Northam Dental Centre

Brief History

The Northam Dental Centre was opened in early 1941 to service the men in the training units at Northam, and by June it was operated by the 290th, 293rd, 294th, 295th, 302nd, and 303rd Dental Unit. By May 1942 some sub units had moved to Chidlows and Fremantle, and in November 1942 a re-organisation of dental units saw the unit named 76th Australian Dental Unit with the center's HQ element plus 290 Dental Unit making up the new HQ Section; 294 Dental Unit became A Section; and 295 Dental Unit became B Section, 408 Dental Unit became C Section and 409 Dental Unit became D Section. In June 1943 A Section was at Northern Gully with the 25th Cavalry Regiment an in August, HQ Section, A Section and B Section moved to Karrakatta and C Section left for the Northern Territory in September 1943.

By the end of 1943 a HQ Section detachment plus D section had remained in WA and they were joined by newly raised E and F Sections which were raised in Northam. The HQ element was at Karrakatta, D Section at Claremont, E Section at Northam and F Section at Merredin. F Section relocated to Nungarin in March, but in August 1944 the WA Sections had relocated to New South Wales, while the HQ Section and A Section were at Adelaide River in the Northern Territory, B Section was at Alice Springs and C Section at Larrimah. The sections had become mobile, moving between camps in the area from Alice Springs to Tennant Creek in Queensland until the traffic along the convoy routes had declined, after which the sections moved closer to Darwin. In September they left for NSW where at Wallgrove they were joined by the remained of the unit from Western Australia.

The HQ Section detachment, with E and F Sections moved to Newcastle in November 1944 while D Section went to Rutherford. In December F Section went to Broadmeadows, HQ Section with D and F Sections moved to Narellan, with A and B Sections to Liverpool and C Section to French's Forest. In February 1945 D and F Sections were disbanded at Narellan before being replaced by A and B Sections. The Section at Broadmeadows was then renamed D Section. In March 1945 all elements other than D Section moved to Bathurst, with D Section joining them in July. 76 Australian Dental Unit remained at Bathurst until after the conclusion of the war.

Unit Personnel

290th Dental Unit

• Henry George Price 11 Oct 1940 - 5 Feb 1947

Notes

Content has come from The Unit Guide - Volume 6 - The Australian Army 1939-1945, pages 6.311 & 6.312 - Graham R McKenzie-Smith - Big Sky Publishing - 2018