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DOUST, Charles Cecil Victor (1910-1956)

2/11th Battalion, 19th Brigade, 6th Division

Charles Cecil Victor (Cecil) Doust was born on 28 January 1910 in Esperance, Western Australia, the youngest of twelve children of George William Doust and Catherine (Kate) Griffin. He was six years old when three of his brothers went off to fight in the First World War. George (29), Jim (22) and Jack (20). His sister’s husband, Edward Masters (30) had also been away fighting. After Jack was killed in Zonnebeke, Belgium, his brother Harry, then only 18 also enlisted stating that he was 21 years and 7 months. Edward Masters also lost his life the following year during the attack on Harbonnieres in France.

At the age of 23, Cecil travelled east to Melbourne and on 15 May 1933, he married Nora Cecelia Delaney in that city. The couple made their home in Wiluna, Western Australia, a small town in the Mid-West region of Western Australia 180 km west of Meekatharra where Cecil worked as a miner at the Wiluna Gold Mine. Their first child, Edmond George Doust, was born in Wiluna on 14 July 1939.

Cecil enlisted in the AIF on 26 April 1940 at Northam as a member of the 2/11th Infantry Battalion. In September 1940 Cecil embarked for the Middle East to join with the unit already in Egypt.

^{(Note: A story in the Perth News dated 23 June 1941 states that “Private Cecil Doust has never seen his baby son who was born before the father left Western Australia. … The day after Private Doust returned to camp, following his final leave the son was born.” I have not been able to identify any records of the birth of this child.)}

Most of the 2/11th Battalion’s personnel were recruited from Western Australia, and the battalion was the only infantry battalion of the 6th Division raised outside of New South Wales or Victoria. After training in Egypt and Palestine the battalion was re-allocated to the 19th Brigade after the Australian brigades were reorganised into three-battalion formations.

Battle of Bardia

On 3 January 1941, the Australian 6th Division attacked began its first action of the war as part of the British Western Desert Force’s Operation Compass to force the Italian 10th Army out of North Africa.

“The 6th Australian Division (Major General Iven Mackay) attacked the Italian XXIII Corps (Lieutenant-General [Generale di Corpo d'Armata] Annibale Bergonzoli) at Bardia from 3 to 5 January 1941, assisted by air support, naval gunfire and artillery. The 16th Australian Infantry Brigade attacked at dawn from the west, where the defences were known to be weak. Sappers blew gaps in the barbed wire with Bangalore torpedoes, then filled in and broke down the sides of the anti-tank ditch with picks and shovels. The Australian infantry and 23 Matilda II tanks of the 7th RTR, overran the Italian defences and took 8,000 prisoners. The 17th Australian Infantry Brigade exploited the breach made in the perimeter and pressed south, as far as a secondary line of defences known as the Switch Line. On the second day, the 16th Australian Infantry Brigade captured Bardia, cutting the fortress in two. Thousands of prisoners were taken and the remnants of the Italian garrison held only the northern and southernmost parts of the fortress. On the third day, the 19th Australian Infantry Brigade advanced south from Bardia, supported by artillery and the remaining six Matilda tanks. The 17th Australian Infantry Brigade attacked and the two brigades reduced the southern sector of the fortress. The Italian garrisons in the north surrendered to the 16th Australian Infantry Brigade and the 7th Support Group outside the fortress; about 25,000 prisoners were taken, along with 400 guns, 130 light and medium tanks and hundreds of motor vehicles. Italian casualties also included 1,703 killed and 3,740 men wounded.” 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Compass

Capture of Tobruk

Next came Tobruk. The Italians had fortified Tobruk, their only naval base in Eastern Cyrenaica, before the war but after being routed at Nibeiwa, Sidi Barrani and Bardia the Italian 10th Army had lost eight of its nine divisions and had only the 61st Infantry Division and stragglers to defend the port.

From midnight to 2:00 a.m. on 21 January the Royal Navy monitor HMS Terror and three smaller ships bombarded Tobruk, while destroyers waited further out to attack San Giorgio, if the crew tried to escape. For the rest of the night RAF Wellington bombers attacked port installations, defensive positions and drowned out the sound of the British tanks assembling for the attack.

At 5:40 a.m. the British artillery opened fire along the entire line, concentrating on an area about 2,187 yd (2,000 m) by 766–875 yd (700–800 m) rectangle where the sub-sectors A and B of the Eastern Sector met. Under cover of night Australian sappers and the British artillery-fire cleared a path through the thin Italian minefield in the area and at first light the 2/3rd Australian Battalion attacked. Within the hour the Australians had created a breach 1 mi (2 km) wide. At 7:00 a.m., 18 Matilda II tanks passed through the breach, three of which veered left with the 2/3rd Australian Battalion, while another three veered right with the 2/1st Australian Battalion to expand the breach. At the same time, the rest of the Matildas advanced with the 2/2nd Australian Battalion towards Tobruk. The first unit to be overrun by the 2/2nd was the CV/25th Artillery Group, which had no time to lay their guns for direct fire before they were overrun.

The lack of radios of the Italian units proved to be a severe disadvantage; telephone lines had been cut by the British aerial and artillery bombardment and Pitassi Mannella only received notice of the British attack at around 8:30–8:45 a.m. from a despatch rider. By 9:10 a.m. the Australian 2/2nd Battalion had reached Sidi Mahmud and the 2/1st Battalion was at Sidi Daud; the 17th Australian Brigade with the 2/6th Australian Battalion and 2/7th Australian Battalion had captured the Italian artillery positions between the two points. By 10:30 a.m. the Australians had overrun four of the Italian strongpoints and destroyed six of the ten artillery groups in the area. At 8:30 a.m. the 19th Australian Brigade supported by A Squadron of the 6th Australian Division Cavalry Regiment had set off and towards the 4th Tank Infantry Regiment. The Australian brigade was supported by 78 field guns, which moved in turns 219 yd (200 m) forward every two minutes. The 19th Australian Brigade struck the III Battalion, 69th Infantry Regiment, which was quickly overrun. A Bersaglieri company and three M11/39 tanks that tried to plug the gap in the second line were defeated within minutes, the three M11/39s being knocked out.

By 11:50 a.m. Pitassi Mannella had informed Graziani that the Eastern Sector had been destroyed and only isolated positions held out. All Graziani could do was to send three CR.30 fighters to Tobruk, which the RAF quickly shot down. Between 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. the 19th Australian Brigade attacked the position of the 4th Tank Infantry Regiment with such ferocity that 70 per cent of the officers, including both battalion commanders, and 50 per cent of the troops were killed in action. During the day, Blenheims of 55 and 113 squadrons flew 56 sorties against Tobruk and the Gloster Gladiators and Hawker Hurricanes of No. 3 Squadron RAAF, No. 73 Squadron RAF and No. 274 Squadron RAF had patrolled to the west.

At 1:00 p.m., Pitassi Mannella ordered the mobile reserve, with the seven operational M11/39s, to attack the Australian left flank from behind an artillery barrage. Two Australian anti-tank guns and two tanks destroyed five of the seven M11/39s and when Australian infantry pushed forward the mobile reserve surrendered.[18] At 4:00 p.m. the 2/8th Australian Battalion attacked the Pilastrino position, while the 2/4th Australian Battalion had reached and surrounded the Italian headquarters at the abandoned Fort Solaro. Pitassi Mannella and his staff retreated into the cellars but by 6:30 p.m. Pitassi Mannella ordered his staff to surrender. At the same time the 6th Divisional Cavalry Regiment had reached the outskirts of Tobruk but then been stopped by fire from San Giorgio. Soldiers from the 2/4th Australian Battalion moved down the cliffs and used 3-inch mortars against San Giorgio. Having lost contact with forces outside of Tobruk, Admiral Massimiliano Vietina organised the defence of the harbour with the few men at his disposal. Graziani had denied his request to make a sacrificial attack on the Royal Navy ships outside the harbour and Vietina began systematically to destroy the harbour and its stores.

By nightfall half of the Tobruk fortified area had been captured and at 4:15 a.m. on 22 January, Vietina ordered Captain Stefano Pugliese to blow up the magazines of San Giorgio to deny it to the British. General Iven Mackay ordered a general advance for the morning of 22 January. At 8:30 a.m. Vietina surrendered to General Horace Robertson of the 19th Australian Infantry Brigade, followed shortly afterwards by General Della Mura, who surrendered with the remnants of the Pilastrino position. At 4:00 p.m. the last strongpoint surrendered and Tobruk had fallen.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_capture_of_Tobruk

Action at Mechili

After Tobruk, the earlier British advantages in reconnaissance, manoeuvre, and artillery support were greatly reduced due to the supply shortages in fuel and artillery ammunition. The battlefield was now hilly and broken terrain and they had not yet set up forward airfields.

The area east of the Jebel Akhdar mountains was garrisoned by XX Corps (Lieutenant-General Annibale Bergonzoli) with the 60th Infantry Division Sabratha and the Babini Group, which had 120 tanks. The tank force included 82 new M.13/40 tanks, which needed ten days to be made battle-worthy but had been rushed forward anyway. The Sabratha Division held a line from Derna, along Wadi Derna to Mechili, with the Babini Group at Mechili, Giovanni Berta and Chaulan, guarding the flank and rear of the infantry. On 23 January, the 10th Army commander, General Giuseppe Tellera ordered a counter-attack against the British, to avoid an envelopment of XX Corps from the south. Next day, the Babini Group, with ten to fifteen of the new M.13/40s, attacked the 7th Hussars as they headed west to cut the Derna–Mechili track north of Mechili. The British swiftly retired, calling for help from the 2nd RTR, which complacently ignored the signals. The British lost several tanks and knocked out two M.13s, until eventually, the 2nd RTR mobilised, caught the Italian tanks sky-lined on a ridge and knocked out seven M.13s, for the loss of a cruiser and six light tanks.

To the north, the 2/11th Australian Battalion engaged the Sabratha Division and Bersaglieri companies of the Babini Group at Derna airfield, making slow progress against determined resistance. The 19th Australian Brigade began to arrive in the morning and Italian bombers and fighters attacked the Australians. The Italians swept the flat ground with field artillery and machine-guns, stopping the Australian advance 3,000 yd (2,700 m) short of the objective. On 26 January, the 2/4th Australian Battalion cut the Derna–Mechili road and a company crossed Wadi Derna during the night against bold Italian counter-attacks. The Italians disengaged on the night of 28/29 January, before the garrison was trapped and rear-guard of the Babini Group cratered roads, planted mines and booby-traps and managed to conduct several skilful ambushes, which slowed the British pursuit.

Derna was occupied unopposed on 29 January and the Australians began a pursuit along the Via Balbia, closing on Giovanni Berta during 31 January.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Compass

Battle of Beda Fomm

In late January, the British learned that the Italians were retreating along the Litoranea Balbo (Via Balbia) from Benghazi. The 7th Armoured Division was dispatched to intercept the remnants of the 10th Army by moving through the desert, south of the Jebel Akhdar (Green Mountain) via Msus and Antelat, as the 6th Australian Division pursued the Italians along the coast road, north of the jebel.

In the Jebel Akhdar, the 6th Australian Division advanced down the Via Balbia, with the 17th Australian Brigade leap-frogging a battalion to Slonta, where the 19th Australian Brigade using the rest of the divisional transport and captured petrol, passed by and reached Barce, despite mines and roadblocks, on 5 February. The Australians got to Benghazi before night on 6 February, despite more mines and heavy rain. Advance troops of the 19th Australian Brigade had entered Benghazi unopposed during the afternoon, to a great welcome by the Libyan inhabitants and during the night Two battalions of infantry were sent past Benghazi to attack the tail end of the columns of the 10th Army. With British reinforcements arriving and the Australians pressing down the road from Benghazi, the 10th Army surrendered later that day.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Beda_Fomm

Battle of Greece

On 9 February, Churchill ordered the advance to stop and troops to be dispatched to Greece to take part in the Greco-Italian War. A German attack through Macedonia was thought imminent. On 2 March the transportation of troops and equipment to Greece began and 26 troopships arrived at the port of Piraeus. By 24 April more than 62,000 Empire troops (British, Australians, New Zealanders, Palestine Pioneer Corps and Cypriots), had arrived in Greece, comprising the 6th Australian Division, the New Zealand 2nd Division and the British 1st Armoured Brigade. The three formations later became known as 'W' Force, after their commander, Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Maitland Wilson.

On the 6 April 1941, German forces attacked and Allied forces were immediately outnumbered. Lacking in both aircraft and armour, the Allies and the local Greek forces were too poorly equipped to resist the German invasion. At times they were able to slow the onslaught and offer some successful local resistance. However, for most of the campaign, the Allies conducted a series of withdrawals towards the Peloponnesus peninsula.

To allow an evacuation of the main body of British forces, Wilson ordered the rear-guard to make a last stand at the historic Thermopylae pass, the gateway to Athens. The 2nd New Zealand Division was given the task of defending the coastal pass, while the 6th Australian Division was to hold the village of Brallos. After the battle the division’s Commander #### Mackay was quoted as saying "I did not dream of evacuation; I thought that we'd hang on for about a fortnight and be beaten by weight of numbers." When the order to retreat was received on the morning of 23 April, it was decided that the two positions were to be held by one brigade each. These brigades, the 19th Australian and 6th New Zealand were to hold the passes as long as possible, allowing the other units to withdraw. The Germans attacked at 11:30 on 24 April, met fierce resistance, lost 15 tanks and sustained considerable casualties. The Allies held out the entire day; with the delaying action accomplished, they retreated in the direction of the evacuation beaches and set up another rear-guard at Thebes. The Panzer units launching a pursuit along the road leading across the pass made slow progress because of the steep gradient and difficult hairpin bends.

Over 50,000 Allied troops were removed from fighting in Greece over five successive nights. Hundreds of others were cut off during the fighting. Many of these men made their way back to Allied lines in Crete or North Africa through Turkey or the Greek islands.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Greece

https://www.dva.gov.au/newsroom/media-centre/media-backgrounders/battles-greece-and-crete

Battle of Crete

Crete’s position in the centre of the eastern Mediterranean made it a key strategic asset during the Second World War. Britain had established a garrison on the island in November 1940 but was unable to commit more troops to due to the pressure of operations in North Africa. This left the Allied forces in Crete ill-equipped and facing difficulties in defending the island. Most of the Allied force had arrived exhausted from the failed Greek campaign with little equipment and minimal weapons.

The island’s defence was based around three main areas—Heraklion and Retimo, both airfields, and the Canea-Suda bay area, which contained port facilities at Suda and an airfield at Maleme.

On 20 May 1941, almost 10,000 German airborne troops landed on Crete, with the objective of capturing the three airfields. Initially they suffered heavy casualties and were held at Retimo and Heraklion. By the night of 21 May, the Germans had taken control of Maleme airfield. This allowed large numbers of reinforcements to be flown in, where they began pushing Allied forces back towards Canea. On 27 May, evacuation orders were given and over 12,000 Allied troops were removed from Sphakia over four nights.

Efforts to get the evacuation message to the 2/1st Battalion and the 2/11th Battalion failed. The 2/1st Battalion surrendered, while 2/11th Battalion commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Sandover advised his men to scatter and try to escape. Subsequently 42 members of the battalion reached Egypt.

Those who missed the evacuation and were not taken prisoner owed their lives to the Cretan people who helped them survive by providing food and places to hide.

The majority of the 6th Division was sent back to Australia to support the impending Japanese Invasion.

https://www.dva.gov.au/newsroom/media-centre/media-backgrounders/battles-greece-and-crete

On 23 June 1941 the following article was published in the Perth Daily News:

WEST AUSTRALIAN CASUALTIES

Father Goes To War

As Son Is Born

Missing 34-year-old Private Cecil Doust has never seen his baby son who was born before the father left Western Australia. Private Doust has a daughter who is almost two. The day after Private Doust returned to camp, following his final leave the son was born. Born and educated at Esperance, Private Doust was working at the Moonlight mine, Wiluna, before he joined up in April last year, going overseas in September. Private Doust had four brothers serving in the Great War with the A.I.F. One was killed in action, two are again in khaki with a garrison battalion. He has two nephews also missing with the A.I.F.

Met In Libya

In the last letter from one of these nephews it was stated that the three were together. They met in Libya. Pte. Doust's wife has had no letter from her husband for eight weeks. But four weeks ago she received a cable from him telling her that he was safe. Mrs. Doust lives at 29 Hamelin Road, Subiaco.

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page8195317

_Notes:

_{1.       The daughter mentioned is probably the son, Edmond George, who would have been almost two at the time.}

_{2.       I cannot find any record of a child born to the Dousts around 1940-41.}

_{3.       I am still trying to identify the two nephews mentioned.}

Cecil was reported as Missing on 20 June 1941 and on 14 July he was confirmed as being a Prisoner of War. On 29 October Nora Doust received a postcard from her husband sent via the Red Cross telling her that he was being held at Stalag XXIII-C.

Stalag XIII-C

Stalag XIII-C was a German Army World War II prisoner-of-war camp (Stammlager) built on what had been the training camp at Hammelburg, Lower Franconia, Bavaria, Germany.

Hammelburg was a large German Army training camp, set up in 1893. Part of this camp had been used as a POW camp for Allied army personnel in World War I. After 1935 it was a training camp and military training area for the newly reconstituted German Army.

In May 1940 the camp was established in wooden huts at the south end of the training ground. The first prisoners included Belgian, Dutch and French soldiers taken during the Battle of France. In May–June 1941 Yugoslavian, predominantly Serbian prisoners arrived from the Balkans Campaign, and soon after in June–July 1941 Australian and other British Commonwealth soldiers arrived, captured during the Battle of Crete.

In April 1943 Oflag XIII-B was opened nearby, with officers transferred from Oflag XIII-A at Nuremberg.

As was usual for Stalags, many of the prisoners were located in Arbeitslager ("Work camps") on farms or adjacent to factories or other industrial operations. The Stalag served as the base for distribution of International Red Cross packages and mail. A Lazarett (hospital) cared for prisoners that were sick or had been injured in industrial accidents or air-raids. A number of enlisted men and NCOs were housed in the adjacent Oflag to provide necessary services.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalag_XIII-C

In June and July 1944, a large number of American prisoners arrived at Stalag XIIIC following the Invasion of Normandy and another surge followed in January 1945 after the Battle of the Bulge. In 1945, a huge number of prisoners arrived at the camp, who had been forced marched from Stalag VIII-D, 500 miles away.

From 21 January 1945, many of the British and Commonwealth prisoners at Stalag VIII-D located at Teschen in Czechoslovakia were marched through Nazi-occupied Czech lands to Stalag XIII-C in. The march, in temperatures of -15 °C to -20 °C, caused great distress and many prisoners died. The Czech people in the villages and towns through which they passed food and clothing to them. Many prisoners managed to escape and were sheltered in private homes. The men were marched along country roads towards the Oder, first north towards Dresden, then when the Germans changed their mind, south towards Bavaria, eventually reaching Stalag XIII-C.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalag_VIII-D

The Hammelburg Raid

By March 1945 the Americans had crossed the Rhine and were within 80 miles of Hammelburg. General Patton ordered a special armoured task force to go deep behind the German lines and free the prisoners in Oflag/Stalag 13. Patton later claimed it had nothing to do with his son-in-law being there! He also said it was his only mistake of the war.

The men of Task Force Baum, as it was called, ran into heavy resistance coming in but they reached the camp on March 24, 1945. The tanks knocked down the fences, but they also started firing at the Serbian officers, mistaking them for Germans.

Lieutenant Colonel Waters came out with a white flag, accompanied by a German officer, to contact the Americans and stop the shooting. Waters was shot in the stomach by a German guard and was taken to the camp hospital.

The tanks left, accompanied by many of the able-bodied prisoners, but without Waters. On the way back, the Task Force was ambushed and forced to surrender. Out of the 314 men in the unit, 26 were killed and most of the rest were captured. Most of the POW's returned to the camp as well. Lt.Col. Waters survived and eventually retired as a four-star general.

After the failed rescue attempt, the Germans moved all of the Western Allied prisoners to other camps, except the ones in the camp hospital.

https://www.uncommon-travel-germany.com/stalag_13.html

The camp was liberated by Combat Command B of the U.S. 14th Armored Division on 6 April 1945. Cecil arrived in England on 19 May and was repatriated to Australia. He was discharged on 24 August 1945.

After the war, Cecil and Nora relocated to Perth where they lived at 78 Basinghall Street, East Victoria Park. Cecil died on 6 August 1956 and was buried at the Fremantle Cemetery.