MACK, Val
| Service Numbers: | 1646, 1652, QP8319, QX17732 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 5 December 1914, Queenscliff, Victoria |
| Last Rank: | Lieutenant |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/10th Field Regiment |
| Born: | Heywood, Victoria, Australia, 16 July 1896 |
| Home Town: | Kew, Boroondara, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Farm labourer (later Comedian/Radio announcer) |
| Died: | Natural causes (stroke), Newcastle, New South Wales, 5 May 1962, aged 65 years |
| Cemetery: |
Sandgate General Cemetery, Newcastle, NSW Presbyterian Section 16NE, Lot 35 |
| Memorials: | Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, Kew War Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 5 Dec 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1646, Queenscliff, Victoria | |
|---|---|---|
| 19 Feb 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 1646, 14th Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '11' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Runic embarkation_ship_number: A54 public_note: '' | |
| 19 Feb 1915: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 1646, 14th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Runic, Melbourne | |
| 7 Sep 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 5th Infantry Battalion | |
| 29 Jun 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, Driver, 1652, 5th Infantry Battalion |
World War 2 Service
| 29 Sep 1939: | Enlisted Warrant Officer Class 2, QP8319, Brisbane, Queensland | |
|---|---|---|
| 15 Aug 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Lieutenant, QX17732, 2nd/10th Field Regiment | |
| 7 Sep 1940: | Promoted Warrant Officer Class 1 | |
| 3 Jul 1941: | Promoted Lieutenant, 2nd/10th Field Regiment | |
| 7 Dec 1941: | Involvement Lieutenant, QX17732, 2nd/10th Field Regiment, Malaya/Singapore | |
| 16 Feb 1942: | Imprisoned Malaya/Singapore | |
| 5 Jan 1946: | Discharged Lieutenant, QX17732, 2nd/10th Field Regiment | |
| 5 Jan 1946: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Lieutenant, QX17732, 2nd/10th Field Regiment |
Help us honour Val Mack's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by John Edwards
"VAL MACK aka John McKenzie [Born: Harold McLellan Mathers]
Comedian, singer, music director, manager, producer, radio host.
Val Mack’s career in entertainment possibly began as a singer (billed as John McKenzie) and later advance agent in the late 1920s. His name has first been identified in the latter role with Humphrey Bishop‘s touring company in 1928. He was involved in both theatre and radio in Queensland during the 1930s and, at one stage touring his own show, Mack’s Comedy Players. Before enlisting in the Australian Imperial Forces (A.I.F.) during World War II Mack worked for several radio stations, including 4KQ (Brisbane), 4MB (Maryborough) and 4BU (Bundaberg), conducting community singers, acting in radio plays and hosting his own radio shows.
While in command of the Eighth Division’s Concert Party in Malaya, Mack was captured by the Japanese and spent the years 1942 to 1944 as a prisoner of war. During his internment at Changi he conducted prison camp concerts. - Sunday Mail Magazine 21 Aug. (1988), 61. Courtesy of Richard Fotheringham." - SOURCE (ozvta.com)
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