Lawrence Gerald McDonough
From Our Contribution
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| Personal Information | |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 13 Jan 1910 |
| Place of Birth | Armadale, Western Australia |
| Death | 1 Jan 1960 |
| Place of Death | Victoria |
| Age at Enlistment | 30 years, 2 months |
| Description | 5'11½" (1.82m); dark complexion, hazel eyes, dark hair tall ; ; dark complexion ; hazel eyes ; dark hair |
| Occupation | Truck driver |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
| Address | 33 Napoleon street, Cottesloe, Western Australia |
| Next of Kin | Wife , Mrs Kathleen McDonough |
| Military Information | |
| Reg Number | 16077 (RAAF) & WX16380 (Army) |
| Date of Enlistment | 20 Mar 1940 & 8 Sep 1941 |
| Rank | Driver |
| Unit/Formation | 2/28th Australian Infantry Battalion & No. 1 Aircraft Depot RAAF (Laverton) |
| Military Movement | |
| 1st Departure from Australia | |
| Journey Dates | 6 Sep 1942 ‒ 8 Oct 1942 |
| Transport Details | HMT P4 Fremantle to Middle East |
| Return to Australia | |
| Journey Dates | 24 Jan 1943 ‒ 18 Feb 1943 |
| Transport Details | HMT Queen Mary Port Tewfik to Fremantle |
| 2nd Departure from Australia | |
| Journey Dates | 8 Aug 1943 ‒ 10 Aug 1943 |
| Transport Details | HMAS Manoora Cairns to Milne Bay PNG |
| Return to Australia | |
| Journey Dates | 12 Mar 1944 ‒ 19 Mar 1944 |
| Transport Details | HMT Katoomba Buna, PNG to Townsville |
| Post War Details | |
| Fate | Returned to Australia |
| Medals |
1939-45 Star Africa Star Pacific Star War Medal 1939-45 Australian Service Medal 1939-45 |
Pre War
Electoral Roll entry: 1936 at 47 Woodbridge terrace, Midland Junction, labourer
War Service
Lawrence enlisted with the RAAF on 20 Mar 1940 in Perth at the No. 4 RAAF Recruiting Centre as an Aircraft Hand Technical and three days later he was sent to the No. 1 Recruit Depot RAAF at Laverton, Victoria to undertake basic drill training. At the conclusion of his training course he was posted on 14 Apr 1940 to the No. 4 School of Technical Training RAAF in Adelaide, where he was admitted to hospital from 15 - 26 Apr 1940. Lawrence was again admitted to hospital from 1 - 20 Jul 1940. On 19 Aug 1940 Lawrence was charged with having been AWOL from the school without leave from 9:45am on 19 Aug 1940 until 6:05am 20 Aug 1940. Found guilty, he forfeited the day's pay.
On 26 Aug 1940 he progressed to No. 1 Armament School RAAF at Point Cook where he began a Fitter/Armourer Course. He was granted sick leave from 23 Sep - 6 Oct 1940, and soon after was in trouble, as he was charged with being AWOL from 8:00am on 1 Nov 1940 until 8:00am 4 Nov 1940. He forfeited 3 day's pay and was awarded seven days Confined to Barracks (CB). On 3 Jan 1941, Lawrence was posted to the No. 1 Aircraft Depot RAAF at Laverton, Victoria to undertake a 'Fitter General' Course. There he was again AWOL, this time from 8:00am on 21 Feb 1941 until 8:00am on 24 Feb 1941. Another 3 day's pay was forfeited and he was awarded another 7 days CB. On 4 Apr 1941 at Laverton he was charged with using insubordinate language to a superior officer. He was found guilty and sentenced to 168 hours of detention. However, he was again admitted to hospital from 10 - 12 Mar 1941, leading to him being discharged from the RAAF on 8 Jun 1941 as being Medically unfit for further service.
He appears to have returned to Western Australia, as his enlistment in the Army on 8 Sep 1941 was from an address in Cottesloe. A week after enlisting in the army he was allotted to the 2/10th Australian Armoured Regiment at Northam camp.
On 23 Nov 1941 he and his unit were transferred to Victoria. There on 5 Dec 1941 he was charged with Conduct to the prejudice of good order and Military discipline. The next day he was charged with failing to appear at a place of parade. The penalty for each of the two offences was 3 days confined to barracks. On 14 Dec 1941 he was admitted to the 107th Australian General Hospital in Puckapunyal with an infection and remained with them for a week, being discharged to his unit on 17 Dec 1941. On 28 Dec 1941 he was posted to the 2/2nd Independent Light Tank Squadron at Foster, Victoria. During February 1942 he was hospitalised in the Foster Camp Hospital with an in-growing toenail. Lawrence was AWOL from midday 4 Mar 1942 to 10:30am 5 Mar 1942 earning him 7 days confined to barracks. He was AWOL again from 11:00am until 1:30pm on 28 Mar 1942, earning a £1 fine, and then on 24 Apr 1942 he was AWOL from 11:15 am until 2:10pm. In addition he was charged with Neglecting to obey Standing Orders by delaying his return to the unit, and for leaving his vehicle unattended. This time he was fined £2.
On 25 May 1942 he was transferred back to Western Australia, to the Recruit Training Battalion. Following training and a week's leave he was posted to the 2/28th Battalion's reinforcements on 17 Jul 1942, and on 6 Sep 1942 he boarded HMT P4, a ship in Convoy US 16 for the Middle East where he disembarked on 8 Oct 1942. Sent to the Staging Camp on arrival he was taken on strength by the 2/28th Australian Infantry Battalion on 5 Nov 1942, and the next day joined them in a rest position following the end of the Battle of El Alamein. His ingrowing toe nail was again a problem in need of medical attention on 10 Nov 1942 when he was admitted to the 2/3rd Australian Field Ambulance. He rejoined the battalion a fortnight later on 24 Nov 1942. On 16 Dec 1942 his NOK was changed to his daughter Ida who was then living at 229 Cambridge street, Wembley.
On 24 Jan 1943 the battalion embarked on HMT Queen Mary for Fremantle. The Operation Pamphlet convoy comprised HMT Queen Mary, HMT Aquitania, SS Île de France, SS Nieuw Amsterdam, and HMT Queen of Bermuda. Port Tewfik couldn't handle them all at once so in sequence they loaded, sailed down the Red Sea to Massawa where they anchored until all of the convoy had loaded. The Queen Mary, also carrying the 2/32nd Battalion was there for a week before it was able to set sail for Australia. Rather than travel via Colombo as expected by the troops, the ships set a course for the central Indian Ocean and on 9 Feb 1943 entered what was then known as Port T, a secret naval base unknown to the Japanese in the Addu Atoll, the southernmost land of the Maldives. On 10 Feb the convoy set sail for Fremantle, arriving there on 18 Feb 1943 and disembarked the Western Australian troops. Following leave, they entrained for South Australia on 13 Apr 1943 as the first stage of a journey to north Queensland.
Soon after arriving in Queensland, Lawrence was transferred to the 9th Australian Infantry Division Carrier Company on 31 May 1943, where on 1 Jul 1943 he was granted proficiency pay. On 8 Aug 1943 Lawrence embarked with his unit in Cairns on HMAS Manoora for Milne Bay in Papua New Guinea where they disembarked on 10 Aug 1943. On 13 Oct 1943 Lawrence was admitted to the 4th Australian Field Ambulance with malaria and on 18 Oct 1943 he was transferred to the care of the 111th Australian Casualty Clearing Station. On 25 Oct 1943 he was moved to the 7th Division's Reception Camp, and he rejoined his unit on 8 Nov 1943. Four days later he was seen by the 2/3rd Australian Casualty Clearing Station with dermatitis. On 16 Nov 1943 they sent him on to the 2/9th Australian General Hospital near Port Moresby, who on 22 Nov 1943 changed his diagnosis to diarrhoea and following treatment discharged him on 10 Dec 1943 to the base depot. On 13 Dec 1943 he rejoined his unit, but only for 4 days before he was admitted to the 2/8th Australian General Hospital with an infection - fibrositis of the neck. On 22 Dec 1943 he was discharged to the 1st Australian Corps Reception Camp.
On 12 Mar 1944 Lawrence embarked on HMT Katoomba at Buna for Townsville, where he disembarked on 19 Mar 1944. Granted leave he travelled to Victoria, where Lawrence married his second wife Elizabeth Mary McCarthy on 10 May 1944. Elizabeth was living at 94 Westbury street, St Kilda. Back with his unit which was in the process of disbanding, he was AWOL from 8:00am on 23 May until 8:00am on 30 May 1944. Admonished, he automatically forfeited 7 days pay.
With the disbanding of the 9th Division's Carrier Company he was sent to rejoin the 2/28th Australian Infantry Battalion on 15 Jul 1944. Two days later he was admitted to the 2/2nd Australian General Hospital with a Double Radical Antrostomy. (Sinus surgery). On 20 Aug 1944 he was discharged from the hospital to the 9th Division's Reception Camp, but on 8 Sep 1944 he was admitted to the 2/6th Australian General Hospital with sinusitis, rejoining his unit on 14 Sep 1944. On 9 Oct 1944 Lawrence was AWOL from 6:30am until 8:00pm earning himself a £1 fine and the loss of a days pay. Medical staff of the 2/28th Battalion organised a medical review, and, on 27 Oct 1944 his health status was reclassified as B2. He transferred to the 16th Australian Personnel Staging Camp for reallocation on 10 Nov 1944.
On 3 Dec 1944 Lawrence joined the 2/1st Base Workshops, and on 12 Jan 1945 he was admitted to the 115th Australian Base Hospital at Heidelberg while on leave. He remained with them until 15 Feb 1945 when he returned to 2/1st Base Workshops with his medical status reclassified as 'B2', but immediately transferred to the Victorian General Duties Depot. During his hospital stay he had been AWOL from 5:00pm on 10 February until 2:15pm on the next day. Admonished he had forfeited a day's pay. Lawrence was discharged on medical grounds - sinusitis with bronchial asthma on 28 Mar 1945.
Post War
Electoral Roll entries: 1949 - 1954 at 24 Moore street Coburg, driver.
Notes
Lawrence's Africa Star came with the 8th Army Clasp.
The fate of his first wife Kathleen is unknown, although a Kathleen Yvonne McDonough died on 19 Dec 1996 aged 74 in Wilson, WA. A second (?) Marriage in Victoria to Elizabeth Mary McCarthy is registered in 1944.