Henry Douglas (Hal) LAUGHTON

LAUGHTON, Henry Douglas

Service Number: SX8096
Enlisted: 6 July 1940, Adelaide, SA
Last Rank: Lance Corporal
Last Unit: 2nd/48th Infantry Battalion
Born: Adelaide, South Australia, 9 September 1909
Home Town: Kings Park, South Australia
Schooling: Not yet discovered
Occupation: Station Hand
Died: 22 January 1976, aged 66 years, cause of death not yet discovered, place of death not yet discovered
Cemetery: Not yet discovered
Memorials:
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World War 2 Service

6 Jul 1940: Involvement Lance Corporal, SX8096
6 Jul 1940: Enlisted Adelaide, SA
6 Jul 1940: Enlisted Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Lance Corporal, SX8096
22 Jul 1943: Discharged
22 Jul 1943: Discharged Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Lance Corporal, SX8096
Date unknown: Involvement 2nd/48th Infantry Battalion

Badly Wounded

Henry was Adelaide born on September 9th 1909 to Margaret and Henry Laughton, after who he was named. Henry (affectionately called Hal) joined the cadets, serving for two years before taking up work as a station hand.
Just prior to his 31st birthday he enlisted to serve in WWII on the 19th June 1940. He was allocated the number SX8096 and placed in the newly formed 2/48th Battalion. He and Jean immediately announced their engagement; ‘MISS JEAN SCOTT RICHARDSON, only daughter of Mrs. E. J. Richardson, of Prospect, and the late Mr. Richardson, to Mr. Henry Douglas Laughton, elder son of Mr. and Mrs. H. Laughton, of King's Park.’ They were married on the 31st August, after Hal enlisted.
Basic training for Hal was at the Wayville Showgrounds now part of the Royal Adelaide Showgrounds, and the nearby parklands before the new enlistees travelled to Woodside for field training. Probably because of his two years’ service with the cadets and his maturity, Hal was appointed as Acting Lance Corporal. Following pre-embarkation leave he and his fellow 2/48th Battalion, boarded the Stratheden for the Middle East, on the 7th November 1940 and disembarked on the 17th December. Unfortunately, soon after arrival in the Middle East, Hal contracted Dysentery, spending time in hospital before heading to the Amiriya Staging Camp.
Once in the Middle East, the 2/48th Battalion’s first orders were to hold Tobruk for two months, however this stretched out to defending the fortress for eight months. Hal headed for Tobruk at the start of April 1941 where the dust, flies, heat, minimal water supplies and constant bombardment were quite a challenge to these fresh new enlistees. Tobruk was typified by dust, flies, heat, minimal water supplies and constant bombardment which provided a constant challenge to new enlistees. Once there, they completed a few months training in Cyrenaica. Hal was to become one of the famed Rats of Tobruk.
By September ‘41 Hal had been promoted to become Lance Corporal but just two months later was diagnosed with an extremely high fever (Pyrexia of Unknown Origin) causing him to again be hospitalised.
October the following year saw Hal involved one of the fiercest battles with the 2/48th. That month, Montgomery had ordered the 9th Battalion to attack northward. This included an all-out attack on the strategically positioned Trig 29. Conditions were ever-changing and the fighting continuous. Hal’s 2/48th Battalion prepared for the second battle of El Alamein which began on October 23rd. The evening was described by John Glenn in ‘Tobruk to Tarakan’ as ‘an occasional burst from a machine gun disturbed the night of 24th October. Nevertheless, it was a busy time for the tired men. Little or no sleep could be had. A hot meal sent forward after dark was quickly swallowed. There was no time for yarning. Defences had to be improved, more digging and wiring done, and patrols sent out.’ He later added that ‘the 2/48th had stirred up a real hornets’ nest.’ On that night alone 9 of the Battalion were killed and 20 wounded in action. Of these 16 were from South Australia and the remainder from Western Australia.
Glenn explains they were ‘running into particularly stiff opposition to the west of the Trig point. It was only after hard fighting, with heavy casualties on both sides, that they were able to consolidate on their objective. Gradually the platoon, small in number to start with, was being whittled away and those remaining were being forced to go to ground.’ Many years later, in November 2019, in an interview with Harry Lock, the ‘Murray Pioneer’ reported that ‘On the night of October 25 – 26, 7 Platoon was ordered to eliminate a German strong post and suffered heavy casualties, leaving only seven men in the platoon. ‘
Kenneth Slessor the Official War Correspondent also wrote an article which was reproduced in several newspapers. This detailed the battle of El Alamein at the end of October. Referring to the outstanding work of the 2/48th Battalion on that occasion, Slessor wrote: ‘Within one week, in the last great battle of El Alamein, two men of the 2/48th Battalion won the Victoria Cross. Sgt. Bill Kibby, VC, and Pte. Percy Gratwick, VC, lie under the sand in soldiers’ graves today. Australia is far away over the rim of the world, and no one comes near the wooden crosses painted with their names except the wandering Bedouin and the little lizards of the desert.
‘But their battalion is rich in its pride and in its memories. They will never be forgotten. From the stories of their mates, those reluctant-tongued soldiers who fixed bayonets with them in the great offensive which drove Rommel from Egypt, come portraits of these two men in action which no other source could furnish.’
Glenn also included an extract from the diary of fellow 2/48th soldier, Jack Ralla SX13013 which described Hal’s wounding but also the camaraderie of the Battalion in caring for their fellow soldiers.
“I went to the assistance of Hal Laughton a little higher up the ridge. He had been badly wounded. From that time on we of A Company began to lose men at a fast rate.” Johnny Ralla was then himself wounded in his left leg which was then at right angles to his body and blood gushing from a groin wound. Diver Derrick who was also wounded, promised to send help. The next morning Laurie Sharpe SX8244 returned to carry John Ralla back on his shoulder, and to get medical help.
Initially Hal was reported as having a gunshot wound to his leg. The Chronicle announced in November that Hal had been wounded at the same time as fellow soldiers 36-year-old Private Ernest W.S. Moore SX11130 from North Kensington and Private Edward Davis SX13756, both from the 2/48th Battalion were killed. Two from the 2/43rd were also listed as wounded, Robert G. Fergusson SX13533 from Murray Bridge and Robert T. Wilson SX8540 from Burra (both survived the war).
Initially Hal was listed as being dangerously ill then on the seriously ill list. He had sustained a gun-shot wound to his abdomen, resulting in a perforated stomach and colon. He was more than fortunate to be alive and to have survived. He later had a colonoscopy, returning to Australia on a hospital ship December ’42. He remained listed as seriously ill and continued to receive hospital treatment back home. His injury developed into an abscess at the colonoscopy wound, resulting in the inevitable conclusion that Hal was ‘Medically unfit for service for a period greater than six months.’
Consequently, he was discharged on the 22nd July ’43, classified as ‘medically unfit’ but an extremely fortunate soldier to be alive and to return to his wife, Jean. His discharge papers noted the scar in the centre of his chest as testament to how close his war had been. With Hal’s discharge, he and Jean welcomed two children, both born in the Memorial Hospital, Margaret in June ‘44 and Ian in November ’48.
Hal’s father Henry lived to see Hal return from war but died aged 72 in 1946. Hal’s mother died in January 1960, and both were buried in the West Terrace Cemetery.
Aged 66, Hal died on the 22nd January, 1976. He is remembered in the South Australian Garden of Remembrance at Pasadena. Jean survived him for another 22 years and was buried in the Angaston Cemetery in August ’98 where she and Hal are both remembered.
Researched and written by Kaye Lee, daughter of Bryan Holmes SX8133, 2/48th Battalion.

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