WALSH, Bernard William
| Service Number: | WX4268 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 15 June 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/16th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Boulder, Western Australia, 26 May 1917 |
| Home Town: | Boulder, Kalgoorlie/Boulder, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Papua, 30 August 1942, aged 25 years |
| Cemetery: |
Port Moresby (Bomana) War Cemetery, Papua New Guinea |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Kalgoorlie Hospital Memorial Rose Garden, Kings Park Western Australia State War Memorial |
World War 2 Service
| 3 Sep 1939: | Involvement Sergeant, WX4268 | |
|---|---|---|
| 15 Jun 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Sergeant, WX4268, 2nd/16th Infantry Battalion | |
| 25 Oct 1940: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX4268, 2nd/16th Infantry Battalion, embarked Fremantle for Palestine | |
| 29 Jan 1942: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Corporal, WX4268, 2nd/16th Infantry Battalion, embarked Suez for Sydney on board Ile de France | |
| 14 Aug 1942: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Sergeant, WX4268, 2nd/16th Infantry Battalion, embarked Brisbane for Port Moresby on board SS James Cooper |
WW2
The details provided are taken from the book "1000 Men at War" the history of the 2nd/16th Infantry Battalion, published 1959, refer to page 53. Bernard was born at Boulder WA 26th May 1917, prior to the war he was a labourer at Boulder. He served with the 2nd/16th Inf Bn until he was Killed In Action 30th Aug 1942. Rest In Peace. Lest We Forget.
Submitted 27 April 2020 by Maxwell HILL
Biography contributed by Chris Buckley
Sergeant Bernard William Walsh (Service No:WX4268) enlisted in the AIF on 15 June 1940 as a Private attached to General Reinforcements Northam. Private Walsh was attached to 2/16th Infantry Battalion on 25 October 1940 when he embarked with his Unit from Fremantle for Palestine, returning from Suez to Sydney on 29 January 1942 on board the Ile de France. On 14 August 1942 Sergeant Walsh embarked from Brisbane for Port Moresby on board SS James Cooper, and was KiA on 30 August 1942 in the Battle of Isurava at Abuari on the Kokoda Trail, where he was initially buried. Sergeant Walsh was reburied in Port Moresby War Cemetery.
Bernard was born in Boulder, Western Australia in 1917, third of six children of Maurice Walsh (b1883 in Pyalong, Mernda, Victoria) and Emily Gertrude Hickey (b1888 in Clunes, Victoria). Maurice was a Labourer in Pyalong before moving to the Western Australian Goldfields, where he was a Miner in 1910 when he and Emily married in Boulder. The couple lived in the Goldfields - Boulder, Ora Banda via Menzies, Kalgoorlie, Coolgardie - where they raised their family and Maurice was a Miner, Millman and Amalgamator at the State Battery. In the early 1940s Maurice and Emily moved to Perth, where Maurice worked as a Fitter.
Bernard was a Labourer in Boulder, where in 1940 he married Mary Grace (aka Grace) Larcombe (b1916 in Coolgardie), and enlisted in the AIF. Following Bernard's death, Grace remarried, and died in 1951.
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