Douglas John Elliott

Douglas John Elliott

Personal Information
Date of Birth	10 Apr 1920
Place of Birth	Hastings, England
Death	22 Sep 2011, aged 91
Place of Death	Armadale, Western Australia
Age at Enlistment	20 years, 6 months
Occupation	Gardener
Religion	Church of England
Address	PO Byford, Western Australia
Next of Kin	Mother , Mrs Eunice Elliott
Military Information
Reg Number	WX9049
Date of Enlistment	25 Oct 1940
Rank	Private
Unit/Formation	2nd/32nd Australian Infantry Battalion
Date of Embarkation	5 Jul 1941 ‒ 25 Jul 1941
Ship Embarked On	HMT Aquitania Fremantle to Port Tewfik
Date of Embarkation	7 Aug 1943 ‒ 10 Aug 1943
Ship Embarked On	SS Charles P Steinmetz Cairns to Milne Bay
Date of Return	24 Jan 1943 ‒ 18 Feb 1943
Ship Returned On	HMT Queen Mary Port Tewfik to Fremantle
Date of Return	2 Oct 1943 ‒ 6 Oct 1943
Ship Returned On	AHS Manunda Port Moresby to Brisbane

War Service

Enlisted at Claremont on 25 Oct 1940, and on 27 Nov 1940 he was allocated to the No 3 Depot Battalion at the Northam camp for training. On 14 Jan 1941 this changed to the No 2 Training Battalion. Douglas was granted leave without pay from 11 Feb until 16 Feb 1941, after which he was transferred to the 6th reinforcements for the 2/28th Battalion. On 17 Apr 1941 this was changed to the 7th reinforcements for the 2/32nd and he was granted pre-embarkation leave from 24 - 30 Apr 1941.

On 5 Jul 1941 Douglas embarked in Fremantle on HMT Aquitania, a part of Convoy US11A (the other members were Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth) for the Middle East via Colombo in Ceylon (Sri Lanka), disembarking on 25 Jul 1941 at Port Tewfik. On arrival he joined the 25th Infantry Training Battalion before being transferred on 10 Aug 1941 to the 7th Australian Infantry Specialist Group until 14 Sep 9141 when he returned to the training battalion. On 10 Oct 1941 he was transferred to the 2/32nd Battalion. The 2/32nd served in Palestine and Lebanon until July 1942 when the 9th Division was called upon to help stem the tide of the German and Italian advance around El Alamein; throughout the remainder of the year, the battalion took part in the First and Second Battles of El Alamein.

In December 1942, the battalion was withdrawn back to Gaza, where the 9th Division concentrated prior to departure from the Middle East; the Japanese had entered the war in the Pacific the previous year, and the Australian government had requested that their troops be returned as they were needed for the fighting in New Guinea. The 9th Division departed the Middle East in January 1943.

Douglas embarked on 24 Jan 1943 at Suez on HMT Queen Mary, a part of a Convoy to become known as Operation Pamphlet. The Operation Pamphlet convoy comprised HMT Queen Mary, HMT Aquitania, SS Île de France, SS Nieuw Amsterdam, and HMT Queen of Bermuda. Port Tewfik couldn't handle them all at once so in sequence they loaded, and sailed down the Red Sea to Massawa where they anchored until all of the convoy had loaded. The Queen Mary, carrying the 2/32nd Battalion was there for a week before it was able to set sail for Australia. Rather than travel as expected by the troops via Colombo, the ships set a course for the central Indian Ocean and on 9 Feb 1943 entered what was then known as 'Port T', a secret naval base unknown to the Japanese in the Addu Atoll, the southernmost land of the Maldives. On 10 Feb the convoy set sail for Fremantle, arriving there on 18 Feb 1943 and disembarked the Western Australian troops who were to enjoy leave.

On 15 Mar 1943 Douglas married Irene May ?? before returning to his battalion at the conclusion of his leave which was going through conversion to be able to fight effectively in the jungles to our north. He travelled by train to South Australia between 23 and 25 Mar 1943. On 7 Aug 1943 in Cairns they embarked on SS Charles P Steinmetz for Milne Bay in Papua, disembarking there on 10 Aug 1943. During the battle for Milne Bay, on 4 Sep 1943 Douglas received bullet wounds to his right buttock and left abdomen and was evacuated to the 2nd/11th Australian General Hospital. Ten days later on 14 Sep 1943 he was evacuated to the 2nd/5th Australian General Hospital at Bootless Bay, Port Moresby.

On 2 Oct 1943 he was embarked on the AHS Manunda for Brisbane where he was admitted on 6 Oct 1943 before being placed on 14 Oct 1943 aboard an Ambulance Train for the 115th Australian General Hospital in Victoria. Finally, on 11 Oct 1943 he was transferred to WA by rail and on arrival on 16 Oct 1943 he was admitted to the 110th General Hospital Perth. Following follow up treatment he was discharged from hospital on 31 Oct 1943. Following a period in a depot unit he was readmitted to the 110th AGH from 23 - 26 Nov 1943. Transferred to the 118th Australian General Hospital he was treated for malaria before returning to the Medical Wing of the base depot on 8 Dec 1943. On 7 Jan 1944 he was seen by a Medical Board who classified his injuries to his Jaw and Abdomen as making him unfit for further service, and on 21 Jan 1944 he was discharged at the Claremont camp.