Dias Rowland TAYLOR

TAYLOR, Dias Rowland

Service Numbers: 62877, W82103
Enlisted: 1 May 1919
Last Rank: Sergeant
Last Unit: 10th (WA) Battalion Volunteer Defence Corps (VDC)
Born: Karridale, Western Australia, 17 July 1898
Home Town: Busselton, Western Australia
Schooling: Not yet discovered
Occupation: Farmer
Memorials: Busselton Cenotaph Victoria Square, Busselton Rotary Park of Remembrance Memorial Walk
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World War 1 Service

29 Oct 1918: Involvement Private, 62877, 1st to 3rd (WA) and (TAS) Reinforcements, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '20' embarkation_place: Fremantle embarkation_ship: HMAT Boonah embarkation_ship_number: A36 public_note: ''
29 Oct 1918: Embarked Private, 62877, 1st to 3rd (WA) and (TAS) Reinforcements, HMAT Boonah, Fremantle
10 Jan 1919: Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 62877, 1st to 3rd (WA) and (TAS) Reinforcements, Ship recalled (HMAT Boonah) sent to Woodmans Point Quarantine Station, Fremantle because of out break of Spanish Flu on board
1 May 1919: Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 62877, 1st to 3rd (WA) and (TAS) Reinforcements

World War 2 Service

24 Apr 1942: Involvement W82103, Volunteer Defence Corps (SA), 10 Battalion
24 Apr 1942: Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Sergeant, W82103, 10th (NSW) Battalion Volunteer Defence Corps (VDC)
7 Jun 1942: Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Sergeant, W82103, 10th (WA) Battalion Volunteer Defence Corps (VDC), Enlisted Lake Grace, Western Australia
Date unknown: Involvement W82103
Date unknown: Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Sergeant, W82103, 10th (NSW) Battalion Volunteer Defence Corps (VDC)

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Biography contributed by Joy Dalgleish

HMAT Boonah was built in Germany in 1912 for the Australian trade, and known as the Melbourne. She was in Sydney on the outbreak of war in 1914, and seized by the Commonwealth Government, renamed Boonah, and hastily converted to a troopship. She was the last Australian troop ship to leave Australia in World War 1. Carrying about 1200 AIF soldiers, she arrived in Durban, South Africa just three days after the armistice was signed, and on hearing the news, made arrangements to promptly return home. Before her departure however, local stevedores from the Spanish 'flu stricken city infected soldiers who were billeted in crowded conditions throughout the ship. By the time the Boonah had arrived back at Fremantle in December 1918, more than 300 cases (nearly 25% on board) had been reported and Commonwealth immigration authorities initially refused to allow the soldiers to disembark, knowing of the global pandemic which was under way, but which had until then spared Western Australia. Volunteer Nurses and the sick soldiers were taken to Woodman Point Quarantine Station to try and contain the outbreak and treat the sick. A total of twenty-seven soldiers and four nurses at Woodman Point, WA, died of influenza during the crisis.

The ship anchored in Gage Roads of Fremantle and after some delays, approval was granted for nearly 300 of the sickest soldiers to be moved ashore to the Quarantine Station at Woodman Point, south of Fremantle. Three of the men died on the first day at the station and it took three days for 337 men to be brought ashore. The situation continued to deteriorate further with more dying and more than 20 nursing and medical staff becoming infected. By 20 December, Woodman Point was housing over 600 soldiers.

A total of twenty-seven soldiers and four nurses at Woodman Point died of influenza during the crisis and are buried at the Woodman Point quarantine station

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Biography contributed by Joy Dalgleish

Dias married Murel (nee Weise) 18 April 1927 in Narrogin, Western Australia