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| thomas_lodge_murray-prior_and_his_siblings [2025/01/25 15:19] – judith | thomas_lodge_murray-prior_and_his_siblings [2025/04/27 12:56] (current) – judith |
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| When World War II broke out, he attempted to join the Royal Australian Air Force but was rejected due to colour blindness. On 8 May 1940 he enlisted in the 2/1st Australian Anti-Aircraft Regiment. On enlisting he gave his occupation as 'sugar cane student' and that he had military experience with the Kings School cadets.(({{https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=4852020}})) Stan's unit embarked on the //[[wiki>SS_Orcades_(1937)|Orcades]]// from [[wiki>Suez_Port|Port Tewfik]], Egypt as part of the force code named as 'Stepsister', which was the subject of heated arguments between Churchill and Curtin about the deployment of Australian forces returning from the Middle East.((E.B. Starrett, 1994, 'The force code named 'Stepsister', //Reveille//, September/October, p.10.)) Eventually Curtin won the argument and the //Orcades// was tasked to offload troops to defend Indonesia. The //Orcades// was off the southern tip of Sumatra on Friday 13 February 1942 (Stan's 27th birthday) without sighting or being attacked by Japanese planes. On the 15th, units including two troops of the 2/1st Light AA, one of which was Stan’s, were disembarked via a small coastal vessel and landed at Telukbetung (now called [[wiki>Bandar_Lampung|Bandar Lampung]]) in southern Sumatra. They were tasked to defend the airfield at [[wiki>Palembang|Palembang]] (some 500 km by rail) north of the port. Fortunately they were notified that evening that the airfield had already been captured and were extremely lucky to be able to reboard the //Orcades// (which had seen their [[wiki>Signal_lamp|Aldis lamp]] signals and so had not left) on the morning of the 16th. They reached Batavia (now [[wiki>Jakarta|Jakarta]]) on 17th, where units began disembarking for the defence of Java. Once again, luckily for Stan's regiment, as they began disembarking on the 19th, they were notified to stay aboard; they later learned that Darwin had been bombed that day and their unit was needed to provide air defence for Darwin.To avoid Japanese submarines, the //Orcades// took Stan and his unit down the Western Australian coast and across the Great Australian Bight; they disembarked in Adelaide. After time at Darwin and the [[wiki>Atherton,_Queensland|Atherton Tablelands]], his unit was involved in the invasion of Borneo, landing at Balikpapan in what is now East ([[wiki>Kalimantan|Kalimantan]]). At that time, Stan held the rank of Warrant Officer (Class 2). He was demobilised on 14 January 1946.\\ | When World War II broke out, he attempted to join the Royal Australian Air Force but was rejected due to colour blindness. On 8 May 1940 he enlisted in the 2/1st Australian Anti-Aircraft Regiment. On enlisting he gave his occupation as 'sugar cane student' and that he had military experience with the Kings School cadets.(({{https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=4852020}})) Stan's unit embarked on the //[[wiki>SS_Orcades_(1937)|Orcades]]// from [[wiki>Suez_Port|Port Tewfik]], Egypt as part of the force code named as 'Stepsister', which was the subject of heated arguments between Churchill and Curtin about the deployment of Australian forces returning from the Middle East.((E.B. Starrett, 1994, 'The force code named 'Stepsister', //Reveille//, September/October, p.10.)) Eventually Curtin won the argument and the //Orcades// was tasked to offload troops to defend Indonesia. The //Orcades// was off the southern tip of Sumatra on Friday 13 February 1942 (Stan's 27th birthday) without sighting or being attacked by Japanese planes. On the 15th, units including two troops of the 2/1st Light AA, one of which was Stan’s, were disembarked via a small coastal vessel and landed at Telukbetung (now called [[wiki>Bandar_Lampung|Bandar Lampung]]) in southern Sumatra. They were tasked to defend the airfield at [[wiki>Palembang|Palembang]] (some 500 km by rail) north of the port. Fortunately they were notified that evening that the airfield had already been captured and were extremely lucky to be able to reboard the //Orcades// (which had seen their [[wiki>Signal_lamp|Aldis lamp]] signals and so had not left) on the morning of the 16th. They reached Batavia (now [[wiki>Jakarta|Jakarta]]) on 17th, where units began disembarking for the defence of Java. Once again, luckily for Stan's regiment, as they began disembarking on the 19th, they were notified to stay aboard; they later learned that Darwin had been bombed that day and their unit was needed to provide air defence for Darwin.To avoid Japanese submarines, the //Orcades// took Stan and his unit down the Western Australian coast and across the Great Australian Bight; they disembarked in Adelaide. After time at Darwin and the [[wiki>Atherton,_Queensland|Atherton Tablelands]], his unit was involved in the invasion of Borneo, landing at Balikpapan in what is now East ([[wiki>Kalimantan|Kalimantan]]). At that time, Stan held the rank of Warrant Officer (Class 2). He was demobilised on 14 January 1946.\\ |
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| Stan returned to far north Queensland, where he was thought to have bought a corner store in Bunda Street, Cairns. His children recall him talking about the people coming in to buy their packet of Bex every day: [addiction to this medicine caused kidney failure], that was why he would never allow 'headache' powders in the house. Facing competition from Coles and disillusioned by dishonest customers, he sold the shop and, it is thought, moved to Munro Estate to work with Richard Percival (Percy) Rudkin (a former Sergeant in the 5th Light Horse), who introduced him to his niece, Betty Rudkin. Betty's father was Thomas Sidney (Sid) Rudkin, 3rd Battalion, 1st AIF and later manager of Nyngan and Temora Agricultural Farms for the NSW Department of Agriculture. It appears that Betty's father, Sid, may have met Stan's father, Thomas Bertram M-P, as Betty remembers her father telling the family he met a man with one eye who was riding a horse, while they were holidaying in Leura. Stan purchased a cane farm on the north-eastern bank of the Josephine Creek bridge, Pawngilly (near [[wiki>Innisfail,_Queensland|Innisfail]]). He and Betty were married in a small ceremony at St Albans Anglican Church, Innisfail on 1 December 1951. Later they purchased another farm, diagonally across, on the south-western bank of the Josephine. They sold the farms in 1973 and moved to Pin Gin Hill outside of Innisfail, where Stan had various jobs until he died in a level crossing smash with a cane train outside of Innisfail on the 1 August 1994. Betty later moved to Cairns, staying at Heritage Gardens Retirement Village in Earlville, Cairns before moving to Farnorah Residential Aged Care, Cairns. She died on 28 May 2017 in Cairns Hospital following an operation to mend a fractured femur. Stan was an active member of the local Babinda and Bartle Frere community. He was a foundation member of the Babinda RSL, the Babinda Memorial Hall Committee and the Babinda Show Association, all of which involved active participation of RSL members. He held various executive roles in all these and was also an active member of [[http://www.legacy.com.au|Legacy]].\\ | Stan returned to far north Queensland, where he bought a corner store in Bunda Street, Cairns. A Christmas card from him to his Aunt Gracie in 1947 has his address as 153 Bunda Street, Cairns.((Rosa Praed papers MSS8386, Box 18, item 2256?)) His children recall him talking about the people coming in to buy their packet of Bex every day: [addiction to this medicine caused kidney failure], that was why he would never allow 'headache' powders in the house. Facing competition from Coles and disillusioned by dishonest customers, he sold the shop and, it is thought, moved to Munro Estate to work with Richard Percival (Percy) Rudkin (a former Sergeant in the 5th Light Horse), who introduced him to his niece, Betty Rudkin. Betty's father was Thomas Sidney (Sid) Rudkin, 3rd Battalion, 1st AIF and later manager of Nyngan and Temora Agricultural Farms for the NSW Department of Agriculture. It appears that Betty's father, Sid, may have met Stan's father, Thomas Bertram M-P, as Betty remembers her father telling the family he met a man with one eye who was riding a horse, while they were holidaying in Leura. Stan purchased a cane farm on the north-eastern bank of the Josephine Creek bridge, Pawngilly (near [[wiki>Innisfail,_Queensland|Innisfail]]). He and Betty were married in a small ceremony at St Albans Anglican Church, Innisfail on 1 December 1951. Later they purchased another farm, diagonally across, on the south-western bank of the Josephine. They sold the farms in 1973 and moved to Pin Gin Hill outside of Innisfail, where Stan had various jobs until he died in a level crossing smash with a cane train outside of Innisfail on the 1 August 1994. Betty later moved to Cairns, staying at Heritage Gardens Retirement Village in Earlville, Cairns before moving to Farnorah Residential Aged Care, Cairns. She died on 28 May 2017 in Cairns Hospital following an operation to mend a fractured femur. Stan was an active member of the local Babinda and Bartle Frere community. He was a foundation member of the Babinda RSL, the Babinda Memorial Hall Committee and the Babinda Show Association, all of which involved active participation of RSL members. He held various executive roles in all these and was also an active member of [[http://www.legacy.com.au|Legacy]].\\ |
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| Stan and Betty had a son and daughter both of whom married; the latter has three children. His daughter-in-law’s parents had experience in war that echoed much of Stan’s. William (Bill) O'Connor enlisted in the 2/2 Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment and Ellen O’Connor (nee Woods) in the 2/2nd Australian General Hospital, with both serving in the Middle East. In a twist of fate, Ellen was also in the 'Stepsister' force, travelling back from the Middle East. Her unit was offloaded in Java, only to be re-embarked and returned to Australia because their transport ship (to move the hospital) had been captured.\\ | Stan and Betty had a son and daughter both of whom married; the latter has three children. His daughter-in-law’s parents had experience in war that echoed much of Stan’s. William (Bill) O'Connor enlisted in the 2/2 Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment and Ellen O’Connor (nee Woods) in the 2/2nd Australian General Hospital, with both serving in the Middle East. In a twist of fate, Ellen was also in the 'Stepsister' force, travelling back from the Middle East. Her unit was offloaded in Java, only to be re-embarked and returned to Australia because their transport ship (to move the hospital) had been captured.\\ |