Claude Raymond Anderson

Claude Raymond Anderson

Personal Information
Date of Birth	19 May 1918
Place of Birth	Subiaco, Western Australia
Death	20 Jan 2003
Place of Death	Bedford, Western Australia
Age at Enlistment	22 years, 11 months
Occupation	Truck driver
Religion	Church of England
Address	Byford, Western Australia
Next of Kin	Mother , Mrs Myrtle Stellar Anderson
Military Information
Reg Number	WX11509
Date of Enlistment	9 Apr 1941
Rank	Private
Unit/Formation	2/43rd Australian Infantry Battalion
Military Movement
1st Departure from Australia
Journey Dates	9 Sep 1941 ‒ 23 Sep 1941
Transport Details	HMT Queen Mary Fremantle to Port Tewfik
Return to Australia
Journey Dates	11 Sep 1942 ‒ 1 Oct 1942
Transport Details	AHS2 Wanganella Kantara, Egypt to Fremantle
Post War Details
Fate	Wounded in Action 17 Jul 1942 El Alamein, Egypt Returned to Australia
Monument(s)	ANZAC Memorial Park (Byford) Byford WW2 Honour Roll
Medals	1939-45 Star Africa Star Defence Medal War Medal 1939-45 Australian Service Medal 1939-45

War Service

Claude enlisted at Claremont and a week later was sent to the Naval Base Training Depot, where on 24 Apr 1941 he was allocated to the 7th reinforcement draft for the 2/43rd Battalion, and transferred to the Northam camp. The next day he was granted pre-embarkation leave from 25 Apr till 2 May 1941. On 21 May 1941 he was charged with having been AWOL from midnight 19 May until 11:30 am on 20 May 1941. For this he was awarded 3 days 'Confined to Barracks' and forfeited the day's pay.

On 9 Sep 1941 Claude embarked for overseas on HMT Queen Mary which with HMT Queen Elizabeth made up Convoy US 12A. On 23 Sep 1941 they disembarked in Port Tewfik having travelled via Trincomalee in Ceylon (Sri Lanka). On arrival he was sent to the 24th Australian Infantry Training Battalion, and from 7 Dec 1941 until 9 Mar 1942 he was transferred to the 9th Australian Infantry Specialist Group. Returned to the 24th Australian Infantry Training Battalion, on 29 Mar 1942 he was transferred to the 2/43rd Australian Infantry Battalion, joining them at 6:30pm near Tripoli in Libya.

Claude's unit was involved in action at Ruin Ridge in the El Alamein area on 17 Jul 1942 when 3 Officers and 16 men were killed and another 4 Officers and 65 men were wounded. While they had initially captured their objectives, they were forced to withdraw after ammunition ran low, and with no communications working, they couldn't be supported by the artillery. Claude was one of the injured from this fight. On 18 Jul 1942 he was evacuated to the 8th British General Hospital with a bullet wound to the right arm (a compound fracture of the right Humerus). He was transferred to the 2/6th Australian General Hospital on 23 Jul 1942 at Kilo 89 in Palestine. On 22 Aug 1942 he was determined to be Temporarily Unfit for Service, and so on 10 Sep 1942 Claude was discharged from hospital for return to Australia.

Claude disembarked in Fremantle from AHS2 Wanganella on 1 Oct 1942 and was taken to the 110th Australian Base Hospital in Hollywood where he was admitted until 19 Oct 1942. on that day he was transferred to the 118th Australian General Hospital in Northam. On 1 Feb 1943 he faced a Medical Board and was determined to be Class 'D', unfit for Military Service. However, he was returned to a base unit in Claremont on 4 Jun 1943, granted leaved from 5 Jun 1943 until 8 Jul 1943, and subsequently not discharged until 8 Jul 1943.

Post War

Married Vera Almoral A Cole (1919-2010) and they had two daughters. From 13 Jul 1951 until 21 may 1952 Claude worked for the Western Australian Government railways, as a labourer at Midland and later as a shunter in Perth.

Electoral Roll entries: 1949 at 159 Great Eastern highway, tramways; 1954 - 1980 at 70 Burkett street, Inglewood, labourer;