ABSON, Keith Oswald Clyde
| Service Number: | VX21285 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 3 June 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd Mobile Entertainment Section |
| Born: | Yarraville, Victoria, Australia, 11 June 1912 |
| Home Town: | Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Ferntree Gully, Victoria, Australia, 29 September 1988, aged 76 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Emerald (Avonsleigh) Cemetery, Victoria |
| Memorials: |
World War 2 Service
| 3 Jun 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Private, VX21285 | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Oct 1940: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Private, VX21285, 2nd/5th Field Ambulance, ex Melbourne for Middle East | |
| 26 Dec 1944: | Transferred Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Private, 2nd Mobile Entertainment Section, 11 Australian Concert Party - New Guinea | |
| 27 May 1945: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Private, VX21285, 2nd Mobile Entertainment Section, Australian Entertainment Unit - 11 Australian Concert Party | |
| 27 Aug 1945: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Private, VX21285 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Keith was the fourth of six children of Albert Burridge Abson (b1880 in Mt Korong, Victoria) and first wife Jane Ann Oats (b1889 in Melbourne, Victoria). Albert - a Photographer - and Jane married in 1906 at Wdderburn in the Grampians, Victoria. They settled in the region and raised their family - Albert later became a Watchmaker. Following Jane's death in 1921, Albert remarried and had a further four children.
Keith left school at 13 years of age and worked as a Farm Labourer to help feed the family. Keith wrote in his Biography 'The Magician Dreams' that those years taught him 'to be tough and sleep out in all weathers and go without food, and travel and mix with all sorts of people and how to entertain those people in all sorts of conditions'. He joined 'The Incomparable Sloggetts' - travelling caravan-magicians, keeping a scrabook of articles, photographs, letters and guidance notes on how to perform magic tricks - the scrapbook went everywhere with him, including the Middle East and New Guinea when he was serving in the Australian Army.
In 1939 keith married Mavis Thomson Smart (b1912 in Ararat, Victoria) - Mavis was a Clerk. In June 1940 Keith enlisted with the Australian Army (Private; Service No:VX21285) and served with 2/5th Field Ambulance in the Middle East (20 October 1940 - 28 March 1942). He was in New Guinea (10 August 1942 - 6 February 1944) when he transferred to the Australian Entertainment Unit 11 Concert Party, and was part of the New Guinea Magic Convention. Keith was Discharged in 1945. Brothers Colin Reginald (Leading Aircraftman; Service No:18523) and Ralph Theodore Clifford (Private; Service No:D301335) served in WWII as did Brothers-in-Law Lionel William Thomson Smart (Private: Service No:VX21876), Stuart Henry Thomson Smart (Private; Service No:NX34281) and William John Downie (Leading Aircraftman; Service No:59750).
Returning from the War, Keith travelled Australia-wide with his magic show 'The Palace of Magic' and was involved in numerous magic clubs. In the 1970s he was President of the Australian Magicians' Club and wrote 'Harlan's Magic Circle' and 'The Magician's Dreams' - Gems of Magic'.
Keith died in 1988 and Mavis in 1995.
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