Western Command Recruit Reception & General Details Depot

Unit's colour patch

Brief History

In March 1940 W Comd Gen Details Camp was raised at Melville to look after stragglers and those left behind by the convoys passing through Fremantle for the Middle East. In April it moved to Northam and then in June to the Fremantle Artillery Barracks. In September they moved to Claremont and their role was widened to handle all troops passing through Perth.

In January 1941 a Discharge & Reception Depot was formed within the unit to process soldiers returning from the Middle East for discharge. In November they also took on those attending the Western Command Cooking School and apprentices undergoing trade training. In May 1942 the unit was renamed WA L of C Area GDD and they shared a HQ with the neighbouring WA L of C Area RRD until August 1943. In November 1942 a separate WA L of C LTD was formed to handle troops passing through Perth on leave. The number of troops in Western Australia had reduced substantially by May 1944 and the GDD amalgamated with the RDD to form Western Australian L of C Area RR & GDD at Claremont.

In October 1944 the unit became Western Command Recruit Reception & General Details Depot before moving to Karrakatta in December where it remained until the war's conclusion. In September 1945 it formed Western Command Discharge Depot to facilitate demobilisation.

Unit Personnel

• Herbert Harold White 21 Oct 1940 - 1 Mar 1943
• John (Jack) Balshaw 21 Jul 1941 - 18 Sep 1947
• Joseph Craven 23 Apr 1942 - 6 Feb 1946
• Harold Clare Brown 29 Sep 1942 - 12 Dec 1944
• Alice (May) Cardinal 19 Oct 1942 - 23 Jun 1943
• Harold Higham 2 Dec 1943 - 5 Oct 1944
• John (Jack) Balshaw 28 Jan - 11 Sep 1947
• John Henry Clark

General Details Depot

Personnel between postings.

• Sidney Alfred Born 1 Nov 1940 - 3 Aug 1941
• Frederick John Anson Sep - Oct 1941
• Sidney Ernest Berry 24 Sep - 28 Oct 1942
• William Robert Hayward 13 - 19 Nov 1942
• Albert Cecil Clarence Curtis 23 Dec 1942 - 6 Jan 1943
• George Charles Owens 19 Feb - 11 Jul 1943
• James Douglas Aitken 24 May - 30 Oct 1943
• Richard Phillipson 3 Jun - 17 Jun 1943
• John William Watson 30 Jun - 14 Jul 1943 & 6 May - 5 Jun 1944
• Edward John Murphy 29 Jul - 20 Serp 1043
• Albert Cecil Clarence Curtis 9 Aug - 14 Dec 1943
• Norman Henry Napier Fowler 15 - 21 Nov 1943
• William Ritchie Napier 30 Dec 1943 - 3 Jan 1944 & 7 - 14 Jun 1946
• George Gould Elworthy 31 Jul 1944 - 3 Nov 1944
• Charles Armstrong Hanbury 21 Nov 1944 - 5 Jan 1945
• Valda Joy Newton 31 Nov 1944 - 28 Feb 1945
• Keith Raymond Mills 21 Dec 1944 - 6 Jan 1945
• Shirley Craddon 31 Dec 1944 - 28 Feb 1945
• Clarice Linda Savage 31 Dec 1944 - 28 Feb 1945
• James David Watts 7 Jan - 3 Mar 1945
• Alfred Hansford Fuller 22 Jan - 4 Mar 1945
• William Frederick Hanbury 28 Feb - 23 Mar 1945
• Allan James Watters 6 Sep - 29 Oct 1945
• Eima (Marie) Sturrock 12 - 16 Jun 1946

Returnees Depot

Personnel returning from the Middle East or New Guinea needing a new posting - not yet for discharge.

• Walter Cyril Tomlinson 10 Dec 1941 - 20 Apr 1942
• Harold Frank Davy 20 Dec 1943 - 6 Jan 1944
• Keith Raymond Mills 28 Sep 1945 - 28 Mar 1946

Western Command Discharge Depot

1942

• William Thomas Wills 12 Feb 1942
• Harold James Paulsen 26 Aug 1942
• Benjamin Stanley North 22 Oct - 4 Nov 1942

1943

• Thomas Egan 31 Mar - 12 Apr 1943
• William Robert Hayward 12 May 1943
• Richard Phillipson 18 Jun - 17 Jul 1943
• Raby Kathleen Elizabeth Mack 27 Oct 1943
• Spencer Gwynne DCM MID 12 Oct - 10 Nov 1943
• Francis Malarkey 30 Oct - 19 Dec 1943
• Richard Noel Craigie 22 Nov - 9 Dec 1943

1944

• Albert Dawson Winstanley 5 Jan 1944
• Albert Edward New 16 Feb - 31 May 1944
• Miran Radovanovic 21 - 22 Feb 1944
• Leslie George Harden 28 Jan - 1 Feb 1944
• George Charles Owens ?? - 10 Mar 1944
• Keith James Buckingham 28 Mar - 14 Apr 1944
• George Henry Harden 13 Apr - 2 May 1944
• Lancelot (Lance) William Cornell 21 - 28 Apr 1944
• John Raymond Little 24 Jun - 18 Jul 1944
• Joyce Sinclair 18 - 22 Jul 1944
• Albert Cecil Clarence Curtis 24 Aug - 8 Oct 1944
• Maurice Raven 25 - 26 Sep 1944
• William John Lucas 2 - 4 Oct 1944
• Hamilton John Crook 16 - 18 Oct 1944
• Ernest Woolhead 30 Oct - 1 Nov 1944
• Harold Jack Spencer 7 Nov - 4 Dec 1944
• William Thomas Wills 12 - 14 Nov 1944
• John James Ainsworth 20 Nov 1944
• Cyril Arthur Holmes 20 Nov - 8 Dec 1944

1945

• Albert Henry Dyson 25 Apr - 21 May 1945
• Stanley Upton Hammond 18 Mar - 12 Apr 1945
• Maurice Weinbren 30 Apr - 8 May 1945
• Vivienne Dittman 5 - 7 Jun 1945
• Joseph Maria White 23 Jul - 8 Aug 1945
• Maxwell John Buckingham 7 Aug - 3 Dec 1945
• Bortolomeo (Bortolo) Flematti 5 - 27 Sep 1945
• Ronald Gwynne 14 Aug - 12 Oct 1945
• John Alfred Vernon Hanbury 31Aug - 6 Oct 1945
• Bortolomeo (Bortolo) Flematti 5 - 27 Sep 1945
• Alfred Edward James Tresidder 10 Sep - 21 Nov 1945
• Leon Ernest Aubrey 13 Sep - 8 Nov 1945
• John William Alexander 28 Sep - 3 Nov 1945
• Alexander James Harris 9 Oct - 12 Nov 1945
• Frank Croudson 16 - 24 Oct 1945
• Harold George Bell 16 - 29 Oct 1945
• William Leslie Roberts 17 Oct - 12 Nov 1945
• Harry Cecil Brown 17 - 19 Oct 1945
• John Thomas Madgwick 20 - 23 Oct 1945
• Allan Denman Baldwin 20 - 24 Oct 1945
• Thomas Geoffrey Eliot 21 Oct - 10 Dec 1945
• James David Watts 21 Oct - 6 Nov 1945
• Robert Henry Fletcher 26 Oct - 2 Nov 1945
• Peter Spence 2 - 8 Nov 1945
• Eric William Taylor 3 Nov 1945 - 29 Jan 1946
• George Gould Elworthy 7 - 14 Nov 1945
• John William Watson 9 - 16 Nov 1945
• Joan Lucien Collins 12 - 23 Nov 1945
• Albert Chamberlain 18 - 26 Nov 1945
• Charles Armstrong Hanbury 23 - 29 Nov 1945
• Albert George Joseph Jackson 27 Nov - 7 Dec 1945
• Edward Charles (Ted) Fancote 30 Nov 1945 - 3 Jan 1946 & 18 Jan 1946
• Angus Sherwood James 16 Dec 1945 - 18 Jan 1946

1946

• William Francis Buck 17 Jan - 6 Feb 1946
• Daisy Ella Logan 11 - 27 Mar 1946
• Keith Raymond Mills 29 Mar - 2 Apr 1946
• Clarice Linda Savage 30 Mar - 2 Apr 1946
• Samuel Battle Hammond 9 Apr - 26 May 1946
• John Milenko Marian 16 - 23 Apr 1946
• Mary Evelyn Grace Hynes 9 - 10 May 1946
• Shirley Craddon 28 May - 26 Jun 1946
• Viola Shirley Franklin 21 Jun - 1 Jul 1946
• Valda Joy Newton 3 - 8 Aug 1946
• Alfred Hansford Fuller 14 - 21 Aug 1946
• Wanda Dawne Sullivan 17 - 23 Aug 1946
• Winifred Frances Thompson 13 - 16 Nov 1946

1947

• Norman Henry Napier Fowler 20 - 23 Jan 1947
• Henry Victor (Harry) Fowler 7 - 12 Mar 1947
• John (Jack) Balshaw 12 - 18 Sep 1947

Notes

Content has come from The Unit Guide - Volume 6 - The Australian Army 1939-1945, page 6.414 - Graham R McKenzie-Smith - Big Sky Publishing - 2018