AN AUSTRALIAN SOLDIER'S LETTERS TO HIS FAMILY AT HOME IN SYDNEY IN WWII.
A.S.I.T.A.P. THE ROLL OF THE 2/3 PIONEER BATTALION AIF
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AS I TURN ANOTHER PAGE
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ASITAP: THE ROLL COMPILED BY BRUCE SANDERS.
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-: ON THIS PAGE :- BACKGROUND AND EXPLANATIONS OF TERMS USED IN THE ROLL. |
SEE BELOW FOR LINKS TO THE ROLL. |
| ROLL OF THE 2/3 PIONEER BATTALION | |
| ABBOTT – ADAMS | |
| ADAMSON – ANDREWS | |
| ANDREWS – AYRTON | |
FROM BRUCE SANDERS. WRITTEN ON JULY 31, 2001, TO THE A.W.M.
Dear Madam/Sir,
I herewith submit a roll of our BN which I started about ANZAC DAY 2000, E and OE with assistance of my wife , Joyce, We posted, as hereunder and had responses from widows and families of the 2/3.
Rita McLean, (widow of my last Platoon Lt Ken McLean ) of Port Lonsdale wrote:-
Why did you leave it so long to get started on your project? Perhaps the idea didn’t come to you earlier !
I don’t know but the responses have been rewarding, revealing, encouraging.
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in 2000, Bruce posted out his original request to 402 families. He received by 2001, 176 answers = 43%.
C.A.R.O. WAS UNABLE TO PROVIDE COWRA AND DARWIN ROLLS – WE HAD NAMES BUT NO NUMBERS, RECT. – CAN YOU HELP ?
B & J ( Bruce and Joyce) brought a copier and Bruce worked for hours a day copying rolls and letters and mailing them out from his little office at the rear of their home in the seaside town of Urunga on the Mid North Coast of NSW.
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EXPLANATIONS OF TERMS AND CODES USED IN THE ASITAP ROLL.
EACH ROLL PAGE IS DIVIDED INTO 12 COLUMNS.
| ASI TAP |
AGE DECD |
SUR NAME BIRTH AWARDS |
GIVEN NAME AND NICK |
NX OR ? COY. RANK POST |
ENLIST OCCUPN |
CAMPS | SHIPS | ACT IONS |
DIS CHARGE OCCUPN |
POST DISC HARGE |
WIFE DAUG HTERS SONS ETC |
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ASITAP |
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| 1 | AS I TURN ANOTHER PAGE |
| 2 | ( ) AGE, DECEASED, YEAR |
| 3 | SURNAME, BIRTH DATE, AWARDS |
| 4 | NAMES, GIVEN, NICK |
| 5 | NX OR OTHER |
| 6 | ENLIST: DATE’, LOCATION, OCCUPATION |
| 7 | CAMPS: LIVERPOOL, GLENFIELD,COWRA,DARWIN,MIDDLE EAST, ‘B’ BATHURST, 1942,KAIRI,RAVENSHOE,MOROTAI |
| 8 | SHIPS:TRANSPORT: QUEEN MARY 1 & 2 , ANHUI, KLIPFONTEIN,SEA CAT. |
| 9 | ACTIONS: ALAMEIN,NEW GUINEA,TARAKAN, KIA –KILLED IN ACTION. D OF WOUNDS,ACCIDENT,INJURY,DISEASE. |
| 10 | DISCHARGE: DATE, LOCATION, OCCUPATION |
| 11, | POST DISCHARGE: LOCATIONS ETC |
| 12 | NEXT OF KIN: WIFE, DAUGHTERS, SONS ETC. |
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HISTORY OF THE TRAVEL OF THE 2/3 PIONEER BATTALION DURING WORLD WAR 2.
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2/3 PIONEER TRAVEL |
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| DATES | PLACES | CREDITS |
| JULY 1940 | SYDNEY SHOWGROUND | |
| 30 JULY 1940 | LIVERPOOL | |
| 16 AUG 1940 | GLENFIELD | 1941 PIONEER |
| 5 SEP 1940 | COWRA | |
| 24 MARCH 1940 | DARWIN | |
| 14 OCT 1940 | INGLEBURN | |
| 1 NOV 1941 | ‘QUEEN MARY’ | CENTRAL ARMY RECORDS OFFICE ’CARO’ |
| 23 NOV 1941 | QUASTINA | |
| JANUARY 1942 | DAMASCUS | |
| 3 JULY 1942 | EGYPT | B.S. MG |
| 7 DEC 1942 | HILL 69 | |
| 23 JAN 1943 | ‘QUEEN MARY’ | CARO |
| 27 FEB 1943 | WALLGROVE | |
| 15 APRIL 1943 | KAIRI QUEENSLAND | |
| 4 AUG 1943 | ‘ANHUL’ | |
| 6 AUGUST 1943 | MILNE BAY | CARO |
| 2 MARCH 1944 | ‘KLIPFONTEIN’ | CARO HAROLD KING |
| 10 MARCH 1944 | BRISBANE | |
| 9 APRIL 1944 | SYDNEY | |
| 2 MAY 1944 | RAVENSHOE | |
| 3 APRIL 1945 | ‘SEA CAT’ | CARO |
| 13 APRIL 1945 | MOROTAI | |
| 30 APRIL 1945 | TARAKAN MG LAND | |
| 1 MAY 1945 | TARAKAN BN LAND | ASSOC ALEX ANDERSON BS COL. |
| 25 OCT 1945 | ‘DUNTROON’ | |
| 13 NOV 1945 | SYDNEY |
ACTIONS
AL=ALAMEIN
NG=NEWGUINEA
TA=TARAKAN
K= KIA(KILLED IN ACTION), D OF WOUNDS, ACCIDENT, INJURY, DISEASE.
CAMPS
L-LIVERPOOL
G=GLENFIELD
CO=COWRA
DAR-DARWIN
DA=DAMASCUS
‘B’ = BATHURST 1942
K=KAIRI
R=RAVENSHOE
M-MOROTAI
MILITARY TERMS
CPL=CORPORAL
COY=COMPANY. NAMELY –A. B. C. D. COMPANIES.
HQ =HEADQUARTERS
PL=PLATOON
Wd=WOUNDED
SHIPS
Q1=QUEEN MARY FIRST VOYAGE
Q2=QUEEN MARY SECOND VOYAGE
AN=ANHUI
KL=KLIPFONTEIN
SC=SEA CAT
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IN DECEMBER 2001 – BRUCE HAD GATHERED THIS INFORMATION.
| A | B | C | D | E | |
| NAMES | 96 | 268 | 228 | 98 | 66 |
| F | G | H | I | J | |
| 82 | 148 | 225 | 11 | 63 | |
| K | L | M | N | O | |
| 91 | 112 | 202 | 42 | 52 | |
| P | Q | R | S | T | |
| 112 | 9 | 127 | 239 | 120 | |
| U | V | W | X | Y | |
| 3 | 12 | 210 | 0 | 7 | |
| Z | MC | ||||
| 1 | 117 |
TOTAL OF NAMES IN DECEMBER 2001 – 2741
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NX- FROM NSW
QX- FROM QUEENSLAND
VX – FROM VICTORIA
SX- FROM SOUTH AUSTRALIA-
ROLL OF 2/3 PIONEER BATTALION. ANDREWS- ARNOLD « BRUCE SANDERS said
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