Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Contributed by St Ignatius College, Adelaide

Pre-War

Albert Carl Coppi was born on July 12, 1916, in Rose Park, South Australia. He was brought up on Seventh Street in the north-western suburb of Bowden by his father Ernst Coppi, who immigrated from Germany, and mother, Louise Anna Baring. He also had one sister named Louise Clara Coppi, born in 1914. Coppi worked as a carpenter in Adelaide before his time in the war, and his religious denomination was the Church of England[1]. On 19 August 1940, it was reported in the Advertiser that Coppi lost his mother two days prior as a result of an accident. She was only 59, leaving behind her husband, son, daughter, and son-in-law, Frank[2].

During War

On the 6th of March 1941, Coppi was enlisted in the armed services and was given the service number ‘SX11658’. He was 24 years of age and was enlisted as a private with no previous military experience. Coppi reported for duty two days later and was part of the 7th reinforcement of the 2/10th Battalion. His training began on April 1, 1941, and he embarked overseas on April 23, 1941, before disembarking on May 15. During this time, he arrived in the Middle East and fought in the ‘Siege of Tobruk’ with his battalion. This battle was incredibly significant as it provided a large boost to the morale of Australian troops[3]. The Australians, as well as other allied troops, were tasked to capture the town of Tobruk in hopes of slowing down the axis forces, which proved to be a great success[4]. This was an extremely crucial moment for the Australians as, by having control of Tobruk, they had access to the sea, which made it much easier to move supplies.

A noticeable detail is that the Nazi commanders labelled the allies ‘rats’, a name of which the Australians reclaimed and used to their advantage, later infamously becoming known as the ‘Rats of Tobruk’. At the time, Coppi resided at the staging camp in Amiriya, Egypt, before being withdrawn to Palestine. On June 27, 1941, Coppi was sent to the 9th Australian General Hospital, and was later diagnosed with Prepatellar bursitis, an inflammation of the bursa, which he acquired due to the physically demanding role of being a soldier. He was discharged from the hospital on July 5.

Coppi continue to fight in the Middle East until February 11, 1942, where he embarked on the Nieuw Amsterdam ship for Australia. They stopped at Mumbai before arriving back home. During this time, there was major reshuffling of the battalions, brigades, and divisions, due to the threat of the Japanese in the Pacific. This is why Coppi’s battalion was sent home. June 16, 1942, saw Coppi face some injuries. These were minor enough as he re-joined the unit just four days later[5].

On August 6, 1942, Coppi embarked from Brisbane and disembarked in Papua New Guinea on the 14th. During this time, he fought in the ‘Battle of Milne Bay’, where the allies successfully defeated the Japanese. This was the first time that the Japanese had been defeated on land, which cemented Milne Bay’s significance to Australia in history. The conditions were muddy and tough to live in. The roads were in a noticeably poor condition, yet the allies pushed through. In January 1943, Coppi was evacuated due to contracting malaria, and was transferred to the Australian General Hospital. He then departed from Port Moresby and arrived in Cairns in March. This diagnosis proved to be heavily significant in Coppi’s future involvement in the war.

While in Australia, Coppi was admitted into hospital on April 7, 1943, due to his malaria diagnosis. In June, a change of diagnosis was reported which further specified that Coppi had contracted ‘Malaria BT’, or ‘benign tertian malaria’. This is a form of malaria which includes a main symptom of having a spike in fever every third day[6]. Due to this, Coppi was not active on the battlefield which led to him to commit numerous offences in his spare time. Such offences included being absent without leave for hours at once, going against the good order and military discipline, and drunkenness. He faced many fines and days of forfeiture due to these offences, while spending time around Australia in various hospitals, depots, and camps.

From the 18-25th of November 1943, Coppi stayed at the Kapara Convalescent Home in Glenelg, which was a place for members of the Second A.I.F.[7] to stay and recover. This was also the first institute made for this purpose in the state of South Australia[8]. On the 29th of November, Coppi was deemed ‘medically fit to carry out certain duties which require only restricted fitness’ by the medical board. On New Years’ Eve, he was awarded a proficiency pay, which was valued at 6 pounds a day, and given to servicemen and women subjected to good conduct[9].

Coppi, on 9 November 1944, was appointed as group clerk, most likely due to his malaria diagnosis. Also on this day, he chose to relinquish his proficiency pay. Coppi went on to marry Lillian Victoria Rutherford on 14 April 1945, before being promoted to corporal on 10 October 1945, and then to sergeant on 2 January 1946. He remained as part of the armed forces even after the end of the Second World War. Finally, on 16 July 1948, Coppi was discharged at the age of 31 years and 11 months old[10]. He served in the Middle East for a year and in New Guinea for a month. Coppi served on continuous Full Time War Service in the A.I.F. from March 6, 1941 - June 30, 1947, and in the Intelligence Army from July 1, 1947 – July 16, 1948. Thus, leaving Coppi with a total effective period of 2659 days; 1629 of which were in Australia, and 604 were overseas[11].

Post-War

After the war, Coppi was presented with a plethora of awards. One of which was the ‘Returned from Active Service’ badge. Coppi and his wife lived in Ferryden Park. During this time, they raised five children: Pat, Sandra ‘Susie’, Jeffrey, John, and Robert. In 1952, Coppi’s father, Ernst Coppi, passed away. This left Coppi with no living parents at the young age of 36. On April 28, 1970, Coppi passed away at age 53[12] due to liver cancer. His residency at the time was in Glenelg North, and he left behind his wife, sister, sons, and daughter. He is now buried in Centennial Park Cemetery in Pasadena.

Subsequently, he swiftly decided to relinquish this pay, which shows that he did not value the money that was being awarded to him, but the deed that he was doing for his country. Finally, Coppi was later assigned as group clerk, then as corporal, and then ultimately, as sergeant. Thus, it can be concluded that Coppi made up for his previous unlawful actions and regained the respect and trust of his peers and leaders, therefore justifyingly demonstrating the ANZAC spirit.

Citations

[1] Albert Coppi Attestation Form, National Archives of Australia
[2] The Advertiser 19/08/1940, Trove – National Library of Australia
[3] Army Museum of Australia
[4] Virtual War Memorial Australia
[5] Albert Coppi Service Record, National Archives of Australia
[6] National Library of Medicine USA
[7] Virtual War Memorial Australia
[8] State Library of South Australia - LibGuides
[9] The Argus 10/07/1943, Trove – National Library of Australia
[10] Albert Coppi Service Record, National Archives of Australia
[11] Albert Coppi Proceedings for Discharge Form, National Archives of Australia
[12] Commonwealth War Graves Commission

References

2/10th Australian Infantry Battalion n.d., www.awm.gov.au, viewed 20 May 2023, https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/U56053

2nd/10th Infantry Battalion n.d., vwma.org.au, viewed 20 May 2023, https://vwma.org.au/explore/units/10

COPPI, ALBERT Service Records 1939, National Archives of Australia, viewed 20 May 2023, https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=6402556

Department of Veterans’ Affairs; Gnabra Building, 21 GS n.d., DVA’s Nominal Rolls, nominal-rolls.dva.gov.au, viewed 20 May 2023, https://nominal-rolls.dva.gov.au/veteran?id=675057&c=WW2#R

Virtual War Memorial n.d., vwma.org.au, viewed 20 May 2023, https://vwma.org.au/explore/campaigns/85

Murray, JJ 2011, I Confess - A Memoir of the Siege of Tobruk, Simon and Schuster.

Siege of Tobruk - Army Museum of South Australia - Anzac Highway, Keswick n.d., amosa.org.au, viewed 20 May 2023, https://amosa.org.au/museum-exhibits/wwii-exhibits/siege-of-tobruk

Milne Bay - Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway 2023, Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway, viewed 20 May 2023, https://www.kokodawalkway.com.au/the-walkway/milne-bay/

AWM52 8/3/10/24 - July - December 1942 n.d., www.awm.gov.au, viewed 20 May 2023, https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1362961?

Virtual War Memorial n.d., vwma.org.au, viewed 20 May 2023, https://vwma.org.au/explore/campaigns/52

Abel, SC 1992, The Battle of Milne Bay: Six Key Factors that Helped to Snatch Victory from Defeat.

Department of Veterans' Affairs 2020, Battle of Milne Bay | Department of Veterans’ Affairs, Dva.gov.au, viewed 22 May 2023, https://www.dva.gov.au/newsroom/media-centre/media-backgrounders/battle-milne-bay#:~:text=The%20Battle%20of%20Milne%20Bay

Bammigatti, C, Shetty, S, Shetty, S & Kumar, A 2011, ‘Benign tertian malaria – a misnomer?’, Tropical Doctor, vol. 41, no. 3, pp. 168–169.

Virtual War Memorial n.d., vwma.org.au, viewed 20 May 2023, https://vwma.org.au/collections/home-page-stories/kapara-during-the-world-wars

The Advertister - Kapara Convalescent Home 1940, State Library of South Australia, viewed 20 May 2023, https://guides.slsa.sa.gov.au/c.php?g=410369&p=2794479

Argus 1943, ‘PROFICIENCY PAY IN ARMY’, 10 July, Melbourne, Victoria, viewed 20 May 2023, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/11795470

ACT, R 2023, Department of Defence, Defence.gov.au, viewed 20 May 2023, https://www.defence.gov.au/adf-members-families/honours-awards/badges/returned-active-service-badge

Badge - Returned from Active Service, 1940 n.d., Victorian Collections, viewed 20 May 2023, https://victoriancollections.net.au/items/59868f3921ea67199c9afa1e

Find War Dead | CWGC n.d., www.cwgc.org, viewed 20 May 2023, https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/

Albert Carl Coppi (1916-1970) - Find a Grave... n.d., www.findagrave.com, viewed 20 May 2023, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/151939191/albert-carl-coppi

Albert Carl Coppi 1916-1970 - Ancestry® n.d., www.ancestry.com.au, viewed 20 May 2023, https://www.ancestry.com.au/genealogy/records/albert-carl-coppi-24-h0j3d5

Advertiser 1940, ‘Family Notices’, 19 August, Adelaide, South Australia, viewed 20 May 2023, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/30586520

FamilySearch.org n.d., ancestors.familysearch.org, viewed 20 May 2023, https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/LJYW-QZT/ernst-otto-coppi-1878-1952

2023, Namessite.com.au, viewed 20 May 2023, https://namessite.com.au/view/notices.php?id=11153366

Australian War Memorial 2010, Anzac spirit | The Australian War Memorial, Awm.gov.au, viewed 20 May 2023, https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/encyclopedia/anzac/spirit