Frederick Haughton Dawson

Frederick Haughton Dawson

Personal Information
Date of Birth	25 Sep 1923
Place of Birth	Armadale, Western Australia
Death	24 Jul 2015, aged 91
Place of Death	Port Kennedy, Western Australia
Age at Enlistment	18 years, 11 months
Description	6' (1.83m) tall ; ; dark complexion ; brown eyes ; brown hair
Occupation	Dairy farmer
Religion	Church of England
Address	Leura Farm, East Carnarvon, Western Australia
Next of Kin	Father , Mr. Frederick A. Dawson
Military Information
Reg Number	W47665 & WX39062
Date of Enlistment	15 Aug 1942
Rank	Private
Unit/Formation	2/16th Australian Infantry Battalion
Post War Details
Fate	Returned to Australia
Medals	1939-45 Star Pacific Star War Medal 1939-45 Australian Service Medal 1939-45 Australian Service Medal 1945-75

War Service

Fred's initial enlistment was with the 11th (North West) VDC Battalion from 16 Mar 1942 until 30 May 1942 when he ws mobilised full time and transferred to the CMF's "E" Company 29th Australian Garrison Battalion in Carnarvon. On 3 Jun 1942 Fred was transferred to Port Hedland, and then on 1 Dec 1942 he was transferred to the 19th Australian Garrison Battalion at Port Hedland. On 15 Aug 1942 he was allocated a new Army Number - WX39062. From 23 Nov 1942 Fred attended an Infantry Section Leaders course until 30 Dec 1943 run by the 3rd Australian Corps School at Harvey. Although he tried hard, he failed to reach the standard required (youhtfulness?). On 7 Apr 1944 Fred was appointed Lance Corporal. He appears to have spent all is time to this point in the North West as on 16 Oct 1944 he embarked on SS Koolinda for Carnarvon.

On 8 Dec 1944 he was posted to the Australian Reinforcement Training Battalion (Jungle Warfare), travelling there by train to be trained in jungle warfare. On 4 Apr 1945 he transferred to the 1st Australian Army Reinforcement Depot, and with them he boarded HMAS Kanimbla on 2 May 1945 for Morotai, an island west of Borneo that was used as the stagging area for the invasion of Borneo. Disembarking on 18 Jun 1945, he was transferred to the 2/16th Australian Infantry Battalion. On 26 Jun 1945 Fred boarded USS LST 579 at Morotai for Balikpapan. There on 1 Dec 1945 he transferred to the 2/10th Battalion for a month, transferring to a base unit at Morotai on 1 Jan 1946.

Arriving back in Australia on 10 Jan 1946, by 22 Jan 1946 Fred was back in with Western Command Recruit Reception & General Details Depot in Perth. Having agreed on 22 Jan 1946 to serve an additional six months, he was posted to the 9th Australian Advanced Ordnance Depot on 15 Feb 1946, remaining with them until 22 Jul 1946 when he was again in the Western Command Recruit Reception & General Details Depot preparing for his discharge which took place on 29 Jul 1946