Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Arthur, born at Yandiah near Booleroo Centre on the 6th July 1915, was the seventh of eleven children born to Pauline Martha and Bernard Reinhold (Richard) Grocke. His siblings included Clara, Aileen, Verna, Louis, Norman, Francis, Herbert, Martin and Arnold. Initially the family lived near Wilmington, but his father and oldest brother moved to Koongawa to farm in preparation for the rest of the family to follow later. By that time Arthur was about 14. There, the Grocke children attended the local Koongawa Primary School. Each year in September, all the small local schools of Koongawa, Kyancutta, Cootra West and Cootra Central held an annual combined picnic on the Waddikee Rock Oval. Patriotically all the children would gather, saluting the flag and singing the National Anthem followed by the 'Song of Australia.' An ample lunch with the children sitting at tables, was followed by races for the students. With so many locals present, a dance was held in the evening, raising funds to cover the day’s picnic.
Post school Arthur worked on his father’s farm as did the other sons at various times. As did most country boys, Arthur, known as Spitz, was soon involved in playing football in the forward lines with the Waddikee Rovers, which formed in ‘31 (with an enviable membership fee of 3/6, about 40 cents). With inevitable losses because of the newness of the team and the youthful inexperience, the team was still described as being ‘game’. However, by ’38 the team had developed to the extent that they took out the Premiership of the Middle Areas Football Association in 1938, playing against Cootra East, with Arthur’s younger brother, Martin also in the team. Their victory dinner was held at the Koongawa Hall.
In later years, the Hall was used to celebrate Arthur’s 21st Birthday in July ’36. Dancing and the inevitable quality country supper were followed by speeches. The Port Lincoln Times reported the speakers ‘congratulating the guest on reaching his majority and wishing him success. The guest, in responding, thanked the speakers for their kind remarks and good wishes. He then cut the cake which was decorated with 21 candles.’
With the outbreak of WWII four of the Grocke brothers enlisted to serve with Arthur and his younger brother, 21-year-old Norman Walter (’Stiffy’) enlisting at Wudinna on the 1st July 1940, just days before Arthur’s 25th birthday. Arthur was allocated to the newly formed 2/48th Battalion as SX7291 and Norman was eventually allocated to the sister battalion, the 2/43rd. as SX7290. The following year 23-year-old Louis Emmanuel, S57080 enlisted in March ‘41 in the Motor Transport Company. He was followed by 21-year-old Frances Herbert in August ‘42 as SX22273 also allocated to the Motor Transport Company.
The West Coast Recorder of July ’40 was soon reporting news of quite different nature to grand final wins. ‘Seven young men left Koongawa last Wednesday by train for the 2nd A.I.F. They were—Cyril Cummings, Henry Hier, Howard Chapman, Cedric Payne, Arthur and Norman Grocke, and Jim Noyce.’ (In the case of Cyril Cummings, my great-uncle, his farm had fallen victim to the Depression but he remained in the Warramboo District working as a builder and shearer earning one pound and 5 shillings ($1.50) per hundred, blade shearing until he enlisted.) Additionally, Eric Chapman (Waddikee Rock) ‘Cody' Duggin (Pygery) and Noel Wall (Kyancutta), had also enlisted. Of these, three, Arthur, Jim Noyce and Howard Chapman were to be allocated to the 2/48th Battalion. The newspaper proudly announced that ‘Kyancutta's war effort is now taking very definite shape.’
The first days for the brothers were spent in the cold of the Pavilions, now part of the Royal Adelaide Showgrounds before the battalion headed to Woodside in the Adelaide Hills for preliminary training. There they met up with others from their home region, including John Noyce SX7432 and Howard Chapman, SX7289 who had enlisted earlier. The young soldiers were given pre-embarkation leave in October, with Arthur and his three fellow 2/48th soldiers returning home to a farewell dance in their honour at the Waddikee Rock Hall. There the Comforts Fund and their local football team, the Waddikee Rovers presented the young men with knitted items, a Bible, watch and fountain pen.
Arthur and his fellow members of the 2/48th Battalion then embarked on the Stratheden for the Middle East, on the 7th November 1940, with a stopover at Freemantle in Western Australia and a last taste of home soil. Some partied hard, including Arthur, who managed to scramble back on board on the morning of departure – well after the midnight curfew. The ship eventually arrived in the Middle East on the 19th December 1940 where the Battalion completed a few months training in Cyrenaica. During those early days, the battalion settled into a Palestinian camp at Dimra, but besides regular army duties was the need to quickly adapt to the locals and local conditions. The new soldiers were soon involved in intense conflicts where the reputation of the 2/48th Battalion for being the most highly decorated but decimated battalion was earned.
Arthur was soon in Tobruk in a fierce attempt to hold the vital seaport against the well drilled German forces and the more reluctant Italian conscripts. The fighting was relentless with Arthur being wounded in action in May ’41 but soon able to return to his A Company. The dusty conditions contributed to Arthur contracting tonsillitis, causing a bout of hospitalisation in November ‘41. The battalion was, however, able to celebrate Christmas with an almost traditional Christmas lunch, a beer and a particularly welcome Comforts Fund parcel. In a recent book by Judith Long, The Waddikee Rock Honor Roll, mention is made of the usefulness of Arthur retaining his German language skills and being able to communicate with the opposing forces. “Spitz’s knowledge of the German language was useful here (in Tobruk) as he was able to speak to the German prisoners. When he asked them why they were fighting he said they answered that they were just obeying orders (probably not much different from Spitz himself.)”
Back with the 2/48th in January ’42, Arthur was charged with ‘Conduct to the prejudice of good order’ and fined. However, with the passage of time the details of the incident were forgotten, but conditions at the time were not the most conducive to pleasantries. Mumps, then another bout of tonsilitis followed before Arthur was finally fit to return to his battalion in April. Soon after he blotted his copybook by not attending a Parade and again forfeited pay. The Middle East was taking its toll on the health of Arthur as within months, he contracted dysentery.
Within two years of enlisting, many of the names published in the local paper praising them for enlisting, were again to appear in print in June ’42 but with more unwelcome news. ‘Died Of Injuries L/Cpl N. D. Wall, SX7783, Inf., Kyancutta. Placed On Seriously Ill List Sgt. H. F. McFarlane, S25671, Inf., Renmark. Norm Grocke, Arthur Grocke, Eric Chapman, Cedric Payne, Cyril Cummings Henry Hier (Waddikee Rock), Jim Noyce (Warramboo), and Mr. "Cody' Duggin (Pygery).
By November ’42 Arthur was again wounded in action by a blast but was soon able to return to his Battalion and finally in February, look forward to returning to Australia, arriving in Melbourne on the 25th February ’43. A train trip brought him to Adelaide, then home for well-earned leave. This was a time for the locals to celebrate with Koongawa organising a dance in honour of the soldiers. They marched through a guard of honor and received numerous speeches praising their service and patriotism. Cootra East hosted a further dance in their Hall the following weekend, again highlighting the appreciation of the service the men were giving.
The 2/48th then moved to Queensland to train to face a totally different enemy and in very different conditions before they headed to tropical New Guinea and the Japanese. In the tropical conditions, by January ’44, Arthur had contracted a severe ear infection, often related to throat or lung illness, requiring him to be hospitalised for several weeks. He had survived the fighting and with the war drawing to a close was able to return to Australia via Brisbane in February ’44. Well-earned leave followed, with the welcome dance again being arranged for Arthur, his brother Norman and Howard Chapman at Koongawa in March. Arthur also later acted as Master of Ceremonies for yet another dance held at the Cootra East Hall.
On leave from New Guinea and back in Brisbane, Arthur went ‘sight-seeing’, which proved to be an expensive exercise when he was fined and had to forfeit his proficiency pay. Soon after, in July ’44 he sustained an interesting injury whist playing a ‘friendly’ football game with the A Company team against the 2/23rd Battalion, a match the 2/48th won resoundingly by fourteen goals. However, a clumsy tackle resulted in Arthur landing awkwardly on the ground and fracturing his right hand. Fortunately, the ensuing enquiry found that the injury was caused as part of his duties with the 2/48th Battalion and therefore classified as being sustained while on active duty.
Arthur returned to Morotai in March ’45 as part of the ‘mopping up’ required, following the formal surrender of the Japanese in August ’45. There were still pockets of resistance by some of the Japanese soldiers in New Guinea but Arthur was finally able to leave in October ’45, arriving in Sydney in November. Of the brothers, Louis was discharged first on the 30th October ’42. Norman was discharged on the 6th November ’45, Arthur a fortnight later on the 19th November and finally Francis on the 8th March ’46.
Once discharged, Arthur briefly returned home to Koongawa but eventually chose to move from farming to work in Adelaide with the AMSCOL ice cream company. A flurry of weddings occurred in the family. They included two of Arthur’s brothers marrying two sisters. Martin Grocke had married Olive Mullin (Kyancutta) in April ’40. Norman had married Jan Griffin in January ’43, In February ’47 Louis married Teresa Mullan in the Mount Damper Hall with Herbert Grocke being best man, Olive making their cake, dresses and bouquets. In 1947 Arthur married Eileen Roseanne Freer who had lived at Yaninee but moved to Mount Dampier. Arnold, the youngest son married Audrey Lewan in July ’48, and Aileen married in November ’53.
Their 76-year-old father, Bernard lived to see his sons return safely home. He died soon after, on the 27th September ’52 in the Wudinna Hospital. Pauline, their mother, lived to be 78 and died on the 28th February ’61. Both are buried in the Wudinna cemetery.
Arthur eventually returned to farming on the Yorke Peninsula, working at Maitland. He and Eileen had five children, Geoffrey, Susanne, Douglas, Peter and Ian. Aged 68, Arthur died on the 16th October ’83 and was buried in the Port Wakefield Cemetery, in Site 323. Eileen lived to be 81 and died on the 16 June 2008. She now rests with Arthur.
Researched and written by Kaye Lee, daughter of Bryan Holmes SX8133, 2/48th Battalion.