Yure Unkovich

Yure Unkovich

Personal Information
Date of Birth	1 Apr 1910
Place of Birth	Racisce, Korcula, Yugoslavia (now Croatia)
Death	29 Mar 1943
Place of Death	Perth, Western Australia
Age at Enlistment	32 years
Address	Byford, Western Australia
Next of Kin	Father , Mr. Nick Unkovich
Military Information
Reg Number	W61913
Date of Enlistment	26 Mar 1942
Rank	Private
Unit/Formation	12th Australian Employment Company
Post War Details
Fate	Remained in Australia
Monument(s)	WA State War Memorial
Australian War Memorial	Australian War Memorial

Pre War

At time of enlistment, Yure worked at teh State Brickworks in Byford.

War Service

On 26 Mar 1942 Yure signed on and was allocated to he 11th Australian Labour Company (Alien). On 11 Jun 1942 he was called up for full time duty. On 23 Jun 1942 he reported to the RAP at Naval Base, but was back with his unit the following day. On 13 Jul 1942 he was charged with 1) Disobeying a lawful command given by his superior officer (Award was a fine of 10/- [$1]) and 2) Conduct of the prejudice of Good order and Military Discipline (award was a fine of 10/- [$1]). On 21 Aug 1942 he was detached to the 3rd Australian Corp Training School at Harvey, returning to his unit on 24 Dec 1942. Charged with being AWOL from 2:00pm on 11 Jan 1943 until 6:15pm the same day, he was also charged with being Drunk. Awarded a fine of 10/- ($1).

On 18 Jan 1943 he was again detached to the 3rd Australian Corp Training School. There on 8 Mar 1943 he was charged with having been AWOL from 6:00am on 7 March until mid-day on 8 March. This time he was fined £5 and lost 2 days pay. On 29 Mar 1943 he was struck of strength - deceased and initially buried in the Harvey War Cemetery. However, on 25 mar 1944 he was reinterred in the Karrakatta War Cemetery. A Court of Enquiry into his death had its report promulgated on 1 Jun 1943. However no details are included in his records with his death officially determined to be as a result of an accident (which was not reported in a newspaper of the time)..

DEATHS On Service UNKOVICH.— Died result of accident, at Perth, March 29, W61913 Pte George, beloved son of Mr. and Mrs. N. Unkovich, 25 Evans street, Boulder, loving brother and uncle of Mr. and Mrs. A. Unkovich and family, Southern Cross, Mr. and Mrs. L. Unkovich and family, Lakewood. Deeply Mourned by All. UNKOVICH.— Died result of accident, March 29, W61913 Pte George, loving cousin of Mr. and Mrs. Ivan Unkovich of 338 Forrest street, Boulder. Deeply Mourned.

The 'West Australian' on Thursday 15 April 1943, a full 17 days later, published an Army Casualty List which included under the heading Australia and the Islands, the entry 'Unkovich, Pte Y., Byford (Inf.) Died of Injuries Accidentally Received.' Yure's death date was 29 Mar 1943.

Notes

During the period 1939 - 1945 some unit names changed more than once. In the case of Australian Employment Companies they were also known as Works Companies, Labour Companies, Labour Units, Labour Corps. For sake of consistency I have adopted the term Employment Company. The role they played did not change with title. They were established to ensure that the Australian Defence Force had a large force of soldiers dedicated to essential labouring tasks, providing the physical labour needed to maintain the war effort and support the fighting forces.

Of the total of 39 Companies, 11 were part or fully manned by non British citizens known then as 'aliens'. These alien companies were not issued with arms. The 12th Company was one of them, raised in WA but later moving to Queensland.

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  Perth War Cemetery at Karrakatta
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