Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Mervyn Dudley Austin was born in Adelaide, South Australia on the 6th of June 1920. His father’s name was Arthur Austin and his mother’s name is unknown. His father’s address was 33 Deslands St Ethelton, SA.  This is near Port Creek and the beach at Semaphore, and it is likely that Mervyn grew up and went to school near Port Adelaide.   His hometown is listed as Strathalbyn. He obtained work as a truck driver, and he probably moved to Strathalbyn for his work.  Mervyn was not married or in a relationship when he enlisted, and he had never served before.   He enlisted at Wayville on 18 June 1941, when he was aged 21. 

Mervyn Dudley was ranked as a Sergeant, when he served in New Guinea. He joined the 2nd/27th Infantry Battalion. Mervyn was lucky to never become a prisoner of war.

Mervyn joined the 2nd/27th Infantry Battalion which had been raised at Woodside in the Adelaide Hills in May 1940 the year prior to his enlistment.  During training the men did long walks as far as Mannum, and usually went home for the weekends.  Before Mervyn joined, the Battalion had served in Egypt and Lebanon. The Battalion fought in several major actions, remaining in Lebanon until January 1942.

In March 1942, the Battalion made a brief trip back to Adelaide before being sent to Port Moresby to assist the militia battalions holding off the Japanese onslaught along the Kokoda Trail. This is when Mervyn Dudley Austin joined, and he travelled to Port Moresby with the Battalion.  At the time, Lieutenant Colonel Jeff Cooper, whose family is well-known for brewing in South Australia, oversaw the Battalion.

Mervyn fought in New Guinea to try to stop the Japanese.  The Australians were forced back along the Kokoda Track by the Japanese, and in an attempt to stop them, the 2/27th took up a defensive position at Mission Ridge, on the north face of Brigade Hill.  The 2/27th were the freshest Battalion, which was why they were given this role.  They were attacked from the front line, along with 2/14th and 2/16th, flanked from both angles, so that they were surrounded, forcing them to withdraw and leave their wounded with the 2/27th.  The 2/27th were cut off from the rest of the brigade.  To get back to their front lines, they fought through the jungle, skirting around for the next two weeks, whilst also carrying their wounded.  Eventually they joined the other Battalions at Jawarere.  They had no food or supplies for any of this time and the Battalion suffered heavily from disease. They returned to Port Moresby and assisted in moving supplies and evacuating the wounded.  It is unknown whether Mervyn was sick but he escaped injury throughout his time in New Guinea. 

After achieving victory on the Kokoda Track, the 2nd/27th took part in the assaults at Buna and Gona, where they faced a terrible series of frontal attacks ordered by a command (in Brisbane) completely removed from the area in which they were engaged.  The 2/27th recommitted to the fighting in November 1942, and the battalion was flown from Port Moresby to Popondetta where they joined the fighting around Gona.  Along with tropical disease, there were significant casualties and by mid-January the battalion had reduced to just 70 men. They were relieved by the 36th battalion.  The Battalion was air transported back to Port Moresby and after a week they boarded a ship named Jason Lee, which took them back to cCirns, and then the Atherton Tablelands where the battalion was rebuilt. They then returned to New Guinea in august 1943, a stronger and healthier battalion. There was further fighting, and in mid-October Mervyn and his battalion helped counter a Japanese attack on Johns Knoll and Traverse Ridge, during the Ramu Valley-Finisterre Range campaign.

It wasn’t all entirely bad, as there is a photograph of Mervyn playing a bullet riddled organ in New Guinea. 

The 2nd/27th served honourably through the latter stages of the fight in New Guinea in the Ramu and Markham Valleys in 1943 and early 1944, replacing casualties as they occurred.

 By the end of the war, the Battalion had suffered 268 fatalities and 607 injuries. The 2nd/27th battalion returned to Australia in early February 1946 aboard the transport Winchester Victory, which took them to Brisbane, Queensland, where they disbanded on March 18, 1946.

Bibliography

“2nd/27th Infantry Battalion.” Vwma.org.au, vwma.org.au/explore/units/11.

“AUSTIN MERVYN DUDLEY : Service Number - SX13290 : Date of Birth - 06 Jun 1920 : Place of Birth - ADELAIDE SA : Place of Enlistment - WAYVILLE SA : Next of Kin - AUSTIN ARTHUR.” National Archives of Australia, 1939, recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=6398120. Accessed 8 May 2023.

“Mervyn Dudley AUSTIN.” Vwma.org.au, vwma.org.au/explore/people/596137. Accessed 8 May 2023.

scheme =AGLSTERMS. AglsAgent; corporateName=Department of Veterans’ Affairs; address=Gnabra Building, 21 Genge Street. “DVA’s Nominal Rolls.” Nominal-Rolls.dva.gov.au, nominal-rolls.dva.gov.au/veteran?id=676655&c=WW2#R. Accessed 8 May 2023.

Wikipedia Contributors. “2/27th Battalion (Australia).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 14 May 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2/27th_Battalion_(Australia).