Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Casten Erichsen emigrated from Norway via London to Queensland in the year 1900 with his brother, John Birger Erichsen. In 1907 Carsen married Carolina Hansen-Christiansen at”Stanhope” the Christiansen family home on Wellers Rd, Wooroolin. They had 6 children – Conrad, Esther, Roy, Irene, Wilfred and Keith.
Carsten Erichsen died young, just 46 years old, in 1926 and is buried at Tingoora Cemetery. About the time of the death of her husband Caroline Erichsen, known as Carry, moved to a home in Andrew Street Wooroolin.
The Wooroolin WW11 Honour Board names at least 5 people directly related to Carry Erichsen – sons: Roy, Wilf & Keith, Son in Law: Bill Mackay & nephew: Charles Christiansen!
Roy Carsten Erichsen, born 23 Jul 1911 at Wooroolin per his army records, was probably educated at Tingoora. Roy played football with the Wooroolin Football club and is included in the 1931 Wooroolin Junior Football Team photo. In 1932, Roy was the Financial Secretary of the Wooroolin Football Club. He attended high School, probably at Kingaroy, for 18 months before being offered a position at the Queensland National Bank about 1927.
He was a Bank Clerk and worked through Queensland in Maryborough, Beaudesert & Alpha before joining 2/3 Australian Infantry Battalion at Warwick on 30 Jul 1943. Roy was just 4ft 9ins tall per his Army Records which are available on the NAA website. His records show that he served as an Army Clerk in various parts of Qld until Dec 1944 when he was sent to New Guinea where he remained until Jan 1946 before being sent back to Qld to be discharged.
Another learning curve for me on the duties of an Army Clerk! This extract from http://www.300thcombatengineersinwwii.com/hands.html “The role of the clerk typist in the 300th was key to all operations in combat. For military operations, documentation equals accountability. Almost everything was documented including the movements of troops, casualty information, unusual actions (both positive and negative), promotions, equipment/supply use, maintenance and many other bits of information. It was critical that the clerk typist be confidential, trustworthy and accurate.
One of the most important roles of the clerk was to process service and combat pay. Families on the home front relied on the payments sent home by troops in combat. Company orders for all activities, and all requisitions for fuel and supplies as well as requests to call up other units were all typed and filed by the company clerk. Equipment, transportation, supplies and men were only available with written orders.”
Roy returned to Wooroolin about 1950 when he married Nettie Fiedler. They lived in Wooroolin for a while and Roy is shown as a farmer in 1954 Electoral Rolls. By 1958 they lived in Maryborough where Roy won a lot of trophies for his rowing ability on the Mary River. Betty Fiedler remembers that Roy & Net left Maryborough because Net was sick with Asthma. They bought a caravan and moved to Roma with a drier climate in the hopes it would improve her Asthma. Roy then worked for the PMG and lived at Roma for many years where Net's health improved. Eventually they moved to live at Yandina, to be near their daughter Jenny when she married. Net died in 1985 and is buried at Taabinga Cemetery. Roy died in 1994 and is buried at Wondai Cemetery.
Wilfred Stanley Erichsen, known as Wilf, born 22 Apr 1916 at Wooroolin. He was enrolled at Wooroolin School as pupil no 609 in 1926.
After he left school Wilf trained as a Motor Mechanic, probably with Alf Stumer before setting up his own Independent Service Station on the site where the first Wooroolin School was built. The Wooroolin Machinery Centre is now based there.
On 30 May 1941, aged 27 years, Wilf joined the Australian Army, Service No QX43083, and served in the New Guinea Line of Communications Area Ordnance Workshop. His records show he was 5ft 10ins tall. A line of communication (or communications) is the route that connects an operating military unit with its supply base. Supplies and reinforcements are transported along the line of communication. Mechanics, like Wilf, played an important role during the war; they were the ones who helped repair the machinery such as land vehicles, aircrafts, ships and submarines. Wilf was promoted to Corporal in Oct 1942 and remained in New Guinea until Sep 1944 (with a couple of short leave breaks). He was discharged on 29 Sep 1945 at Redbank and returned to Wooroolin.
Wilf married Eunice Joyce in Jan 1945 and they lived in Andrew Street (R3 on my Andrew Street table.) With Thanks to Glady Hood we have a photo of receipts from Wilfs Garage during the 1940’s. The receipts were saved records from the estate of Stan Marshall. In 1946 Wilf was advertising to sell some garage equipment and I think he sold his business around then and worked in Kingaroy but lived in Wooroolin His daughters Joy and Wendy were enrolled at Wooroolin School as pupil numbers 1097 and 1143. Wilf and his family lived at Wooroolin until about 1960 per electoral rolls when he moved to Kingaroy.
Wilf marched at the very first Anzac Day parade at Wooroolin in 1948 and is included in the photo taken that day.
Wilf died in 1976 and is buried at Taabinga Cemetery. His wife lived until 2016, aged 93.
http://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/fapi/datastream/unsworks:3243/SOURCE01?view=true Thesis on Australian Army Logistics 1943-1945 by Ross A. Mallett
Keith Edgar Erichsen, born 25 Jun 1925 at Wondai was enrolled at Wooroolin School as pupil no 682 in 1932. Thanks to Des Cummings who shared a Football photo we know that Keith played football with Des & Roy Fiedler. I guess he worked as a labourer when he left school but at 17 years old he joined the Australian Navy.
Keith reported for duty in the Australian Navy on 1 Jun 1943 as an Ordinary Signalman and was allocated to HMAS Cerberus, the Navy Training base at Melbourne. Service No B4706. Keith’s Navy records show that he was 5ft 9 ½ins tall. He served at HMAS Basilisk (RAN) depot base in Port Moresby for most of the war as a Signaller. In the navy, a signaller is usually a seaman trained to communicate between the fleet forces and naval bases in the area of operation, by means of radio or other digital communications. Wish I knew more about all these military tasks – but we have to remember that Keith was only 17 when he joined hr navy and still only 19 when he was discharged at HMAS Moreton in Feb 1945.
HMAS Basilisk at Port Moresby was central as a supply and staging area for equipment, stores and personnel essential to supporting the Allied campaign against the Japanese in New Guinea.
https://www.navy.gov.au/history/base-histories/hmas-basilisk-history
Another big learning curve for me to learn that HMAS Moreton is the Qld Navy Headquarters situated at Bulimba on the Brisbane River. HMAS Moreton is formally responsible for the coordination and administration of all RAN activity in Queensland south of the Tropic of Capricorn
During the war HMAS Moreton was responsible for administering operations, intelligence and communications staffs attached to Allied Headquarters, Allied Naval Headquarters and Naval Staff in depots throughout Queensland and New Guinea.
https://www.navy.gov.au/history/base-histories/hmas-moreton-history
The electoral roll for 1954 shows Keith living in Wooroolin, occupation Garage Assistant and was probably working with his brother Wilf! He married Widow Marie Hartman (nee Murphy) about 1956 when he moved to Memerambi. He was a farmer at Memerambi on property 81V off Recreation Drive.
Keith and Marie retired to the Gold Coast area sometime after 1980. Keith died in 1994 and joined Marie who died just 3 years earlier. I have not found burial records for them yet!
I learnt so much writing the story of the Erichsen brothers. It takes a lot of different skills to run Military Forces and I am sure they were all quite stressful during the time of WW11. I can’t imagine what it was like as an army clerk to have to record the deaths and injuries of military personnel!
Lest We Forget