MCALISTER, Joseph
| Service Number: | QX2001 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 21 October 1939 |
| Last Rank: | Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | 9th Division Signals |
| Born: | Ulverston, Tasmania, Australia, 2 April 1906 |
| Home Town: | Sydney, City of Sydney, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Gladstone, Queensland, Australia, 29 July 1973, aged 67 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Gladstone Cemetery, Qld |
| Memorials: | City of Townsville WW2 HR, Wickham "Citizens of Wickham" Volunteers Honour Roll |
World War 2 Service
| 21 Oct 1939: | Involvement Sergeant, QX2001 | |
|---|---|---|
| 21 Oct 1939: | Enlisted | |
| 21 Oct 1939: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Sergeant, QX2001 | |
| 5 May 1940: | Embarked Australian Army (Post WW2), Sergeant, QX2001, Special Services AIF, Specialist Group 3 ex Sydney per HMTX4 | |
| 26 Jul 1940: | Promoted Australian Army (Post WW2), Warrant Officer Class 1, HQ Northern Command, Clerk - Middle East | |
| 3 Mar 1941: | Embarked Australian Army (Post WW2), Warrant Officer Class 1, QX2001, HQ Northern Command, ex Durban for Middle East | |
| 20 Jul 1941: | Transferred Australian Army (Post WW2), Sergeant, 9th Division Signals | |
| 27 Jan 1943: | Embarked Australian Army (Post WW2), Sergeant, QX2001, 9th Division Signals, ex Middle East per L2 for Sydney | |
| 11 Aug 1943: | Embarked Australian Army (Post WW2), Sergeant, QX2001, 9th Division Signals, Milne Bay per Ollen ex Cairns | |
| 21 Mar 1944: | Embarked Australian Army (Post WW2), Sergeant, QX2001, 9th Division Signals, ex Port Moresby per Ormiston for Townsville | |
| 28 Mar 1945: | Discharged |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Joseph was the son of John McAlister (born 1864 in Antrim, Ireland) and Anna McBain (born 1871 in Scotland), John was a Whinstone Sett Maker (he cut cut paving stones by hand) in Dumbartonshire in Scotland when he married Anna in 1889.
Joseph, a Labourer in NSW, enlisted in Townsville, QLD in the Army in 1939. He was a Private (Service No:QX2001) with2/9th Infantry Battalion when he embarked for South Africa in 1940. He was promoted to Sergeant, then WOII with HQ AIF Pay Section, and went from Durban to the Middle East in 1941. At his own request, he reverted to Sergeant and transferred to Signals 9 Australian Division. Joseph served in New Guinea, where he was hospitalised with Malaria, and was Discharged in March 1945.
In 1944 in Sydney, NSW, Joseph married Mavis Lillian Bennett (nee Knox, born 1916 in Sydney, NSW). Mavis was a Waitress, and moved to Townsville where she lived until 1948 (while Joseph served a three year prison sentence in HMP Townsville). Joseph and Mavis lived in Cairns, where Joseph worked as a Clerk before moving to Mary Kathleen in Cloncurry where Joseph was working as a Storeman.
By 1963 Joseph and Mary had moved to Gladstone and Joseph worked as a Yardman until he retired in 1970. Joseph died in 1973 and Mavis in 1981.
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