SWANN, Samuel William
| Service Number: | QX10449 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 4 July 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 25th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Pechey, Queensland, Australia, 30 March 1906 |
| Home Town: | Toowoomba, Toowoomba, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Bush Worker |
| Died: | Oakey, Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia, 2 September 1982, aged 76 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: | Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial |
World War 2 Service
| 4 Jul 1940: | Involvement QX10449 | |
|---|---|---|
| 4 Jul 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, QX10449 | |
| 4 Jul 1940: | Enlisted | |
| 7 Apr 1941: | Embarked Private, QX10449, 25th Infantry Battalion, per SS NN for Middle East | |
| 5 Jul 1941: | Imprisoned Reported Missing believed PoW - record papers state he was released and rejoined his Unit on 21 August 1941 | |
| 8 Feb 1942: | Embarked Private, QX10449, 25th Infantry Battalion, ex Suez per USS Mt Vernon to Adelaide | |
| 6 Sep 1942: | Embarked Sapper, QX10449, ex Brisbane to New Guinea | |
| 30 Jan 1943: | Embarked Sapper, QX10449, ex Moresby per Duntroon to Cairns | |
| 22 Nov 1943: | Discharged | |
| 22 Nov 1943: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, QX10449 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Sam was the eldest of ten children of William Newbery Swann (born 1869 in Cheshire, England) and Sarah Jane Stevenson (born 1888 in Brisane, QLD). William - a House Painter in Toowoomba, QLD - married Sarah in 1905 in Toowoomba, QLD. William and Sarah moved around the Darling Downs region (Warwick, Toowoomba, Black Duck Creek, Captain's Mountain and Millmerran) where William worked as a House Painter, Engineer, Engine Driver and Labourer. Following his death in 1927, Sam took responsibility for the welfare of his mother and younger siblings.
Sam worked as a Farm Labourer, Axeman and Timbercutter and in 1933 was charged with fraud for falsely receiving relief funds for his three younger siblings.
In July 1940 Sam enlisted in the Australian Army and served in the Middle East and New Guinea (Private, Sapper; Service No:QX10449) with 2/25 Infantry Battalion and 2/5 Field Coy. He was reported missing - believed taken PoW on 5 July 1941, and rejoined his unit on 28 August 1941, having been released. Sam was Discharged in December 1943. Brothers Edmund Joseph (Private, Sapper; Service No:QX16907), Albert James Daniel (Trooper, Service No:Q104009) and Arthur Newbery (Leading Aircraftman, RAAF; Service No:43461) and Brothers-in-Law Kenneth George Oliver (Private, Service No:QX52167) and Alfred Mansfield Holloway (Private, Service Nos:Q66175/Q122233/QX39483) also served in WWII.
In 1942 in Brisbane, QLD Sam married Florence Gertrude Summerville (born 1904). Florence was a Land Army Worker, and continued working as a Farm Hand and Factory Hand until her death - Sam and Florence do not appear to have cohabited, and Sam lived briefly in Brisbane after his Discharge before relocating to Sandgate, QLD where in 1951 he married Kathleen Mary Wilson (born 1902 in Toowoomba, QLD). Sam worked as a Labourer in Sandgate before he and Kathleen moved to Oakey on the Darling Downs in the early 1960s. Sam worked as a Linesman until he retired in 1972. Kathleen died in 1981 and Sam in 1982.
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