BELLDEN, John Reginald
| Service Numbers: | QX38190, Q42394 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 4 March 1941 |
| Last Rank: | Signaller |
| Last Unit: | Lines of Communication Units |
| Born: | Armidale, New South Wales, Australia, 12 April 1912 |
| Home Town: | Sydney, City of Sydney, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | PMG Linesman / Clerk |
| Died: | Primary Bronchopneumonia / Acute Bronchitis, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 15 September 1971, aged 59 years |
| Cemetery: |
Rookwood Cemeteries & Crematorium, New South Wales |
| Memorials: |
World War 2 Service
| 4 Mar 1941: | Enlisted Private, Q42394, Townsville, Queensland | |
|---|---|---|
| 4 Mar 1941: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, QX38190 | |
| 5 Aug 1941: | Promoted Lance Corporal | |
| 1 Aug 1942: | Involvement Lance Corporal, QX38190 | |
| 27 Oct 1945: | Discharged Signaller, Q42394, Lines of Communication Units, 18 Lines of Communications Signals also QX38190 | |
| 27 Oct 1945: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, QX38190 |
My Dad
My father was an excellent swimmer and was a Bondi Surf Lifesaver when he was a teenager.
My memories of Dad, during World War II, included when Dad was on leave, when Dad taught my sister and myself Morse Code by flashing a torch - and also my father giving us tiny purses which he had made out of cigarette boxes.
Following the war, Dad used to take my sister and myself to the city each ANZAC Day, in Sydney, and leave us in a prominent position at one of the barricades lining the street (in the front row), before he left us to join the ANZAC Day Parade - and, as Dad marched past us, during the ANZAC Day March, he would wave to us.
Dad gave me his World War II medals to keep, not long before I married, and I wore them with pride, on the right side of my chest, in memory of my father at an ANZAC Day Service, in 2012, at the War Memorial in the suburb where I live in Brisbane, Queensland.
As I am now too old to leave the house to see the ANZAC Day March, in person, I always watch the ANZAC Day March on television, on the ABC, here at home, and watch for Dad's unit - the Royal Australian Corps of Signals - during the ANZAC Day March in Adelaide Street, Brisbane.
Submitted 8 May 2021 by Rayma McAnally
Biography contributed by Rayma McAnally
John Reginald Bellden enlisted in the Australian Army on 4 March 1941, as a Private in the Australian Infantry Force, with the Army number Q42394. War service during this time was on Thursday Island, during which he was promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal on 5 August 1941. He transferred from the A.I.F. to the Australian Army Corps of Signals in 1942, with the new Army number of QX38190. War service, during this time, was in Papua/New Guinea. Later, while serving with the Australian Army Corps of Signals, at his own request, his rank was changed from Lance Corporal to that of Signalman. He was discharged from the Australian Army Corps of Signals on 27 October, 1945.
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