WEST, Edwin
| Service Numbers: | Q15155, 43734, Q140855, QX38627 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 16 December 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | Not yet discovered |
| Born: | Darlington, Durham, England, 26 April 1906 |
| Home Town: | Ipswich, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Bricklayer |
| Died: | Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 16 July 1969, aged 63 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Pinnaroo Lawn Cemetery & Crematorium, Brisbane |
| Memorials: |
World War 2 Service
| 16 Dec 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Lance Corporal, Q15155 | |
|---|---|---|
| 4 Aug 1941: | Involvement Lance Corporal, Q15155, RAAF 43734 (12/9/41-5/3/42) then Q140855 & QX38627 (?-26/6/1943) | |
| 4 Aug 1941: | Enlisted | |
| 4 Aug 1941: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Lance Corporal, Q15155 | |
| 12 Sep 1941: | Enlisted 43734 | |
| 5 Mar 1942: | Discharged 43734 | |
| 5 Nov 1942: | Involvement Private, QX38627, also Q15155, Q140855 & RAAF43474 12/9/41-5/3/42 | |
| 5 Nov 1942: | Involvement Private, Q140855, also Q15155 (16/12/1940-4/8/1941) RAAF 43734 (12/9/1941-5/3/1942) | |
| 5 Nov 1942: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, QX38627 | |
| 26 Jun 1943: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, QX38627 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Private Edwin West (Service No:QX38627) first served with Senior Cadets and the Militia (49th Battalion) before enlisting in the ACMF on 16 December 1941. On this occasion he was a Sapper (Service No:Q15155) attached to NC Survey Coy and was promoted to Lance Corporal (Drill Inspector supporting the CSM at Kilcoy Training Depot) with 1 Field Survey Coy before discharge on 4 August 1941.
On 12 September 1941 Aircraftman I West (Service No:43734) enlisted in the RAAF and mustered as a Guard. ACI West was attached to No 12 EFTS Lowood at Discharge on 5 March 1942 (Medically Unfit - whilst on leave ACI West was chopping wood with an axe when he accidently chopped off two of his fingers - National Archives Australia).
He re-enlisted in the ACMF (Private; Service No:140855) from 9 March to 4 November 1942 and was attached to No 2 Training School when he Discharged to 'enlist in Expeditionary Force for Service outside the Commonwealth' (National Archives Australia).
From 5 November 1942, Private West (Service No:QX38627) served in the AIF with 3 Base Postal Unit until Discharge on 26 June 1943 'at his own request to return to civil employment as Bricklayer with Civil Construction Corps' (National Archives Australia).
Born in 1905 in Durham England, Edwin was the eldest of five children of John Edwin West (b1877 in Northumberland, England) and Caroline Rose Reay (b1881 in Northumberland, England). John (a Shipyard Labourer) and Caroline (a Domestic Servant) married in 1904 in Northumberland and immigrated with their children in 1911, arriving in Brisbane, QLD on board the Torilla. John and Caroline settled in Ipswich, QLD where they raised their family and John was a Labourer and Boilermaker's Assistant.
Edwin worked in Ipswich and Sandgate as a Labourer and Fettler with QGR and in 1926 in Ipswich QLD, married Doris Esme Collett (b1909 in Ipswich, QLD) - despite being married, Edwin faced Ipswich Court charge with abduction of Doris. Edwin was working as a Bricklayer in Boondall, Ipswich when he enlisted in the ACMF on the first occasion. In the decade following his final Discharge, Edwin's occupation was 'Soldier' in Electoral Rolls until the early 1960s when he and Doris were living in Brighton and Edwin was a Labourer. Edwin died in 1969 and Doris in 1991.
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