GASS, Harold Wilfred
| Service Number: | SX7147 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 29 June 1940, Adelaide, South Australia |
| Last Rank: | Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/48th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Mannum, South Australia, Australia, 22 November 1910 |
| Home Town: | Mannum, Mid Murray, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Mannum School, South Australia |
| Occupation: | Carpenter |
| Died: | Heart Attack, 19 March 1988, aged 77 years, place of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Mannum Cemetery, S.A. |
| Memorials: |
World War 2 Service
| 29 Jun 1940: | Enlisted Private, SX7147, Adelaide, South Australia | |
|---|---|---|
| 29 Jun 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Corporal, SX7147 | |
| 30 Jun 1940: | Involvement Private, SX7147 | |
| 11 Mar 1945: | Discharged Corporal, SX7147, 2nd/48th Infantry Battalion |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by DENIS JERICHO
Harold Gass, after attending Mannum School was employed as a farm hand and a seasonal worker. He worked as a carpenter for David Shearer's, now Horwood Bagshaw Ltd.
He married Myrtle Roesler in 1933 and they had three daughters, Molly, Bev, and Janet.
Harold enlisted in the 2nd/48th Infantry Battalion, 2nd AIF in 1940 and saw service as one of the famed 'Rats of Tobruk', the same unit as 'Diver Derrick'. Diver beat 'Gasping Gass' in a foot race while in the Middle East. He left the army with the rank of corporal in 1945.
Harold was captain-coach of the Mannum A Grade football team, selector, and committee man. He was a well known rower and State amateur welter weight boxing champion.
He was a volunteer groundsman at the local gokf course, and remained in good health to the end.
He was admitted to the Mannum Hospital after aheart attack, but died suddenly of a 2nd heart attack on a day later.
Pastor Ken Pfitzner of the Lutheran Church officiated at his funeral. Harold is buried in the Memorial section of the Mannum cemetery.
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