NEWMAN, John
| Service Number: | WX928 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 11 November 1939 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/11th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Canning, Western Australia, 3 July 1918 |
| Home Town: | Cunderdin, Cunderdin, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Farm Hand |
| Died: | Rockingham, Western Australia, 11 September 1986, aged 68 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" |
| Memorials: |
World War 2 Service
| 11 Nov 1939: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX928, 2nd/11th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 12 Dec 1939: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX928, 2nd/11th Infantry Battalion, embarked Fremantle for Kantara | |
| 31 Mar 1941: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX928, 2nd/11th Infantry Battalion, embarked for service in Greece | |
| 9 Jun 1941: | Imprisoned Battle of Crete, Stalag XIII-C and Stalag XX-A | |
| 27 Apr 1945: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX928, 2nd/11th Infantry Battalion, embarked for Fremantle per USAT Niew Amsterdam | |
| 19 Jul 1945: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX928, 2nd/11th Infantry Battalion |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Private John Newman (Service No:WX928) enlisted in the Army on 31 October 1939 and embarked from Fremantle for Kantara with 2/11 Infantry Battalion on 12 December 1939. From Kantara, Private Newman embarked for service in Greece on 31 March 1941 and was Reported as Missing on Crete on 9 June 1941. Officially reported as a German PoW (No:09816) on 19 December 1941, Private Newman was interned at Stalag XVIII - C in Bavaria (where many of the PoWs were in 'Work Camps' on nearby farms, factories or other industrial operations. Transferred to Stalag XX - A in Poland, Private Newman escaped internment and arrived at Camp Odessa (a transit camp for PoWs). On 27 April 1945 Private Newman embarked from England on board USAT Niew Amsterdam for Fremantle, where he was then hospitalised before Discharge on 9 July 1945. Siblings Bob and Charles also served in WWII.
Born in 1918 in Canning WA, Jack was the eldest of four children of John Newman Snr (b1872 in Moama, NSW) and Maria Lawrence (nee Gittens; b1883 in York, WA). John Snr worked in Perth as a Kitchenman and was a Horseman in Canning Mills, Kalamunda in 1913 when he and Maria married in Guildford. John and Maria lived in Kalamunda, Canning, Gin Gin and Balidu before settling in Dalwalinu in the mid 1920s - John worked as a Labourer until he and Maria retired to Perth in the early 1940s.
Jack worked as a Farm Hand in Cunderdin WA prior to his enlistment, and was in Merredin in 1948 when he married first wife Nancy White (b1927 in Burracoppin, WA). Following Nancy's death in 1949, Jack lived in Perth with his parents and worked as a Barman before remarrying in 1959 in Cannington WA to Julia Rose Ellis (b1936 in Quairading, WA) - Julia was working as a House Mother at Swanleigh Hostel via Midland Junction (a boarding hostel for country children attending high school). Jack and Julia lived in Perth where Jack worked as a Dozer Driver before settling in Rockingham in the late 1960s. Jack worked as a Plant Operator until his death in 1986. Julia died in 2006.
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