Thomas Stanley O'Meagher

Thomas Stanley O'Meagher

Personal Information
Date of Birth	17 Sep 1918
Place of Birth	Victoria Park, Western Australia
Age at Enlistment	21 years, 3 months
Description	5'11" (1.80m) tall ; scar on right forearm "scar on right forearm" is not a number. ; fair complexion ; grey eyes ; black hair
Occupation	Truck driver
Religion	Roman Catholic
Address	Karragullen, Western Australia
Next of Kin	Mother , Mrs Florence Hansen
Military Information
Reg Number	WX6487
Date of Enlistment	1 Jun 1940
Rank	Sergeant
Unit/Formation	2nd/28th 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, Papua
Date of Return	24 Jan 1943 ‒ 18 Feb 1943
Ship Returned On	HMT Queen Mary Port Tewfik to Fremantle
Date of Return	19 Jan 1945 ‒ 28 Jan 1945
Ship Returned On	SS Van Heutz Finchhaven to Townsville
Fate	WIA 27 Jul 1942 Ruin Ridge Libya WIA 29 Jul 1945 Brunei Bay Returned to Australia
Medals	1939-45 Star Africa Star (with 8th Clasp) Pacific Star Defence Medal War Medal 1939-45 Australian Service Medal 1939-45

War Service

Tom enlisted at Claremont and after two months of general training he was drafted to the No1 Depot Battalion. ON 3 Dec 1940 he was charged with failing to appear on parade at 6:10am on 29 Nov 1940. Found guilt he was awarded 7 days C.B. (Confined to Barracks and given extra duties or drill to perform). On 11 Dec 1940 he was transferred to the No.2 Depot Battalion, where soon after he was granted pre-embarkation leave from 21 - 29 Dec 1940. On 6 Jan 1941 he was transferred to the 2nd Reinforcement draft for the 2/16th Battalion. Moved to the 13th Training Battalion on 15 Jan 1941, he was admitted to the 110 General Hospital (Later known as Hollywood Repatriation Hospital) with ligature damage to his right knee. It wasn't until 25 Feb 1941 that he returned to duty.

Granted some abbreviated leave from 5:00pm on 14 Mar until midnight 17 Mar 1941, Tom embarked for overseas on 5 Jul 1941 aboard HMT Aquitania a part of Convoy US 11A and disembarked in the Middle East on 25 Jul 1941. For training he was posted to the 21st Australian Infantry training Battalion from 10 Aug until 14 Sep 1941.

From 22 Sep until 7 Oct 1941 he was detached to the Staging Camp Amerya after which he was detached on special duty to the 21st Infantry Training Battalion. On 29 Apr 1942 his detachment ceased and he returned to the 7th Australian Infantry Training Brigade, and on 23 May 1942 he was taken on strength by the 2/28 Battalion.

Ill with tonsillitis, Tom was seen by the 2/11 Australian Field Ambulance on 11 Jun 1942 before being forwarded to the 2/3 Australian Casualty Clearing Station on 16 Jun 1942. On 19 Jun 1942 he returned to his unit. Tom was wounded on 27 Jul 1942 with a gun shot wound to his chest and was evacuated the next day to the 2nd British General Hospital. On 1 Aug 1942 he was moved to the 6th Australian General Hospital and on 23 Aug 1943 he was well enough to move to the 1st Australian Convalescent Depot. However, on 3 Sep 1942 he needed to be readmitted to the 6th Australian General Hospital with Impetigo. On 9 Sep 1942 he was back with the 1st Australian Convalescent Depot for another 12 days before being released to the AIF Staging camp. On 16 Oct 1942 he rejoined the 2/28 Battalion and was welcomed back by being appointed Lance Corporal on 27 Oct 1942.

On 12 Nov 1942 he was made Acting Corporal before embarking on HMT Queen Mary for Fremantle.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 son in sequence they loaded, 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. Sent initially to the Melville Camp and given three weeks leave. In March 1943 they began a train journey eastwards to the Atherton tablelands in north Queensland. After a time in Australia rebuilding the battalion, during which time Tom's promotion to Corporal was confirmed (2 Jul 1943), the battalion on 7 Aug 1943 embarked at Cairns on SS Van der Lijn for Milne Bay in Papua, arriving there on 10 Aug 1943.

Tom was again ill, having caught Dengue Fever, and on 29 Nov 1943 he was treated by the 2/3 Australian Casualty Clearing Station and evacuated to the 2/8 Australian Field Ambulance. On 9 Dec 1943 he was back with the battalion which on 19 Jan 1944 embarked on SS Van Heutz for Townsville where they disembarked on 28 Jan 1944. Granted leave again, on 19 Apr 1944 he needed medical help for an infection and was treated by the 2/6 Australian General Hospital. On 6 Apr 1944 Tom was promoted Acting Sergeant and five days later on 11 Apr 1943 he was entrained in Perth for South Australia.

Soon after arrival in South Australia Tom was sent on a course from 18 Apr until 1 May that dealt with issues relating to his role as a Platoon Sergeant, and on 8 Sep 1944 his rank was confirmed. With another overseas posting in the wings he married on 24 Feb 1945 Dorothy Joy whose address while he was absent was Albany road, Kelmscott.

On 23 Apr 1945 Tom embarked on USS General J.H. McRae in Townsville for Morotai which was being used as a staging area in preparation for the 7th and 9th Divisions amphibious operations on Borneo. The 24th Brigade landed on "Brown Beach" on Labuan Island on 10 June, with Tom landing from LST 637. It took the 2/28th and 2/43rd 11 days to clear the island. The strongest Japanese resistance came from the area called the "Pocket". The battle began on 15 June and, after almost a week of shelling, air strikes, and naval bombardment, the 2/28th captured the position. The Pocket was captured on 21 June and the 2/28th moved to Beaufort, on the opposite side of Brunei Bay, spending the final weeks of the war patrolling the surrounding area. Sadly for Tom this was when he was wounded in action a second time on 29 Jul 1945 with wounds to his forearm, hands, neck and face from a grenade. Evacuated same day to the 2/3 Australian Field Ambulance, he returned to the 2/28 Battalion on 8 Aug 1945 so the wounds were minor.

On 3 Oct 1945 he boarded the HMAS Manoora in Lubuan Borneo for Morotai, arriving there on 7 Oct 1945, and on 26 Oct 1945 he boarded the HMT Duntroon in Morotai for Sydney, disembarking on 9 Nov 1945.

Overseas service was: Middle East from 15 Jul 1941 to 18 Feb 1943; New Guinea from 7 Aug 1943 until 28 Jan 1944; and Borneo from 23 Apr 1945 until 7 Nov 1945. Tom was discharged at Western Command on 21 Nov 1945.

Notes

Considerable use has been made of details about the operations of the 2/28 Battalion from the AWM website.

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