Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Neil John Simpson was born on the 3rd September 1922 at Mapleton, Queensland, the second son of Jock and Ellen Simpson.  He and his older brother, Robert, attended the Mapleton State School and the Nambour Rural School where the boys were taught manual skills, elementary agriculture and farm management.  Neil rode his pushbike the 7 miles there and back on the days he attended the Rural School. 

After completing his primary schooling Neil worked picking fruit and milking cows until, at age 15, he took over from his father as conductor on the Mapleton tramway when his father left the district.  He did that for about 18 months then joined the Militia serving with the 9th Infantry Battalion which was known as the Moreton Regiment.  He served with the Militia for 2½ years until 1941 when, on the 8th September, he enlisted for WW2 in the AIF, just a few days after his 19th birthday.  His service number was QX23674, his rank was Lance Corporal and his Unit was the 2/5 Armoured Regiment with the Special Forces.  In his service record he’s described as being 5ft 8½ins tall, with grey eyes, dark brown hair and a fair complexion. 

Neil marched in to the Enoggera Army Barracks at Grovely on the 15th September 1941 and 6 weeks later marched out to the NSW Military District which became known as Eastern Command.  He arrived at Camp Greta, north west of Newcastle, on the 30th October 1941.  At the end of February the following year he was sent to hospital sick.  The diagnosis was mumps!!  He was transferred to the No. 3 Casualty Clearing Station then 3 weeks later to the 112 Convalescent Depot.  He was discharged from there in late March and rejoined his Unit.  In early June 1942 Neil was appointed to Special Group 3 as a driver mechanic, part of the Special Forces. 

In November, having relaxed and enjoyed himself just a little too much, he was charged with being drunk and causing a disturbance.  He was fined 2£ and confined to barracks for 14 days. 

In early 1943, Neil’s, Unit,  the 2/5th Armoured Regiment, moved to Western Australia with the rest of the 1st Armoured Division and was based near Geraldton.  The regiment moved south to Moora in July 1943 and remained part of the independent 1st Armoured Brigade Group.  On the 22nd December Neil was appointed as Acting Corporal, unpaid.  In February 1944, while still in Western Australia, Neil’s training continued with him undertaking the No.12 Driver Mechanic Course.  This focused on the American made Sherman Tanks M3 and M4 as well as the British Made Churchill Tank. 

Early in 1944, the Australian Army was requested by the British War Office to undertake trials of Churchill and Sherman tanks in "New Guinea conditions.”  The Regiment was transferred to the 4th Armoured Brigade in March 1944 and moved to Southport, QLD, where armoured units could train operating these tanks in tropical conditions before deployment overseas.  Along with its combat role, the 4th Armoured Brigade was responsible for developing and deploying specialised types of tanks.  Upon qualifying from his course Neil rejoined his unit in April 1944 and participated in the War Office tank trials at Monegeetta VIC. 

On the 8th August 1944, the rank of Corporal was confirmed then 4 days later he embarked from Brisbane on the American built SS “Norman J. Coleman”, detached to the 4th Armoured Brigade.  He arrived at Madang, New Guinea, 13 days later.  Neil served in New Guinea until the 12th February 1945 when he embarked from Madang on the American built SS “Charles Goodnight”, arriving in Sydney, NSW 2 weeks later.

In late June 1945 Neil rejoined his former unit, 2/5 Armoured Regiment.  A month later he was admitted to hospital in Nambour, QLD, with malaria then transferred to the 4th Australian Military Hospital at Redbank in Brisbane.  He was discharged from there on the 4th August and rejoined his unit. 

On the 3rd October 1945 Neil was discharged from the Army and returned to live at Mapleton where he worked at the sawmill.  A young lady named Peggy Wardlaw caught Neil’s eye one day.  She was living at Maroochydore at the time.  The friendship blossomed into a romance and then into a lifetime commitment when Neil and Peggy were married at the Albert Street Methodist Church in Brisbane on the 1st May 1948.  Their first home was at Somerset Dam where Neil was working on the dam.  It was here that their first child was born in 1949, Russell.  Over the ensuing years another 4 children were born…Neil, Alison, Tony and Phillip but sadly, Tony only lived for 18 days. 

In 1952 the family moved to Koombooloomba in northern Queensland where Neil was the manager of the sawmill and tunnel inspector for the Tully Powerhouse.  They were there for around 2 years before moving to Maryborough, Qld, just before Christmas in 1954.  Neil worked as No.1 benchman at Fairlie and Sons, a joinery and glass merchant then mill manager for the same firm at Miva, a community between Gympie and Maryborough. 

In 1955 Neil changed his occupation to become a crewman on the logging barge “Lass O’ Gowrie” which was owned by Joseph Sanderson, Peggy’s grandfather.  He sold it to Wilson Hart sawmill and Neil remained a crewman until he became the skipper of the logging barge the “Goori” running from Fraser Island to Maryborough.  Neil and the Goori spent 26 years together until his retirement in 1982.  He and Peggy remained happily living in Maryborough for the rest of their married life until Peggy’s death on the 2nd October 1991 aged 63. 

On the 31st August 1996, Neil married a lovely lady from his local church, Val Dunks.  They shared 13 years together before Neil passed away on the 14th March 2009 aged 86. 

On a personal note…I had the honour of being Neil’s niece.  I grew up in Sandgate, an outer suburb of Brisbane, with my 4 siblings and parents, so I didn’t get to see the Simpson family very much as they lived in Maryborough.  Back then it was a 5 hour drive to Maryborough, however, on the rare occasion that we did travel to Maryborough, I would sometimes stay with Uncle Neil and Aunty Peggy.  I have a special connection to Aunty Peggy having been born on her 29th birthday and, their daughter Alison is just a year older than me but she’s the only girl in her family and had only “boy” cousins living nearby so it was an opportunity for her to have time with her “girl” cousin.  I remember Uncle Neil always being happy, fun to be around, always ready to give you the shirt off his back and to offer assistance if you had a need.  He used to call me darlin’ and that was so special to me…HE was so special to me. 

My deepest thanks to my cousin Russell, Uncle Neil’s eldest child, who provided me with much of the background information for this biography. 

Neil John Simpson was awarded:

Australia Service Medal          Australia Defence Medal         War Medal          1939-1945 Star                                                                                                                                    

Respectfully submitted by Sue Smith July 2020