24th Australian Infantry Training Battalion

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Brief History

Formed at Beit Jirja in Palestine during March 1941, its staff were drawn from units of the 24th Infantry Brigade. Soon after forming they moved to Khassa, followed by Hill 95 in April, and Mughazi in May. They provided a pool of reinforcements for units in the 24th Brigade and kept units in Tobruk up to strength throughout the siege. With Japan's entry into the war all units other than the 9th Division returned to Australia, and the flow of reinforcements slowed to a trickle until a large draft arrive in October 1942. At this time they also took over training for the Pioneer units in the 9th Division. Following the Battle of El Alamein, in January 1943 all reinforcements were drafted to the battalions and the 24th Australian Infantry training Battalion was disbanded.

Unit Trainees

• Charles Henry Walter Hansen 21 Apr - 3 May 1941
• Norman Rees Willacott MID 14 May - 16 Jun 1941
• Stanton Edward McKenna 25 Jul - 22 Aug 1941
• Walter Vivian Ernest Peters 25 Jul - 11 Sep 1941
• Charles William (Charlie) Divall 25 Jul 1941 - 13 Mar 1942 (detached to the AIF (Middle East) Regimental Officers School 8 Aug - 6 Feb 1942)
• William John Eric Johnson 23 Sep - 15 Oct 1941
• Victor Henry Mead 23 Sep - 17 Nov 1941
• Claude Raymond Anderson 24 Sep 1941 - 28 Mar 1942 (detached to 9th Australian Infantry Specialist Group 7 Dec 1941 - 9 Mar 1942)
• Claude Raymond Anderson 24 Sep 1941 - 28 Mar 1942
• † John Hector Russell MacDonald 20 Oct - 11 Nov 1941
• Edgar Paul Siebner 15 Nov - 30 Dec 1941
• William Boyd Griffiths 15 - 18 Nov 1941 & 29 Nov - 8 Dec 1941
• Stanley Upton Hammond 15 Nov - 29 Dec 1941
• † Wallace Nelson McLauchlan 23 Nov 1941 - 22 May 1942
• Stanley Rudolph Jarvis 22 Dec 1941 - 26 Apr 1942
• Harry Alfred Curtis 31 Dec 1941 - 20 Feb 1942
• John Peter Lewis Rymer 26 Jan - 20 Feb 1942
• Thomas Henry (Tom) Whitehouse 28 Apr - 22 May 1942
• Edward Arthur Sewell 2 - 5 May 1942
• † John Hector Russell MacDonald 18 May - 1 Jun 1942
• John Peter Lewis Rymer 3 - 23 Oct 1942
• Raymond Victor Clough 8 Oct - 5 Nov 1942
• James Gordon (Jock) Wheeler 8 Oct - 31 Dec 1942
• Stephen Charles Southern 9 Oct 1942 - 1 Jan 1943
• Edward Arthur Sewell 12 Nov - 16 Dec 1942

Notes

Information comes from The Unit Guide Volume 6 - The Australian Army 1939-1945, page 6.246, Graham R McKenzie-Smith - Big Sky Publishing - 2018