Community rights WWII wrong

TREVOR Bennett is a man on a mission and that is to correct an oversight by the Narooma community many years ago.

“We must be one of only a few communities in Australia that doesn’t have an honour roll for our veterans from the Second World War,” Trevor Bennett said.

“Joe Thomsen and I tried to do it in the 1980s, and then Narooma Historical Society through Col Preston tried to do it in the late 1990s, but on both occasions the idea met with some surprising opposition.

“Now we’ve joined forces and we are determined to correct this oversight.

“Later on we’ll compile additional honour rolls for subsequent conflicts.”

Mr Bennett had been well underway compiling a list when he found out these records were now online.

“Computerised records made it easier to determine which servicemen and women were born in the Narooma district (Corunna north to Stony Creek), were living in Narooma at the time they enlisted, or enlisted in Narooma,” he said.

“We were also able to find out who was in the Volunteer Defence Force.

“We’ve come up with 156 names of servicemen and women and 63 names for the Volunteer Defence Force.” See attached list.

He said one concern in the past has been the fear of missing someone, “but at the moment we’re missing over 200 names and that’s something we have to fix”.

Computerised records now meant it was less likely anyone would be missed.

Historical Society President Susan Pryke said the Department of Veterans’ Affairs has guidelines for compiling regional honour rolls.

“Basically they state it’s up to the project instigators to determine what categories should be included,” she said.

“Our members believe this long overdue acknowledgement of the sacrifice and effort of our local veterans should include all 219 names, but we would like to hear from the wider community.”

Narooma RSL Sub-Branch President Paul Naylor supports Trevor’s and the Historical Society’s initiative, adding the honour roll should be located at the clock tower war memorial in the centre of town.

Mr Bennett thinks that is the appropriate location, especially since he and Joe Thomsen were involved in building that memorial. “It’s important our honour roll is in a public place,” he said.

The town’s honour roll for the First World War is on the front of Narooma School of Arts & War Memorial Hall (Kinema) which was where Anzac Day was commemorated each year until the mid 1970s.

Please contact Trevor Bennett (4476 1262) if you have any corrections or additions to the accompanying list for the Second World War, bearing in mind the person had to have been born in the Narooma district, lived here at the time of enlistment, or enlisted in Narooma.

The proposal is that the honour roll would also include a statement along the lines of: “We also honour those who supported the war effort by working in essential industries and all those in our community who ‘kept the home fires burning’.”

Narooma District Honour Roll – Second World War

* Died in War   # PoW

Anderson, John J S

Anderson, Roger J

Barclay, Grace B

Barker, Brian T

Bellette, Lawrence C

Bellette, Reginald G

Bettini, Charles H

Bettini, John N

Birch, Robert L

Bolton, Arthur L F

Bolton, Roy C

Bond, Maxwell T

Breust, Ivan G

Brice, Harry N

Brice, Jeff H

Brown, Harold A

Campbell, James WY

Campbell, John D

Canty, Frank A

Christensen, Elwyn N

Codd, Kenneth C

Codrington, Ronald L

Cole, Lorna E

Cole, Norman L

Coles, Alan C

Coles, Eric

Coles, Horace E

Coles, Iris J

Coles, John W

Coles, Keith

Coles, Leonard K

Coles, Marjorie

Coles, Maxwell L

Collie, Russell G

Constable, Allan J

Constable, Claude F

Constable, Hazel M

Cork, Trevor

Costin, Harry E

Cowgill, Maurice

Craig, Harold R

Crapp, James S

Donnelly, Colin B

Dowton, Ernest A

Durbidge, Vincent C

Ebzery, Thomas

Face, Royston H

Field, Clifford W

Flanagan, Henry J*

Flanagan, William J

Fordyce, William

Fuller, Cyril R

Gidley, Frederick M

Golding, Walter F E

Goodridge, Tom S

Gould, David E*#

Grumley, Norman A

Grumley, Thomas J

Guy, Jack B

Hanscom, Robert G

Hansen, Charles J

Hansen, Mark

Hare, George Ernest

Hare, John E

Harper, Geoffrey W

Harper, Vincent

Herd, Milton L

Hulley, Arthur S

Hulley, John H

Hyland, John E

Hyland, William J

James, Elsie M

James, Harold E

Jary, Raymond

Jones, Reginald K

Jones, T W

Krestensen, John M

Lamb, Robson L

Latimer, Kenneth R

Lawson, Alwyn A

Loader, David C

Loader, George W

Long, Walter H

Mair, Ray G

Manning, Norman C

Martin, Ted B

McKinnon, Ernest R

McLean, Frank G

McMahon, Francis E

McMillan, Robert L*

Mealing, Donald W

Milligan, Roland T

Mills, Raymond D

Mitchell, Harry E

Morris, Frederick

Morris, John

Motbey, John D

Murray, David G A

Murray, Harold N

Nichelsen, Colin F

O'Cass, Albert W

O'Cass, Eric C

O'Cass, George E

O'Connell, Alexande V

O'Shea, Brian K

Owen, Cecil A

Owen, Stanley, D

Payne, John R

Payne, Joseph A

Perkins, Jack

Perkins, Leslie E

Perry. John S B

Pheeney, Hazel A

Pollock, John J

Raymond, Jack

Reynolds, Edna G

Riley, Eric

Riley, Maud M

Rogers, Robert

Rose, Edwin J

Russell, Ivy J

Russell, John A

Senior, Lilian

Shepherd, George

Sly, Neville J

Smith, Robert M

Snell, Robert H

Stapleton, Vincent R

Stephens, Milton

Stewart, James

Taylor, Reginald J

Tebb, Arthur R

Thomsen, Joseph

Thomsen, Keith

Thomsen, Neta

Thornton, Laurence E

Tinson, Harold J

Tober, Albert C

Tober, Mary J

Tober, Patrick J

Toms, Amy E

Travis, Basil

Travis, Jasper

Travis, Sydney C

Wallace, Fred

Ward, Henry W

Weeks, Lawrence W

White, Elsie M

Willcocks, G Arnim

Wills, Stanley

Wilson, Geoffrey

Wilson, Herbert D

Winley, Nicholas G

Wintle, James W

Wintle, Kevin A

Wise, Ernest A

Woollett, Vernon V

Woollett, Victor E W

Wright, Eric C

Wright, Stanley J

Wrightson, Raymond G

Young, George J

Volunteer Defence Corps

Annis, Arthur E

Armitage. Francis B

Baker, Henry A

Barker, George D

Barker, Raymond

Barker, Roy O

Bate, Jack G

Bate, Richard C P

Bayliss, Alick

Bellette, Hilary C

Birmingham, Ambrose

Blanchfield, Herbert D

Carr, Andrew J S

Coles, William T

Cooper, James D

Costin, Harry J

Crapp, Austin N

Crapp, Essil

Cumes, Harry

Easdown, William T

Ellis, Harold H

Field, Arthur J

Flood, Andrew

Flood, Patrick E

Fookes, Robert H

Goodridge, William

Grumley, Sydney C

Hardy-Smith, Harold

Hare, Ernest F

Hibel, Victor B

King, Arthur J

King, James

Lavis, James E

Law, Robert B

Lawler, Albert D

Mace, John

Manning, William C

Marsden, John G

Martin, Arthur J

MacGillivrey, Angus B

McDonald, John O

McNaught, Charles D

Meaker, Hector I

Middleton, Roy E

Mitchell, Henry G W

Morris, Charlie

Napthali, Ernest F

Negus, Ralph L

O'Suillivan, George F

O'Toole, Hugh S

Owen, Arthur H

Pankhurst, Allan E

Pope, Ernest V

Randall, V

Riley, Matthew

Riley, William G

Rose, Kenneth M

Southam, Donald

Sruhan, Arthur H

Stubbs, Edgar H

Thomsen, Richard

Williams, Griffith L

Willis, Keith A

Wintle, Vivian W

Young, Eric S