TOMPKINS, Robert Thomas
| Service Number: | QX21202 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 6 May 1941 |
| Last Rank: | Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/25th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Gympie, Queensland, Australia, 7 February 1911 |
| Home Town: | Goomboorian, Gympie Regional Council, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Enterprise State School, Gympie, Queensland, Australia |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Died: | Gympie, Queensland, Australia, 6 December 2000, aged 89 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Cooloola Coast Crematorium, Queensland |
| Memorials: | Goomboorian & District WW2 Roll of Honour |
World War 2 Service
| 6 May 1941: | Involvement QX21202 | |
|---|---|---|
| 6 May 1941: | Enlisted | |
| 6 May 1941: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Corporal, QX21202, 2nd/25th Infantry Battalion | |
| 1 Sep 1941: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, QX21202, 2nd/25th Infantry Battalion, embarked Sydney for Middle East | |
| 8 Feb 1942: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, QX21202, 2nd/25th Infantry Battalion, embarked Middle East for Melbourne via Colombo | |
| 13 Sep 1944: | Promoted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Corporal, 2nd/25th Infantry Battalion | |
| 2 Nov 1944: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Corporal, QX21202, 2nd/25th Infantry Battalion | |
| 2 Nov 1944: | Discharged |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
One of four brothers (Osmond, Jon and Albert) who served in WWII, Corporal Robert Thomas Tompkins (Service No:QX21202) enlisted in the AIF on 6 May 1941 as a Private attached to 6 Infantry Training Battalion - graded Cook. Private Tomkins served with 2/25 Infantry Battalion in the Middle East (1 September 1941 - 8 February 1942) and in New Guinea (31 August 1942 - 21 January 1943 and 19 September 1943 - 19 January 1944). Promoted to Corporal on 13 September 1944, he was attached to 2/25 Infantry Battalion at Discharge on 2 November 1944.
Fifth of ten children, Bob was born in Gympie QLD in 1911 to Osmond (Os) Tompkins (b1879 in Matyborough, QLD) and Caroline Ann Jones (b1883 in Glamorgan, Wales) - Caroline immigrated with her parents and siblings in 1888, arriving in Maryborough on board the Dorunda. Os worked as a Labourer (licensed to cut firewood), and in 1901 he and Caroline married in Gympie, where they settled and raised their family and Os was a Labourer and Timbergetter.
Bob was a Farmer at Wilson's Pocket via Wolvi, and in 1941 when he enlisted in the Army, was a Farmer at Goomboorian via Gympie. Following his Discharge, Bob returned to work as a Farmer in the Gympie region, and in 1947 in Maryborough married Patricia (Pat) May Bollington (b1922 in Casino, New South Wales). Bob and Pat settled at Canina via Gympie and then at Lagoon Pocket via Kilkivan where they raised their family and Bob was a Farmer. In the late 1960s they moved to Gympie, where Bob worked as a Labourer, and in the mid 1970s Bob moved to Cooran via Widgee where he worked as a Labourer. Bob died in 2000 and Pat in 2012.
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