Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

It was December 14th, 1920, a child was born into a Methodist family under the name Walter David Page in Alberton – a metropolitan suburb to the west of Adelaide city, South Australia. Walter, a blonde haired, blue eyed child with a fair complexion was the child of George Page and Rita Jackson, by birth he was considered a British subject. After graduating from State school, he worked as a driver for Millers Lime Ltd before becoming a fibrous plasterer under the same company. As a young man, he settled in Pennington, South Australia. At twenty-one years of age, Walter made a significant decision to enlist into the Royal Australian Airforce (RAAF). During the medical exam for his enlistment, he was described as a man with “average height and a solid build. Neat and clean appearance. Keen. Suitable type.” by Sergeant H.Burton, it was also noted that he had a piece of false denture: a top plate.

According to the documents available on Natural Archives of Australia (NAA), on October 14th, 1941, Walter was officially enlisted at No.5, Recruitment Centre RAAF, Adelaide. Upon enlistment, the young man was given the service number: 47158, classifying as A.C.1 and got transferred to Ascot Vale to complete a pre-entry training course in No.4 School of Technical Training a week after enlistment, “...it is requested that you report to the above address with your luggage at 9A.M on 14OCT 1941 for enlistment as a Trainee Group V in group 5,...” – page .. of the documents available on NAA. He was then posted at various RAAF bases all over Australia as well as in Morotai, Indonesia to help in the Battle of Morotai.

Walter David Page began his training as a fitter in Defense Mechanical Transport at No.1 Engineering School, Ascot Vale as a part of Trainee Group V on January 18th, 1942. He was promoted to Leading Aircraftman (L.A.C) on January 25th, 1942. On April 11th of the same year, after completing two and a half months of training, he was officially assigned the trade of Flight Rigger and from this point on he would serve his country as a technician, responsible for the aircraft used to carry Australian soldiers to victory. He was deployed to West Sale three days later and served as a part of No.3 Service Training Group to maintain training aircraft until about five months later, when he returned to No.1 Engineering School on September 8th.

The technician experienced a medical set-back for unstated reasons as records showed that he was in No.2 RAAF Hospital for 17 days, starting from June 19th. After that, he relocated to Benalla’s Elementary Training Flying School to continue maintaining training aircraft on November 17th. He would then spend a year there before moving to Werribee to handle damaged aircraft with his unit: No.9 Repair and Salvage Unit (9RSU) on November 26th, 1943. As a top-grade fitter, Walter was posted to work on a temporary assignment at No.1 Aircraft Repair Depot for 16 days, starting from March 2nd. Once again, he displayed himself as a highly capable individual as assignments like these require high qualifications. The technician’s period of service in Australia would come to an end with him being transferred to Sattler, Northern Territory – the front line of Australian defense against Japanese forces, on the second last day of May, 1944. 

On the 18th of January, 1945, Walter embarked from Darwin to Morotai on the US Liberty Ship SS Nicholas J. Sinnott. He had to spend a nerve-wracking thirteen days out at sea before arriving in Morotai.His duties included repairing and maintaining aircraft near the front-line alongside the United State of America Air Force (USAAF), while American troops from the US Army’s XI Corps and 31st Infantry Division fought hard against the Japanese troops. 

Their support was proven to be crucial as the battle of Morotai is considered to be one of the toughest battle during World War II, “The official history of the USAAF's night fighter force states that Morotai "was probably the most difficult task undertaken by American night fighters during World War II" due to the difficulty of detecting incoming raiders.” – Battle of Morotai, Wikipedia. The supporting troops also had a hard time as their jobs were physically demanding, having to work gruesomely long hours to maintain and repair aircrafts, trying to get some reusable scraps from the fallen aircraft. All while being on a hot, humid, foreign island. Just like that, for the next six months, Walter and the troops grinded away. As the chain of battles came to an end Walter became a part of the 16th Aircraft Repair Depot Unit on July 16th. At this point, the battle had somewhat died down, he joined the No.9 Repair and Salvage Unit on August 8th. September 9th, 1945, nine days after the end of WWII, the Japanese Second Army on Morotai surrendered, marking the end of the lengthy Battle of Morotai. 

Walter David Page returned to Adelaide, South Australia on October 24th, 1945 and he would continue to serve his last two months in the military at No.4 Personnel Depot until his discharge on December 10th, 1945. Walter returned to being a fibrous plasterer for Miller’s Lime Ltd. He soon settled down at 33 Railway Terrace, Woodville Park, South Australia with his wife – Lillian Page. A Walter David Page passed away on November 30th, 1995.

Bibliography:

Primary sources (official records):

Australian War Memorial (AWM)
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Natural Archives of Australia (NAA)
Secondary sources:

Wikipedia