13th Australian Infantry Training Battalion

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Brief History

This unit formed at Melville camp in August 1941 to train new recruits for the 13th Australian Infantry Brigade. In December 1941 they were at the Northam Camp where they absorbed the 4th AIF Training Battalion. By March 1942 they had trained many of the troops sent to Rottnest island, Fremantle and Swanbourne. They also supported militia units with 'A" Company providing troops for the 11th and 16th Infantry Battalions; 'B' Company for the 28th and 44th Infantry Battalions; 'C' Company the 5th and 10th Garrison Battalions; and 'D' Company the 19th and 29th Garrison Battalions.

This changed in November 1942 when the 36th Infantry Training Battalion was formed to train recruits for the Garrison battalions; the 35th Infantry Training Battalion became responsible for recruits less than 19 years old; and the 13th Infantry Training Battalion for the older recruits. As troop numbers in Western Australia fell, the need for all of these units did as well, and in February 1944 the unit's status was changed to 'Company' and in June they moved to Harvey where they were absorbed by another unit.

Staff members

• William Percival Nairn 15 Jan - 16 Apr 1941
• Robert Hynes 23 Jul 1940 - 15 Feb 1942
• Bertie Alfred Holmes 1 Aug 1941 - 3 Jul 1942 Outposted to Swanbourne
• Francis (George) Hicks MM 30 Sep 1943 - 3 May 1944

Trainees

1941

• Robert Gale 14 Jan - 26 Mar 1941
• Stanton Edward McKenna 14 Jan - 22 Apr 1941
• Edward Arthur Sewell 14 Jan - 9 Feb 1941
• David Robert Gerald Watts 14 Jan - 4 Jul 1941
• Norman Rees Willacott MID 14 Jan - 9 Mar 1941
• Robert Ralph Thompson 14 Jan 1941 - 9 Feb 1941
• Thomas Stanley O'Meagher 15 Jan - 13 Mar 1941
• † Andrew McKenzie 15 Jan 1941 - 23 Apr 1941
• William Francis James Elliott 21 Jan - 8 Feb 1942
• † Jack North 12 Feb - 8 Jul 1941
• Walter Vivian Ernest Peters 25 Feb- 22 Apr 1941
• † Bernard Sydney Smailes 25 Feb - 22 Apr 1941
• George Charles Owens 11 Mar - 23 Apr 1941
• John James (Jack) Trappitt 28 Mar - 4 Aug 1941
• Ronald Adrian Shaw 10 Oct - 12 Dec 1941
• Sydney Eric Mills 15 Sep 1941 - ?? ??? 1942

1942

• Thomas McFarlane Cunningham 6 Jan - 24 Mar 1942
• Eric Stanley Southern 13 Jan - 5 Mar 1942
• † Bernard Sydney Smailes 25 Feb 1942 - 17 Apr 1941
• Frederick Arthur Nicholls 12 Mar - 10 Aug 1942
• William Albert Nicholls 17 Apr - 2 Sep 1942
• Harold George Bell 8 - 18 May 1942
• Allan Edmund Young 17 May - 9 Sep 1942
• Angus Sherwood James 30 May - 10 Jun 1942
• Alfred (Henry) Martin 30 May - ?? Jun 1942
• Allan Denman Baldwin 1 Jul - 10 Aug 1942
• Arthur Donald Free 22 Jul 1942 - 28 Jul 1943
• Cyril Arthur Holmes 30 Jul- 13 Dec 1942
• Robert Thomas Buckenara 30 Jul - 6 Dec 1942
• Thomas Timothy Roberts 1 Aug - 20 Oct 1942
• Albert Henry Dyson 5 - 10 Aug 1942
• Arthur James Morfesse 5 Aug - 27 Dec 1942
• Alexander James Harris 12 Aug - 10 Nov 1942
• Alan Henry Brockwell 24 Aug - 22 Sep 1942

1943

• Stephen Charles Southern 9 Jan - 22 Mar 1943
• Albert George Joseph Jackson 5 Jul 1943 - 15 Feb 1944
• Albert Edward New 26 Jul - 30 Aug 1943
• Edward James (Jim) Lawrence 30 Aug - 5 Dec 1943
• Allan Butcher 2 Dec 1943 - 13 Jan 1944

Notes

Content has come from The Unit Guide - Volume 6 - The Australian Army 1939-1945, page 6.241 & 6.242 - Graham R McKenzie-Smith - Big Sky Publishing - 2018