Hi all..just got a question..my grandfather served in the 27th Australian War Graves Unit, and i have been trying to find out information on the unit..i have hardly found any material on the Australian War Memorial Site(http://www.awm.gov.au), and i was wondering if any of you on this site know any information on the unit or could point me in the right direction. He later served in the British Commonwealth Occupation Force in Japan.
Thanks
#RP#
I'm still trying to find his diaries, but my mother told me something briefly on how he found the wreckage of an American aircraft in the jungle, and on the remains of the pilot he found a ring with the pilots initials on it. After the war he sent the ring back to the pilots mother, and they became pretty good friends, and when my mum and her brother were born she sent 2 enormous "teddy bears" over from the states......thought i would post this reflection...
Australian Unit
http://www.ww2roll.gov.au/doc/contacts.asp#ww2nr
http://www.rsl.org.au/email.html
Central Army Records Office
Soldier Career Management Agency
General Enquires
GPO Box 393D
Melbourne
Victoria 3001
MB
http://www.rsl.org.au/email.html
Central Army Records Office
Soldier Career Management Agency
General Enquires
GPO Box 393D
Melbourne
Victoria 3001
MB
-
Michael Tapner
- Member
- Posts: 82
- Joined: 24 May 2004, 02:06
- Location: Sydney, Australia
the Australians did have Engineer units, but not Pioneer units. I know that he served in supply depots during 1939-1940, and then when he was transferred to Papua New Guinea he was transferred to the 27th Australian War Graves Unit.
thats all the info i have at the moment.
#RP#
Anzac,
First off, you may like to take a trip to the Australian War Memorial Archives. They have a diary for your Grandad's unit. Keep in mind that you will need to book the file several days (or at least a week) before your visit so they can have the file retrieved for you as the archives are off site.
Here is the file you want:
27th War Graves Unit Whole Unit Diary, Sep 45 - July 46.
Series Number: AWM52
Barcode Number: 976579
Control Symbol: 21/2/28
The file is open and available and has been since the 13th May 1993
Take a note pad and pencil and a bunch of coins if you want to do some photocopying. The diaries make for interesting reading. They will give you some information as to what the unit was formed from, number of men allocated to the unit, where they were stationed and any findings. There should be 1 large page per month. It will also say what happened to the men when the unit was disbanded.
Alternatively you can pay a great deal of money to the AWM and they will photocopy the item for you and post it to you.
As for Australian pioneer units, the Australians had 5 pioneer battalions in the Pacific: 2/1st, 2/2nd, 2/3rd, 2/4th and 20th. The 2/1st was the first unit to be assigned to New Guinea with Jungle Green uniforms rather than desert brown. The 2/2 and 2/4th were converted into beach group units to provide specialist assistance during amphibious invasions. The 2/2nd was, if I recall correctly the only army unit lost in the fighting in Malaya/NEI that was replaced, being rebuilt in mid 1942 in NSW. The 20th is famous for providing soldiers for mid 45 war movies and 'live action' shots. All filmed on the leafy protected north shore of Sydney several thousand miles from any sort of action. Sources: Volumes 4-7 Australian Army OH's.
thats all the info i have at the moment.
#RP#
Anzac,
First off, you may like to take a trip to the Australian War Memorial Archives. They have a diary for your Grandad's unit. Keep in mind that you will need to book the file several days (or at least a week) before your visit so they can have the file retrieved for you as the archives are off site.
Here is the file you want:
27th War Graves Unit Whole Unit Diary, Sep 45 - July 46.
Series Number: AWM52
Barcode Number: 976579
Control Symbol: 21/2/28
The file is open and available and has been since the 13th May 1993
Take a note pad and pencil and a bunch of coins if you want to do some photocopying. The diaries make for interesting reading. They will give you some information as to what the unit was formed from, number of men allocated to the unit, where they were stationed and any findings. There should be 1 large page per month. It will also say what happened to the men when the unit was disbanded.
Alternatively you can pay a great deal of money to the AWM and they will photocopy the item for you and post it to you.
As for Australian pioneer units, the Australians had 5 pioneer battalions in the Pacific: 2/1st, 2/2nd, 2/3rd, 2/4th and 20th. The 2/1st was the first unit to be assigned to New Guinea with Jungle Green uniforms rather than desert brown. The 2/2 and 2/4th were converted into beach group units to provide specialist assistance during amphibious invasions. The 2/2nd was, if I recall correctly the only army unit lost in the fighting in Malaya/NEI that was replaced, being rebuilt in mid 1942 in NSW. The 20th is famous for providing soldiers for mid 45 war movies and 'live action' shots. All filmed on the leafy protected north shore of Sydney several thousand miles from any sort of action. Sources: Volumes 4-7 Australian Army OH's.
-
Michael Tapner
- Member
- Posts: 82
- Joined: 24 May 2004, 02:06
- Location: Sydney, Australia
Anzac,
Go to this link:
http://www.awm.gov.au/contact/index.htm#research_centre
then look for the third heading down in the main body of the page entitled "Research Centre". To the right of this is the general email address.
Send them off an email about the file you are after. Quote the Series number, control symbol and title. Barcode is only relevant if something has been mislabelled - which does occasionally happen.
They will be able to tell you all sorts of useful information - normally it takes a few days - about how big the article is in pages.
If possible I would recommend taking a look yourself as if they do the photocopying for you, the person who does the copying does not do it as well as you would. The writing may be faded, or the original pages are larger than A4 and they cut off half of each page. Finally allocate more time than you think you will need.
Finally if you are going to go and visit them, you will want to register with the national Australian Archives. It will save time on the day of your visit! You can do this by following the right options here:
http://www.naa.gov.au/
and clicking on the 'Record search' tab on the left. Keep in mind that the Natinal Australian Archives are NOT in the same location as the Australian War Memorial Archives. As your file is part of the AWM files (as you can tell by the serial number, you will need to go to the AWM.
The NAA site is the best web site to look up unit records. in the item space type up the unit and the words 'whole diary'. Select the time frame of WWII and all the records will pop up
Good Luck!
Go to this link:
http://www.awm.gov.au/contact/index.htm#research_centre
then look for the third heading down in the main body of the page entitled "Research Centre". To the right of this is the general email address.
Send them off an email about the file you are after. Quote the Series number, control symbol and title. Barcode is only relevant if something has been mislabelled - which does occasionally happen.
They will be able to tell you all sorts of useful information - normally it takes a few days - about how big the article is in pages.
If possible I would recommend taking a look yourself as if they do the photocopying for you, the person who does the copying does not do it as well as you would. The writing may be faded, or the original pages are larger than A4 and they cut off half of each page. Finally allocate more time than you think you will need.
Finally if you are going to go and visit them, you will want to register with the national Australian Archives. It will save time on the day of your visit! You can do this by following the right options here:
http://www.naa.gov.au/
and clicking on the 'Record search' tab on the left. Keep in mind that the Natinal Australian Archives are NOT in the same location as the Australian War Memorial Archives. As your file is part of the AWM files (as you can tell by the serial number, you will need to go to the AWM.
The NAA site is the best web site to look up unit records. in the item space type up the unit and the words 'whole diary'. Select the time frame of WWII and all the records will pop up
Good Luck!