Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Private Lyall Kenneth Thompson worked in the mechanic corps in Papua New Guinea in World War II. He was 32 years old when he was enrolled at Yorketown, SA on the 12th of May 1941 and his given service number was S18184. Lyall was born in the Yorketown hospital on the 4th of October 1909. He was a local sheep and crop farmer before and after he joined the war. Before he went to the war he was a single man, without a wife or kids. This is what Lyall’s life was like in and out of the war.
Private Lyall Kenneth Thompson was born on the 4th of October 1909 at the Yorketown hospital. His parents were Eva and Henry Thompson. Lyall was 1 of 5, with 4 sisters and 1 brother, he was the second youngest. At the start of Lyall’s life he lived in Yorketown, as his parents carted salt by horse and dray to Edithburgh for a living. In his teen years Lyall’s parents bought a farmhouse at Oaklands, the property was known as Gumbrae. This is where Lyall’s farming career started and the 4th generation of Thompsons currently live in the farmhouse today. Lyall Thompson was a sheep and crop farmer for most of his life before and after the war, he was even given permission to return home to help with harvest for a few weeks.
Private Lyall Kenneth Thompson was enlisted into World War II at Yorketown, SA on the 12 of May 1941. He was sent to Papua New Guinea on a boat to work in the mechanic corps where he served for 4 years being discharged on the 26th of November 1945. Many men from the Yorketown district were enlisted into the war, it didn’t matter who you were or what you did as long as you were of age and healthy.
Private Lyall Kenneth Thompson joined the War in 1941 as a worker in the mechanic corps. He went to Papua New Guinea on boat from the Northern Territory, despite suffering from bad sea sickness. Many farmers were recruited for the war because they just had the knack for fixing things from nothing. So naturally Lyall was sent into the machinic corps to fix all the machinery broken in battle. Not everyone in World War II was a hero or a front line solider but that doesn’t mean they weren’t important, even the mechanic corps were a huge part of the war. Fixing machines that had been blown up as fast as they could ready to be sent back into battle wasn’t a easy job.
Farming was a huge part of the world in the 1900’s and farmers were so important that Lyall being a farmer was given special permission to leave the war for a few weeks to go home and help with the harvesting. Once the harvesting had finished he travelled back to Papua New Guinea to the machinic corps again.
Lyall was always a great friend to many he served with, making lifelong friends at war. He didn’t drink but always went out with fellow soldiers to make sure they all got back to the barracks safely.
Not everyone in the war was a solider, there were many jobs that people were enlisted to do and every single one of them effected the way the war was ended. Lyall’s life wasn’t impacted by the war as much as others who were on the front line, but he served for his country and happily still got to go home and live his life by finding a wife and having three children. Lyall didn’t want to talk much about the war when he got home but he now has a full display at the Bublacowie museum in South Australia.
Bibliography
Phil Thompson- secondary source, son of Lyall.
ancestry, 2022. All Australia, Electoral Rolls, 1903-1980 results for Lyall Thompson. [Online] Available at: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1207/?name=Lyall_Thompson [Accessed 7 april 2022].
virtual war memorial australia, n.d. THOMPSON, Lyall Kenneth. [Online] Available at: https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/569427 [Accessed 7 april 2022].