TUCKWELL, Albert Frederick
| Service Numbers: | SX39335, S56527 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 25 October 1943 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | Lines of Communication Units |
| Born: | Goolwa, South Australia, 8 October 1924 |
| Home Town: | Goolwa, Alexandrina, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Goolwa Primary |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Died: | Cancer, Daw House Hospice, Daw Park, South Australia, 5 April 2001, aged 76 years |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: |
World War 2 Service
| 25 Oct 1943: | Involvement Private, SX39335, Lines of Communication Units, New Guinea - Huon Peninsula / Markham and Ramu Valley /Finisterre Ranges Campaigns | |
|---|---|---|
| 25 Oct 1943: | Involvement Private, S56527, Lines of Communication Units, Enlistment/Embarkation WW2 | |
| 25 Oct 1943: | Enlisted Redlynch, Queensland | |
| 25 Oct 1943: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Private, SX39335 | |
| 3 Jul 1946: | Discharged |
Dad's War
My brother Garry spent a lot of time with our dad when he was in Hospital before he died and they did a lot of talking about his time in WW2 and these are some of the stories he could remember.
He was on the Kokoda track about 5 days behind his brother Arthur. And while on the track they exchanged letters by troop movements to and from the front line. At the beginning of the track they set their tents up in an arrow shape that was pointing to the Australian Air base and the the next day the RAAF had to inform them to reposition their tents to point somewhere else as it was showing the Japanese where they were. This was my dad's sense of humour coming out.
Whilst in New Guinea he contracted and was very sick with Dengue Fever and Malaria. The Malaria stayed with him all his life. At the battle of Milne Bay my dad was one of the soldiers who had to drag the bodies out of the sea from both sides and bury them. Until I heard this story I couldn't understand why he never liked getting his feet wet in the ocean.
Near the end of the war while watching the open air movies they could hear the Japanese moving around in the Jungle as they wanted to watch the movies as well and of course not be seen. When dad was posted back home to Australia he was an escort on a train to Perth carrying surplus munition fo disposal at sea. This included lend lease equipment.
On leave in Sydney waitng to be returned home after the war had ended my mum met dad. She saw this poor man in uniform throwing up in the gutter after a huge feed of prawns and beer. Feeling sorry for him she took him home and married him in 1951 and they lived in Goolwa until dad died in 2001.They had three children together. On returning from the war returned soldiers recieved very little recognition and no or very little counselling at all. As a consequence he did not apply for his medals until in the the late 1980's. Anyone who knew my dad said he was always a gentleman & a bit of a larrikin in the early days and he never changed.
Submitted 13 July 2015 by Shirley Baldwin
Biography
To the best of my knowledge my father Albert Tuckwell enlisted on the 25th of October 1943 at Redlynch, Queensland at the tender age of 19 yrs. He embarked from Townsville to Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. He was a Stevedore unloading ships that were under constant Japenese air attack.
(Ed Note: The Kokoda / Milne Bay campaigns took place in late 1942. Port Moresby airbases - such as Seven Mile- and the docks were subject to Japanese air raids flown from Lae and Nadzab, until those locations were cleared later in the war)
See related stories
Final Resting Place: Currency Creek Cemetery - Goolwa (Section: General - Plot/Grave/Niche: 1017)
Last Residence: 9 SUMNER ST GOOLWA
Date of Death: 05/04/2001
Age at Death: 77
Date of Burial: 09/04/2001
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