Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Ken was born in Parkes and had to leave school at an early age to provide for the family after the death of his father. Ken joined the Army in June 1940, serving with the 2nd/4th Pioneer Battalion in Darwin. After the war he returned home to his wife, Olive (Perkins) and worked for many years with the Wright-Heaton Company until his retirement.

Ken served with 2nd/4th Pioneer Battalion which was on the convoy sent to Timor from Darwin 2 days before the bombing of darwin. The convoy turned back when they were attacked by land based bombers. They arrived back in Darwin of the 18th and luckily were disembarked before the aerial attack began the next morning. Ken remained in Darwin for a considerable time before being sent to Townsville for jungle warfare training. He witnessed the surrender of the Japanese on the island of Morotai in 1945.