Charles Amos George Victor Petersen

Charles Amos George Victor Petersen

Personal Information
Date of Birth	27 Aug 1913
Place of Birth	Bridgetown, Western Australia
Death	30 Jan 1995, aged 81
Place of Death	Gosnells, Western Australia
Age at Enlistment	26 years, 2 months
Occupation	Labourer
Religion	Church of England
Address	Wokalup, Western Australia
Next of Kin	Mother , Mrs. Alice Mary Petersen
Military Information
Reg Number	WX571
Date of Enlistment	9 Nov 1939
Rank	Private
Unit/Formation	2/11th Australian Infantry Battalion
Military Movement
1st Departure from Australia
Journey Dates	20 Apr 1940 ‒ 19 May 1940
Transport Details	HMT Nevasa Fremantle to Kantara, Egypt
Transfers
Journey Dates	10 Apr 1941 ‒ 12 Apr 1941
Transport Details	SS Pennland Egypt to Athens, Greece
Journey Dates	25 Apr 1941 ‒ 26 Apr 1941
Transport Details	SS Thurland Castle Greece to Crete
Return to Australia
Journey Dates	3 Jul 1945 ‒ 8 Aug 1945
Transport Details	B2 England to Sydney
Post War Details
Fate	POW (Crete) Returned to Australia
Medals	1939-45 Star Africa Star War Medal 1939-45 Australian Service Medal 1939-45 Greek Commemorative War Medal 1940-41

Pre War

Electoral Roll entries: 1936 - 1937 Manjimup, farm hand;

War Service

Charles enlisted in the AIF at Harvey on 9 Nov 1939 and was allocated to the 2/11th Australian Infantry Battalion. On 7 Dec 1939 he and his unit embarked for Ingleburn in NSW as part of the preparation for moving to Egypt. On 2 Mar 1940 he was seen by the camp dressing station and sent on with suspected mumps to the P. Henry Hospital which released him on 15 Mar 1940 with 5 further days 'No Duty'. On 30 Mar 1940 the battalion was granted pre-embarkation leave, and on 20 Apr 1940 they embarked on HMT Nevasa which sailed with Convoy US 2 on the 22nd for Kantara on the Suez Canal, disembarking there on 19 May 1940.

The battalion trained in both Palestine and Egypt before seeing combat against the Italian forces at Bardia on 5 Jan 1941 followed by action at Tobruk and then Derna before being withdrawn back to Egypt to prepare for movement to Greece. On 10 Apr 1941 they embarked for Greece aboard SS Pennland, disembarking in Athens on 12 Apr 1941. Sent to Greece too late to do other than withdrw ahead of the stronger Gewrman units, they were evacuated on the SS Thurland Castle on the night of 25 Apr 1941 and landed at Suva on Crete.

On 4 Jun 1941 Charles was recorded as Missing, and by 5 Jul 1941 it was able to be established that he was probably a POW. His POW records indicate that he was captured on 6 Jun 1941. Howerer, it was 26 Feb 1942 before he was confirmed as being a POW, detained at Stalag VIII B. On 19 Oct 1943 he was relocated to Stalag VIII A, and on 15 Jan 1944 at Stalag 3HH. On 29 May 1945 he deplaned in the UK having been recovered from Germany and was taken in by the 1st AIF Transit Camp UK. On 3 Jul 1945 he boarded "B2" for return to Australia, disembarking in Sydney on 8 Aug 1945.

Two days later he was transferred to the Western Command Recruit Reception & General Details Depot in Perth where after assessment between 11 and 19 Sep 1945 at the 109th Australian Convalescent Depot, Charles was discharged on 20 Sep 1945.

Post War

During 1953 Charles married Merle Constance Swan. Electoral Roll entries: 1949 at Eleventh road Armadale, labourer; 1954 - 1958 Southern River road, Gosnells, farmer ; 1972 - 1980 at Lot 1746 Bradley street, Southern River, farmer