and was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. Sargent Padman embarked on a unknown ship on the 28th of May 1920 and disembarked on the 19th of July 1920.

Out of the 4 men that enlisted from the Padman family Vernon and his father Samuel Waterhouse Padman were the only survivors, Eric and Clarence Padman both perished on the Western Front in France. Vernon Padman continued his with his pre-war trade until WWII broke out and he enlisted again on the 11th of April 1942 to the Australian Military forces and was discharged on the 10th of October 1945. Padman's wife of 33 years Mabel Minnie passed away due to an accident at their residence of 3 Victoria Terrace on the 23rd of July 1952. After Padman's wife died, he remarried to Eunice Irene Gladys Beukers in 1952. Padman would live at their residence at the Hamilton House until his passing on the 31st of July 1980 at age 89. Vernon Padman was buried on the 4th of October 1980 in the Centennial Park, South Australia. 

 

Read more...