Dungog Military Stories

03/05/2025

Clarence Town's Most Highly Decorated Soldier - this week's article in the Dungog News Of the Area (NOTA).

If you haven't got your copy of the paper yet, make sure you read it every week, there are lots of interesting stories about various topics.

Written by: Major Martin Holmes CSM (retired)

  SGT Leslie Spurgeon Holmes in Egypt, 1917. Photo: Mr LG Holmes.   Major Martin Holmes CSM (retired) pictured at the War Memorial at Clarence Town on Anzac Day. SGT Leslie Spurgeon Holmes was Martin’s great-grand uncle.   THE most highly decorated soldier memorialised on the Clarence Town War ...

07/12/2024

LEST WE FORGET
Military Members Resting in Dungog General Cemetery

S4957 Able Seaman Alexander Stewart CONVERY – WW2 (RAN)

Alexander (known as Rudd) was born at Branxton NSW, in 1923 to parents Peter and Christina Convery. At age 17 years, on the 30 December 1940 at Sydney, he enlisted/mobilised in the RAN for service during WW2.

Alexander was to undergo initial seaman training at the RAN shore establishments HMAS Rushcutter (Balmoral NSW) and HMAS Cerberus (Mornington Peninsular Vic), which also included gunnery training. Having completed his training he was posted to the HMAS Westralia in September 1941remaining with the ship until August 1942. The HMAS Westralia was a merchant cruiser and during this time was es**rting ships to Darwin, PNG, Timor and later es**rt duty off the east coast of Australia and into the South Pacific. He was then transferred to the HMAS Manoora (similar ship) and continued to undertake shipping es**rt duty until October.
He then spent several months at HMAS Penguin (Mosman NSW) awaiting his next ship which was the HMAS Bungaree an auxiliary minelayer. Alexander was posted to the HMAS Bungaree during March-August 1943 while the ship was laying defensive minefields off Australia. He then spent further time at HMAS Penguin doing several short attachments to other ships and establishments.
From June 1944 until September 1945 he served upon the HMAS Ararat. The HMAS Ararat was a corvette with anti-submarine and mine sweeping capability. This was a dangerous and busy time, with the ship conducting operations around New Guinea, Morotai, Borneo and involved in offensive operations in the Pacific. With the war over they returned to HMAS Rushcutter where he was demobilised on the 7 January 1946.

In 1944 while in the RAN he met and married Iris Grace Hutton of Dungog. Alexander returned to Dungog after the war to reside with his wife and began working as a trapper, then later as a timber cutter. He died on the 23 Jun 2012 and his ashes were placed in the Dungog General Cemetery (Columbarium). His wife, Iris, predeceased him 2008 and is also buried in the Dungog General Cemetery. He is survived by his children.

Alexander was entitled to the following medals:
Australia Service Medal 1939-45
1939-45 Star
Pacific Star
War Medal 1939-45

I have been unable to locate a memorial honour roll recording Alexander’s WW2 service. Given his service was prior to his association with Dungog, he is not recorded on the Dungog and District WW2 Honour Roll.

Martin Holmes CSM
Vice-president
Dungog RSL Sub-branch

Links to articles:

Article published in Dungog Shire News of the Area (NOTA),
13 November 2024, page 13
https://www.newsofthearea.com.au/dungog-shire-news-of-the-area-13-november-2024
War Service Record at National Australian Archives
https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=4409539
DVA WW2 Roll
https://nominal-rolls.dva.gov.au/veteran?id=1096579&c=WW2
Burial
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/178439575/alexander_stewart_convery

-branch

25/11/2024

LEST WE FORGET
Military Members Resting in Dungog General Cemetery
NX126073 Private Ernest Clifford STRATTON – WW2
Ernest was born at Leichardt NSW in 1919 to parents Ernest and Ellen Stratton. He grew up at Faulconbridge NSW then moved with his family to Woodburn NSW where he was an apiarist following in the family business.
At age 22 years, he was mobilised for service in the Citizen Military Forces (CMF) and, on the 22 May 1941, enrolled for service at Woodburn NSW. On the 26 January 1942 he was enlisted and given service number N166993, being allocated to the 2nd Australian Light Field Ambulance. He began initial training as a driver. He volunteered for service in the 2nd AIF and was discharged from the CMF, enlisting in the AIF on the 4 September at Wauchope NSW with the rank of Private.
On the 8 November he was transferred to the 2nd Australian Motorised Brigade Company and the following day detached back to his original unit, 2nd Australian Light Field Ambulance, as a driver. On the 5 December his unit was part of a military convoy where he was a dispatch rider on a motor cycle. The convoy was travelling south on The Buckets Way at Forbesdale, near Gloucester NSW. Ernest moved out of the convoy to move ahead when he collided head on with a timber lorry driving in the opposite direction and was killed instantly. It was thought he was blinded by dust and did not see the oncoming lorry. His body was taken Dungog Hospital.
A Coronial Inquiry was held on the same day at Dungog, which declared he was accidentally killed at Gloucester. Ernest was buried on the 7 December in the Dungog General Cemetery (War Section). The Office of Australian War Graves erected a marble headstone to mark his grave as he died while on service. Ernest is only one of two soldiers who died while on military service and is now buried in the cemetery.
The sad byline to his untimely death is that he was engaged to Miss Eva Latham of Wauchope and was due to be married five days later on the 10 December.
Ernest was entitled to the following medals:
Australia Service Medal 1939-1945
War Medal 1939-45

His service is recorded on the Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour but no record on any town memorial has been located.

Martin Holmes CSM
Vice-president
Dungog RSL Sub-branch

Article published in Dungog Shire News of the Area (NOTA),
23 October 2024, page 4
https://issuu.com/newsofthearea/docs/dungog_shire_news_of_the_area_20_november_2024
War Service Record at National Australian Archives
https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/DetailsReports/ItemDetail.aspx?Barcode=5632892&isAv=N
Trove: Newspaper Article reporting on his death - 1942 'PERSONAL', Daily Examiner (Grafton, NSW : 1915 - 1954), 11 December, page 4
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article194067127
Trove: Newspaper Article reporting on his death -1942 'Springwood', Nepean Times (Penrith, NSW : 1882 - 1962), 24 December, page 4.
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article117891727
Burial
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/119747284/ernest-clifford-stratton

RSL Sub-branch

12/11/2024

LEST WE FORGET
Military Members Resting in Dungog General Cemetery
29299 BDR David Rupert JOHNS – WW1 (AIF)
David was born at Dungog NSW, in 1896 to parents Isaac and Elizabeth Johns. At age 19 years, he enlisted in the Militia in January 1916 and served with the 14th Infantry Militia before volunteering for service in the AIF. He was enlisted in the AIF on the 15 June, joining the 117th Howitzer Battery.
On the 30 September he embarked for England arriving in Plymouth on the 19 November. On the 9 January 1917, David was at Etaples (France) and joined the 2nd Division Artillery. On the 13 May he was transferred to the 5th Field Artillery Brigade where he remained for the remainder of the war. He fought in the Battles of Bullecourt, Messines, Menin Road, Broodseinde and Passchendaele before being gassed by enemy shelling on the 18 October. He was evacuated back to 54th General Hospital then to England on the 31 October, where he spent 5 weeks recovering.
On the 7 February 1918, he rejoined the 5th Field Artillery Brigade in France. Throughout 1918 his unit fought in the Battles of the Somme, Amiens, Bapaume (including Mont St Quentin) and finally the breakthrough of the Hindenburg Line. He was wounded again on the 6 October with a gunshot wound to the chin and evacuated to the 5th General Hospital at Rouen (France). The Armistice was signed on the 11 November and David rejoined his unit on the 2 December. He was promoted from Gunner to Bombardier in January 1919 while in France. On the 4 June he arrived back in Australia and was discharged from the AIF on the 29 August. Due to his war injuries David was to become a totally and permanently incapacitated (TPI) pensioner.
David returned to Dungog after the war to reside with his parents and resume his work as a clerk. In the 1930s he moved to Sydney where he remained until his early death, caused by his war injuries, on the 30 December 1948. He was buried in the Dungog General Cemetery (Anglican Section) in the same plot as his father, brother and sister. As a returned soldier from WW1 his headstone was erected by the Office of Australian War Graves and is of white marble.
David was issued the following medals:
British War Medal 1914-20
Victory Medal
David is recorded on the Dungog and District Honour Roll 1914-18, which is hung in the Dungog RSL Memorial Club foyer.

Martin Holmes CSM
Vice-president
Dungog RSL Sub-branch

Links to articles:
Article published in Dungog Shire News of the Area (NOTA),
6 November 2024, page 13
https://issuu.com/newsofthearea/docs/dungog_shire_news_of_the_area_6_november_2024
War Service Record at National Australian Archives
https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=7360796
Dungog and District WW1 Honour Roll
https://www.warmemorialsregister.nsw.gov.au/content/dungog-and-district-honour-roll
University of NSW: The AIF Project – BDR D.R. Johns
https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=154377
DVA Office of Australian War Graves
https://connect.dva.gov.au/commemsoawg/commemoration/viewCommemoration.html?commemorationId=NjQ0OTI3
Funeral
Family Notices (1948, December 31). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 10 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18100261
Burial
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/128493791/david-r-johns

03/11/2024

LEST WE FORGET
Military Members Resting in Dungog General Cemetery
NX41741 Private Aubrey Clarence PRITCHARD – WW2
Aubrey was born at West Maitland NSW, in 1920 to parents Thomas and Sarah Pritchard. At age 20 years as a single man while living at Speers Point NSW with his parents, he was mobilised into the Militia on the 8 January 1941 at Paddington and allocated service number N101815. He was posted to General Details Depot – Dubbo and began initial training for Australian homeland service.
He volunteered for service in the 2nd AIF and was discharged from the Militia and enlisted into the AIF on the 2 August, joining the 1st Training Battalion (Sydney). The AIF was the Australian military force which was formed to fight overseas rather than the Militia which was raised for homeland defence only.
On the 3 September he embarked for the Middle East and joined the 16th Training Battalion in Palestine. On completing training he joined the 2/2nd Infantry Battalion on the 24 January 1942, which was on rest in Palestine, after defensive duty in Syria. The 2/2nd Battalion had previously taken part in the capture of Bardia and Tobruk, then in the disastrous Greek campaign, ending up being evacuated via Crete.
On the 10 March 1942 he sailed with the unit to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) arriving on the 27 March. The unit’s role in Ceylon was defence against the possible Japanese invading. Aubrey returned with his unit for Melbourne in July arriving in Melbourne on the 4 August. The stay in Australia was short lived and he embarked in Brisbane for Port Moresby via Townsville arriving in Port Moresby on the 7 October. He was immediately sent to fight on the Kokoda Track against the Japanese. He fought the Japanese across the New Guinea mountains ending fighting in Sanananda, on the north-east coast, part of the Buna-Gona campaign.
The unit returned to Australia During 1943-44 the unit was in rest and training in the Atherton Tableland, Qld. In December 1944, Aubrey had sailed with his unit to Aitape, in the Wewak region (PNG). He fought against the Japanese in this area until wounded on the 27 June 1945, with serious shrapnel injuries to his face and legs. Through medical evacuation he was at 2/7 Australian General Hospital (Lae, PNG) on the 20 July when airlifted to Townsville (Qld) for further medical treatment. He remained in various hospitals until released on the 29 October. On the 27 November he was discharged from the Army. Due his war injuries and recurring malaria acquired in PNG, Aubrey was to become a totally and permanently incapacitated (TPI) pensioner.
After discharge he returned home to Speers Point NSW. Aubrey may have formed a connection with the Clarence Town-Dungog area by serving in the 2/2nd Battalion as this Battalion had drawn enlistees mainly from the Newcastle and northern NSW areas. In 1946 he married a local Dungog girl, Miss Vera May McFadyen. Aubrey and Vera had several children and some of his family remained in Dungog. Aubrey died on the 30 January 1987 in Maitland Hospital after a heart attack. He was buried in the Dungog General Cemetery (Presbyterian Section) as a returned soldier from WW2. His headstone is a cement plinth with a bronze plaque erected by the Office of Australian War Graves.
Aubrey was issued the following medals:
Australian Service Medal 1939-45
Defence Medal
War Medal 1939-45
1939-45 Star
Pacific Star

Martin Holmes CSM
Vice-president
Dungog RSL Sub-branch

Links to articles:
Article published in Dungog Shire News of the Area (NOTA),
30 October 2024, page 14
https://issuu.com/newsofthearea/docs/dungog_shire_news_of_the_area_30_october_2024
War Service Record at National Australian Archives
https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/NAAMedia/ShowImage.aspx?B=4889843&T=PDF
Burial
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/178440335/aubrey-clarence-pritchard

RSL NSW