Walter Roland Williams

Walter Roland Williams

Personal Information
Date of Birth	19 Jun 1914
Place of Birth	Melbourne, Victoria
Age at Enlistment	26 years old
Description	5'5½" (1.66m) tall ; ; brown complexion ; blue eyes ; black hair ; scar on back of head and palm left hand
Occupation	Truck driver
Religion	Church of England
Address	Fourth road, Armadale, Western Australia
Next of Kin	Wife , Mrs. Hazel Iris Jean Williams
Military Information
Reg Number	WX6356
Date of Enlistment	16 Jul 1940
Rank	Private
Unit/Formation	2/11th Australian Infantry Battalion
Military Movement
1st Departure from Australia
Journey Dates	16 Apr 1941 ‒ 14 May 1941
Transport Details	SS Île de France Fremantle to Port Tewfik
Return to Australia
Journey Dates	16 Feb 1942 ‒ 17 Mar 1942
Transport Details	HMT Durban Castle Port tewfik to Adelaide
2nd Departure from Australia
Journey Dates	5 Nov 1944 ‒ 13 Nov 1944
Transport Details	HMT Katoomba Townsville to AItape, New Guinea
Return to Australia
Journey Dates	10 Nov 1945 ‒ 19 Nov 1945
Transport Details	SS Ormiston Wewak to Brisbane
Post War Details
Fate	Returned to Australia
Medals	1939-45 Star Pacific Star War Medal 1939-45 Australian Service Medal 1939-45

Pre War

Electoral Roll entries: 1937 at 138 York road, Midland Junction, truck driver; 1943 at Fourth road, Armadale, truck driver.

Married Hazel Iris Clarke (1915 - 1980) in 1936. Hazel died on 15 Sep 1980 in Bentley, aged 65.

War Service

Walter enlisted at Claremont on 16 Jul 1940 and was initially sent to the Naval Base Training Depot before being posted to the Northam Camp on 28 Oct 1940 where he joined the No 1 Training Battalion. On 14 Jan 1941 Walter was posted to the 7th Reinforcement draft for the 2/11th Battalion. This changed to the 6th reinforcement draft on 11 Feb 1941, and Walter was granted pre-embarkation leave from 11 to 17 Mar 1941. On 25 Mar 1941 he was re-posted to the 7th Reinforcement draft, and on 16 Apr 1941 in Fremantle he boarded SS Île de France, part of Convoy US 10. The convoy sailed to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) where it was split into two groups, with the SS Île de France remaining in Colombo for 10 days before proceeding to Port Tewfik in Egypt where again there was a two day delay before the men disembarked on 14 May 1941.

On arrival Walter was posted to the 19th Australian Infantry Training Battalion for further training before being sent on 24 Jul 1941 to join the 2/11th Australian Infantry Battalion which was then being rebuilt Khassa Camp in Palestine. Walter was charged on 4 Aug 1941 with Conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline, for which he was fined 10/- ($1). However, he must have settled in quickly as on 3 Feb 1942 he was promoted Acting Corporal. Along with the rest of his battalion and the 2/3 Field Regiment (Artillery), he embarked aboard HMT Durban Castle at Port Tewfik at 9:30am on 16 Feb 1942, and they sailed at 4:00pm for Australia, disembarking at Adelaide on 17 Mar 1942. He was later charged with being AWOL for 19 ½ hours on 25 May 1942, being required to forfeit a days pay and he was also reprimanded by his CO.

On 23 May 1942 Walter was admitted to the 110th Australian Base Hospital, and while there, on 27 May 1942 he reverted to Private at his own request. He was released on 28 May and rejoined the battalion on 17 Jun 1943. They entrained for Queensland on 20 Jul 1943 and arrived there five or six days later. On 25 Jul 1943 Walter was found guilty of having been 1) AWOL from 2:30pm until 6:05 pm on 24 July, and 2) Conduct to the prejudice of good order and Military Disciplie on 24 July. He was fined 20/- ($1). On 14 Jun 1944 Walter was evacuated to the 104th Australian Casualty Clearing Station, and 10 days later on 24 Jun 1944 he was transferred to the 2/2nd Australian General Hospital. They in turn released him to the 2/1st Australian Convalescent Depot on 5 Jul 1944 to build his strength before he rejoined the battalion on 26 Jul 1944. On 5 Nov 1944 the battalion boarded HMT Katoomba in Townsville for Aitape in New Guinea via Finschhafen, disembarking there on 13 Nov 1944.

On 17 Jan 1945 Walter was evacuated to the 2/7th Australian Field Ambulance and on 27 Jan 1945 they passed him to the 104th Australian Casualty Clearing Station with Dengue Fever. The same day he was admitted to the 2/11th Australian General Hospital and following treatment he was returned to the battalion on 26 Mar 1945. However, on 29 Apr 1945 Walter was again evacuated, thsi time to the 2/1st Australian Field Ambulance suffering from Malaria. The next day he was moved to the 2/7th Australian Field Ambulance where he was cared for until he returned to his battalion on 28 Jun 1945. On 10 Nov 1945 Walter embarked in Wewak aboard SS Ormiston for Brisbane where he disembarked on 19 Nov 1945. On 28 Nov 1945 he was transferred to Western Command Recruit Reception & General Details Depot to be discharged, arriving in that unit on 16 Dec 1945. Walter was discharged on 20 Dec 1945.

Post War

Electoral Roll entries: 1949 - 1958 at 10 Strickland street, South Perth, labourer; 1963 at Toolibin, storekeeper; 1972 - 1980 at 6 Keaney Place, Bentley;