9th Australian Advanced Ordnance Depot

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Brief History

Formed in Alice Springs during June 1942 from a detachment of 10th Ordnance Stores Company and a small ordnance detachment within the Darwin Overland Maintenance Force. Its role was to service the convoy route to Darwin. In January 1943 a reorganisation of Ordnance units let the unit with the title of 11th Australian Line of Communication Sub Area Ordnance Depot. In April 1943 they sent a detachment to Mt Isa in western Queensland, where it formedOrdnance Depot Mt Isa.

In October 1943 the unit was re-organised as the 9th Australian Advanced Ordnance Depot, which was also responsible for the admin of a detachemnt of the 5th Australian Advanced Ordnance Depot which they later, in November 1944, absorbed at the time they took over the ammunition function. As convoy traffic decreased, staffing reduced until January 1945 when the depot had only 54 personnel, and it continued at this level until the end of the war. When Frederick Dawson joined the unit, post war, its numbers would have increased for a time as they recovered as much material and munitions could be recovered to sent back to southern warehouses.

Unit Personnel

• Frederick Haughton Dawson 15 Feb - 22 Jul 1946

Notes

Content has come from The Unit Guide - Volume 5 - The Australian Army 1939-1945, page 5.333 - Graham R McKenzie-Smith - Big Sky Publishing - 2018