WEST, Thomas Henry
| Service Numbers: | Q115624, Q115624,, Q115624, QX51547, QX51547, |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 1 December 1941 |
| Last Rank: | Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 26 Infantry Battalion AMF |
| Born: | Ipswich, Queensland, Australia, 25 November 1914 |
| Home Town: | Innisfail, Cassowary Coast, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Cane Cutter |
| Died: | Cairns, Queensland, Australia, 12 November 1987, aged 72 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Cairns (General) Cemetery, Queensland Queensland Garden of Remembrance |
| Memorials: |
World War 2 Service
| 1 Dec 1941: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Private, Q115624, 19 Field Regiment AMF | |
|---|---|---|
| 12 Apr 1943: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Private, Q115624,, 19 Field Ambulance AMF | |
| 13 Apr 1943: | Involvement Corporal, QX51547, also Q115624 | |
| 13 Apr 1943: | Involvement Corporal, Q115624, also QX51547 | |
| 13 Apr 1943: | Enlisted | |
| 13 Apr 1943: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Corporal, QX51547, 26 Infantry Battalion AMF | |
| 25 May 1943: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Private, QX51547,, 19 Field Ambulance AMF, embarked Cairns for Thursday Is per Katoomba | |
| 4 Jul 1944: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Private, QX51547, 19 Field Ambulance AMF, emplaned Merauke for Brisbane | |
| 20 Dec 1944: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Private, QX51547, 19 Field Ambulance AMF, embarked Brisbane for Bougainville per Duntroon | |
| 2 Feb 1945: | Promoted Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Corporal, 19 Field Ambulance AMF | |
| 14 Jun 1945: | Wounded Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Corporal, QX51547, 19 Field Ambulance AMF, explosive bullet under right eye (phosphorous burns) | |
| 9 Aug 1945: | Transferred Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Corporal, 26th Infantry Battalion | |
| 11 Dec 1945: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Corporal, QX51547, 26th Infantry Battalion, embarked Torokina for Rabaul per River Glenelg | |
| 13 Dec 1945: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Corporal, QX51547, 26th Infantry Battalion, embarked Rabaul for Brisbane per Westralia | |
| 20 Dec 1945: | Discharged | |
| 20 Dec 1945: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Corporal, QX51547, 26 Infantry Battalion AMF |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Corporal Thomas Henry West (Service Nos:QX51547/Q115624) initially served in the ACMF as a Private (Nursing Orderly) with 19 Field Ambulance from 1 December 1941 to 12 April 1943 when he tranferred to the AIF 'in the field'. Private West served with 19 Field Ambulance in New Guinea and Bougainville (25 May 1943 - 13 December 1945). Promoted to Corporal on 2 February 1945, he was WiA in Bougainville on 14 June 1945 (suffering phosphorous burns from an explosive bullet under his eye). Corporal West transferred to 26th Infantry Battalion on 6 August 1945 and was Discharged on 20 December 1945.
Born in 1914 in Ipswich QLD, Tom was the youngest of five children of John Edwin West (b1877 in Northumberland, England) and Caroline Reay (b1881 in Northumberland, England). John (a Shipyard Labourer) and Caroline (a Domestic Servant) married in Durham, England in 1904 and in 1911 immigrated with their children, arriving in Brisbane, QLD on board the Torilla. John and Caroline settled in Ipswich, QLD where they raised their family and John worked as a Boilermaker's Assistant and Labourer.
Tom worked as a Labourer in Ipswich and a Sugar Worker in Cairns, and was a Cane Cutter in Innisfail in 1941 when he enlisted. In 1942 in Cairns he married Marcia Berkman Wheeler (b1923 in Burketown, QLD). Following his Discharge, Tom and Marcia were in Ipswich in 1949, where Tom's occupation was gived as 'Soldier' (Electoral Roll). In the early 1950s Tom and Marcia moved to Cairns, where Tom worked for QGR, initially as a Fettler then as a Fireman and Engine Driver, and they were in Cloncurry in 1972 briefly before returning to Cairns. Tom died in 1987 and Marcia in 2011.
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