Herbert John Gorman

BIRTH & BAPTISM First name(s) Herbert John Last name Gorman Sex Male Birth year 1919 Birth place Trafalgar Father's name Walter James Mother's name Elizabeth Annie (Minnie) Mother's last name Richardson Registration number 07450 State Victoria Country Australia Bert's birth is registered at Trafalgar, in 1919 but Walter and Lizzie were living with Rosehannah on the family farm at Childers where Herbert John was born on December 28th 1918.

SCHOOL Bert is in the Metung School Register, dated September 27, 1932

Gippsland Times 23 Nov 1939 RECRUITING NOTES Second Al.F. The following volunteers have enlisted in the second AIF. during the last few days at Sale: T. W. Copeland, H. J. Gorman, J. J. Millen.

DITTO 11 Dec 1939 RECRUITING NOTES Bairnsdale Responds Well The ninth draft comprising 16 volunteers from Area 37 (East Gippsland) left Sale by train on Monday last the 4th inst to join the second AIF. The draft included the following: E. Clinton (B'dale), T. G. Doyle (B'dale), H. J. Gorman (Metung), L. A. Gregson (Maffra), C. F. Havers (B'dale). L. V. Havers (B'dale), L. V. Haylock: (Bdale), K. MacKenzie (Maffra) C.W. Maple (Cowwarr), T.L. McPhee (Moe), B.A. Morley (B'dale), H. Morrison (Iguana Creek), W.A Parker (Sale), J. Stinten (Bulumwaal), A. J. Struhs (B'dale), F.W. Waring (Bulumwaal). His Worship the Mayor of Sale (Cr. M. T. Cullinan), Mr. A. H. Borthwick, ML.A. and Mr. J; Bennett. President of the Sale sub-branch of the R.S.S.I.L.A. commended the boys of the draft for having volunteered to serve their country, and wished them the best of luck in the part they were now going to definitely play overseas in the defence of their homeland. The ladies of the Sale sub-branch of the R.S.S.I.L.A. in their usual grand style provided afternoon tea and cigarettes for the members of the draft before they entrained. Bairnsdale supplied eleven men of this draft thereby gaining the honor of supplying the greatest number of recruits from any centre in Area 37 last week.

DITTO 18 Dec 1939 SECOND A.I.F. Enlistments to Date Welfare committees are now actively working in all centres making provision to provide an adequate and continuous supply of comforts to the members of the second A.I.F. One-hundred and sixty Gippslanders have joined the second A.I.F. at the Sale Recruiting Office: Bairnsdale Shire F. R. Beck (Coongulmerang). E. Clinton (Bairnsdale) A. J. Cox (Bairnsdale) T. G. Doyle (Bairnsdale) W. H. Greenwood (Bairnsdale) H. J. Gorman (Metung) H. S. Goodman (Bairnsdale) G. F. Havers (Bairnsdale). J. D. Havers (,Bairnsdale) L. V. Haylock (Bairnsdale) H. J. S. Hooker (Bairnsdale). D. D. Inglis (Bairnsdale) J. W. James (Metung). G. H. James (Metung). T. A. Lowe (Metung). H. Morrison (Iguana Creek). B. A. Morley (Bairnsdale). N. McLeod (Bairnsdale). R. McKenzie (Bairnsdale). C. E. Phelan (Bairnsdale, A. J. Struhs (Bairnsdale). R. J. Stinten (Bulumwaal). A. A. Shrader (Iguana Creek). L. F. Stevens (Bairnsdale). F. W. Waring (Bulumwaal). P. N. Whitchurch (Metung).

Applications are still being accepted from volunteers who desire to join the second A.I.F., but medical examinations have been suspended for the time being. Volunteers will be called up when required for medical examination. Enlistment forms are available at the Drill Hall, Sale.

Irene Gorman always said that Elizabeth Minnie was so concerned when Bert enlisted that she insisted Maurice, his elder brother, enlist too to "look after Bert". Maurice did enlist but Bert was sent to Egypt with the 6th Division, and Maurice followed in the 7th Division when Bert was already on his way to Crete. Unlikely they ever met. In a further example of manly loyalty, Uncle Paddy, still suffering from shrapnel acquired in WW1, then enlisted to follow Maurice. They were great friends despite the age difference.

War Service [A copy of Bert's service record is not yet published at the Australian Archives] Bert travelled from Hillend where he lived, to Sale, to enlist in the second AIF on 4/12/1939, service number VX5747, soon after the declaration of war. His father was listed as his next of kin. Maurice also enlisted from Hillend, so perhaps the family was living there at the time with the men working at Arthur Hutchesson's mill.

The 2/5th Battalion was formed in Melbourne, Victoria on 18 October 1939. The battalion was part of the 17th Brigade, 6th Australian Division. The early members of the battalion assembled at the Royal Melbourne Showgrounds in Melbourne.

The Battalion moved to the recently completed camp at Puckapunyal Army Camp on 2 November 1939 and started to received its first new recruits. After some basic training at Puckapunyal, the battalion left for the Middle East on 14 April 1940.

They arrived in the Middle East on 18 May 1940. After some more training in Palestine and Egypt they took part in their first campaign against the Italians in eastern Libya, in January through to February 1941.

They took part in more action at places such as Bardia, Tobruk, Kalabaka (Greece), Kalamata (Greece), Crete, Syria, and Lebanon. After the news of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 and the perceived threat to Australia, the 2/5th Battalion left the Middle East on 10 March 1942 to defend Australia. However, on the return voyage, they were diverted to defend Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) from the Japanese from mid March through to early July 1942. The 2/5th Battalion finally arrived back in Melbourne, Victoria on 4 August 1942. There are now photos of the 2/5th in Palestine and Lebanon in media. [Except for those like Bert, who were captured in Crete and would spend the rest of the war in POW camps.]

In early October 1942, the 2/5th Battalion moved to Milne Bay, in Papua. They fought and defeated the Japanese at Wau from the end of January through to early February 1943. They then drove the Japs back towards Salamua. They took part in some major actions at Goodview and Mount Tambu in July and August 1943.

The 2/5th Battalion arrived in Cairns, north Queensland on 23 September 1943. They underwent jungle training on the Atherton Tablelands for the rest of 1943 and the most of 1944.

The 2/5th Battalion arrived at Aitape, New Guinea on 29 November 1944 where they completed the rest of the war in patrols to clear the Japs from the Torricelli and Prince Alexander mountain ranges.

The 2/5th Battalion arrived back in Australia on 1 December 1945. They were disbanded at Puckapunyal in early February 1946.

Nominal Roll GORMAN, HERBERT JOHN Service Australian Army Service Number VX5747 Date of Birth 20 Dec 1918 Place of Birth TRAFALGAR, VIC Date of Enlistment 4 Dec 1939 Locality on Enlistment HILL END, VIC Place of Enlistment SALE, VIC Next of Kin GORMAN, W Date of Discharge 18 Oct 1945 Rank Driver Posting at Discharge 2/5 AUSTRALIAN INFANTRY BATTALION Prisoner of War Yes

Advocate, (Burnie Tas) 14 July 1941 655 NAMES IN VICTORIAN CASUALTY LISTS MELBOURNE, Sunday.—Casualty lists issued for Victoria contain approximately 655 names and report the deaths of 22 men overseas and three in Australia. Many are reported, missing or prisoners of war. Details (except where otherwise stated, rank is private):— MISSING J. A.V. Gardner, North Melbourne; H. J. Gorman, Hill End;

Bert was in the 2/5 Infantry and was captured in Greece. Bert spent the rest of the war as a POW in Germany. He was repatriated through Russia at war's end and said afterwards that the Russians treated POWs worse than the Germans had. I have found a list of Australians transferred from Russian hands to British/Australian ships at Odessa in 1945. There are a few from Bert's battalion, 2/5th, but Bert is not on the list. Most of them seem to be from Stalag 344 at Lamsdorf which was liberated by Russians.

First name(s) H J Last name Gorman Service number VX5747 Rank Private Regiment - Ship or regiment Australian Imperial Force 2/5 I Bn Year 1939-45 Country Germany Original source Prisoners Of War 1715-1945

A Red Cross list of "British" POWs in Germany shows Bert as:- Camp No. 18A #2430 Gorman H J Pte. VX5747 2/5 I. Bn. Escaped, Location Unknown. First name(s) H J Last name Gorman Year - Service number VX5747 Rank Private Ship name 2/5 I Bn Ship or corps 2/5 I Bn Nationality Australian Country of imprisonment - Prison camp or ship - Conflict World War 2 See docs.

ALSO:-- First name(s) H J Last name Gorman Year - Service number VX5747 Rank Private Ship name Australian Imperial Force 2/5 I Bn Ship or corps Australian Imperial Force 2/5 I Bn Country of imprisonment Germany Prison camp or ship - Conflict World War 2 Document details War Office: Directorate of Prisoners of War: Prisoners of War Lists, Second World War, 1943-1945 Archive reference WO 392/12

He was discharged with the rank of Driver, on 18/10/1945.

PRISONER OF WAR The following extract is taken from the diary of Sapper Fred Carne (English POW) who kept a diary throughout his time as a POW. Fred was captured at Kalamata. After enduring a grim month in a prison camp in Corinth, the POWs were moved. 8 June 1941 Left Corinth. Marched 11 kilometers, crossed canal. Arrived Kalamorka, board train for Athens. Jammed in like sardines. Greeks good to us. Stop at Athens, have rations, Board train again. Get ready for a long march. 9 June Arrive Grayia at 4 am. March over famous Thermopylae Pass, 32 miles of dust and hell. 100's fall out, 5 die on the way. Proud to say I made it, but only just. Dead beat, sore, stiff and hungry. Arrive Lamia. 10 June Another bridge blown. Walk 3 kilometers more, very sore. Greeks are great - throw food to us at risk of being shot. One boy killed. Got out of truck to get bread. Jerry will pay for it. The boys go mad but can't do anything. 11 June A night of hell. Arrive Salonika, can hardly move. Jerry gets us out at point of bayonet. Walk 5 miles under terrible conditions. Beat to the wide, sleep on square in the rain. Thousands here, can get no food. Sick and weak. 12 June Up at 3 am. Get searched, move to other barracks at 5 pm. Jerry goes mad. Marched a Greek girl and kid plus a boy up to the barracks for punishment. Hit woman with baby, just for being kind to us. Pouring with rain. Can't move a step more. 13 June Feeling ill. Every part of me aches. Everyone the same. Thousands in this camp as well. Food very poor but Red Cross gives us an egg each. My stomach is terrible, pain is wicked. 14 June Out at 5.30 am, roll call at 6, breakfast at 7, dinner at 12 am, tea 6 pm. All the meals put into one would not make one decent one. Jerries change bread that the Greeks bring us for our watches. 16 June Boiling hot by day. Kept on parade for hours but feeling better. Getting over the soreness but still ravenously hungry. Tempted to change watch for bread but still hanging on to it. 17 June 2000 move out for Germany. We get sorted out. Out turn next. Food terrible. Jerries raise the devil. Takes very little here to get shot. Several boys die. The last few days have left their mark. 18 June Malaria breaks out and spreads. Water here is not fit to drink. Get issued with pills to check the fever. Will be glad to get out of this hole. One chap dies after eating whole loaf of bread. 20 June Got a donkey for meat. Better than nothing. Happy event, found small piece in the soup. What I would give now for a square meal. Still starving. 22 June We are kept on parade for 2 or 3 hours at a time in the boiling sun. Tons of sickness and several deaths. Scores of lads still suffering with their feet from the march, as some did not have boots. 23 June Getting ready to move off. Draw 4 days rations. Half a loaf of bread, 3 biscuits and tin of bacon. Some boys eat the lot in one go. Going to chance their luck on the journey. After waiting hours, put off until the morning. 24 June After all day waiting we move off at 5 pm. Wait outside station until 9 pm. We get jammed in truck. So many men impossible to move. Air terrible, doors locked. Lie on top of each other. Everyone in a mess. 25 June Shocking night. Take it in turns to sleep but with doors closed it is hell. Air is foul, can't get water. Two petrol tins in truck, one for water the other for lavatory - throw it out of the window. Get soup very late at night. 26 June 3 boys escape out through window at night. Trucks dirty and lousy. Sweat pours out of us and lice crawling everywhere. They won't open the doors. Several boys have dysentery. The old tin is being used some. Stink is shocking. 27 June Get soup at Belgrade from Red Cross. First time we get out since the journey began. As the doors open the girls get shocked by the smell. 28 June Jerry takes all our knives away as the boys cut holes in the truck to let in air. We are all filthy dirty, full of lice and dirt, smelling wicked. Nearly mad with hunger and thirst. Jerry won't listen to us. 29 June After a lot of buggering around we arrive at Wolfsberg, a real prison camp. Can hardly walk. Lots of stretcher cases. Got a bit of bread and, what a thrill, a bit of jam. Tastes like the best I ever had.

What to do to pass the time? Sport? Well, soccer was taken very seriously from a regional point of view. Interminable running round the area known as the sport field. But the greatest game of all was Australian in origin – no, not cricket or rugby. There was always a ring of people somewhere uttering strange cabalistic noises, such as- ‘ten he heads ‘em, get set on the side, come in spinner!’ TWO-UP, they called it. So what do you gamble with? On the working camps, men were paid “Lager Geld” of RM18.20 per month, blissfully ignorant that after the war they would be redeemed at face value.

And talking about face value…trading laws were necessary. Economists declare that money must adhere to at least three rules – acceptability, divisibility and limited in quantity. Lager Geld was OK for some, but certainly not to the French, etc. Cigarettes filled the bill. So by international agreement the day’s rates were pinned up on a barrack wall for all to see.

To facilitate communication a language was devised – Lager Deutsch – not only for trading. e.g. "Du kommen round miney barrack, ik gibben du shockolade – du habben Cigaretten??" It was even understood by some Germans. An example: from time to time German security officers wandered round the camp. One of these was a Sonderfuehrer with the unfortunate last name of LAUSE. Allegedly he was in civilian life a university professor who spoke faultless English.

During WW2 the Red Cross set up a system of volunteers who collected and recorded information from all sources about missing soldiers. The University of Melbourne has digitised the Red Cross archives for Australians, and I have added Bert's Red Cross file card to his documents. It adds a little more to the story of his wartime experience, and that of his family. See docs.

The card shows Bert at Stalag XVIIa, at Moosburg, Bavaria, but this was the main reception camp where prisoners captured in the Balkans were processed. Bert and his fellow prisoners would then have been transferred to other POW camps/labour camps, until liberation. Moosburg was liberated by the Americans, and we know that Bert's camp was liberated by Russians, and that Bert was repatriated through the USSR.

Another register of Australian POWs of the Germans lists at no.1214: POW, Germany, VX5747, GORMAN Herbert John, 2/5th Bn, Discharged 18 October 1945,Camp 18A, Repatriated(?) Escaped to AL (Allied Lines). This list notes whether men were in more than one POW camp, repatriated via Odessa, or other means, but there is no notation for Bert, except he was in 18A at Wolfsberg, and may have escaped, or been repatriated. This leaves the only evidence so far that Bert was repatriated via Russia is the stories he told after the war, and how much worse the Russians treated POWs than the Germans had. Since I am very confident of those stories, I will rely on Bert's tale for further research. There is always the possibility that Bert did escape from a forced march or the chaos of the war ending and was recaptured by Russians, but I have no evidence for that except the repeat notes in the files, re him escaping. If someone in his close family requests his service record to be opened, that might help.

I have heard no stories about Bert being an escaped prisoner, so am not sure of the veracity of that suggestion, even though it turns up in official records. Bert himself said he was liberated by the Russian army and shipped to Russia, being repatriated in about 1945 in poor health. He said the Russians treated POWs very poorly, with less respect than the Germans had. That might be a reflection of the extreme poverty of Russia at that time after years of vicious warfare, or the culture of contempt for the soldier who let himself get captured rather than die trying to win. Australians prefer to live to fight another day, and see nothing heroic in fighting insurmountable odds, as Stalin expected Russians to do. I also seem to recall Bert saying he was employed in digging coal while a prisoner but I don't know who, now, could confirm that recollection. It might be a clue to the location of a work camp he was at. About 8,600 Australians became prisoners of the Germans. They included 7,115 Australian soldiers captured in North Africa or Greece; 1,476 airmen, mostly bomber aircrew shot down over Germany in 1943–45; and a few sailors.

Repatriation of the thousands of Allied POW released from German Prison Camps after VE Day was a much more haphazard a process. Much depended on which country’s soldiers liberated the camps. Worst off were those liberated by the Russians. Organised evacuation were made from Odessa in March 1945, only after much diplomatic wrangling. Since WW2 ended in May 1945 and all prisoners were thereby freed, the fact that Bert was not repatriated until 18th October 1945 suggests he might have been one of the prisoners held as hostages/bargaining chips by Russia at the end of the war. The Odessa repatriation was in March 1945, so Bert could not have been at Odessa.

I am putting some information and photos about Wolfsberg POW camp in docs and media. The history of Wolfsberg says it was liberated by British troops, and so it was the first German camp in which Bert was held after Greece, but might not have been the last. Since British, American and Russian troops were all liberating parts of Austria, and thousands of POWs were force marched from Wolfsberg into central Austria over a couple of months, some were liberated from destination camps by Americans, some by British, and possibly, some by Russians. I will have to hunt further for that location, however, I hope the information about Wolfsberg will give general appreciation of the conditions for POWs. See docs

I have established that Camp 18A was at Wolfsberg, Carinthia, Austria. [In World War II the village of Priel south of the town center was the site of the Stalag XVIII-A prisoner-of-war camp with about 7,000 inmates. After the war it served as a detention camp run by the British occupation forces.] I will see what I can find to help illuminate Bert's POW experience.

A website devoted to 18A Wolfsberg shows Pte HJ Gorman Prisoner #2430, 2/5 Inf.Btn., Australia, captured Crete. What follows is from the same site. A brief description of the ill-advised and ill-prepared involvement of British, Australian and New Zealand Armed Forces in the defense of Greece in April of 1941. It was a political rather than a military decision to send troops from Egypt to aid the Greeks in the defence of their homeland against the Italians in Albania, and the Germans in Bulgaria. However, in spite of many difficulties in transporting men and material over the primitive roads and rail network in northern Greece, a defensive position was set up across the Aliakmon River. This was considered secure as long as Yugoslavia remained neutral or was capable of resisting a German advance. This proved to be a futile hope, as German infantry and armour crossed the Bulgarian border into Yugoslavia in early April. By the 8th they had achieved their objectives and were prepared to move south into Greece. The Aliakmon Line was now in serious danger of being outflanked, and a new defensive position had to be hurriedly constructed. This merely served to delay the German advance for a few days despite fierce fighting. The few aircraft that the Allies possessed were destroyed at this time and, from then on, the Germans had total air superiority. A successful defense was now considered impossible and the Allied tactics became a series of rearguard actions carried out under intense bombing to cover the withdrawal of the troops to the south, where they could be taken off the Greek mainland by ship. The rapid advance of German forces was checked briefly at Mount Olympus, Thermopylae and Thebes, but only delayed the inevitable. By the 27th April, German units had entered Athens. The race was now on to evacuate as many troops as possible from the southern ports of Navplion and Kalamata. Of a force of 100,000 men that had arrived in Greece in March, over 80% were got away safely. However, over 10,000 men were left on the southern beaches of Greece to face capture and four long years as prisoners of war. Bert Gorman was captured at Crete. Whether a soldier was captured in Greece or Crete, the next few weeks had a grim similarity. On foot, by road, rail or sea, he would eventually be taken to a temporary camp in Salonika. From there, he would be packed into a railway wagon designed for carrying cattle, with fifty other prisoners of war. There followed days of hunger, thirst and lack of sleep as the train made its slow way up through Yugoslavia to southern Austria and the final destination of Stalag 18A at Wolfsberg. (For some, the journey ended at Stalag 18D in Marburg. When this camp closed, most POWs were transferred to Stalag 18A.) A prisoner did not usually stay long in Stalag 18A, as it was a clearing camp for scores of working camps throughout Austria. Within a few days he would be assigned to a Work Party (Arbeitskommando), normally of 15 to 20 men, and sent on. The 'lucky' ones would be assigned to farm work, where there was a least a chance of adequate food. The less fortunate might be sent to an iron mine, a quarry or a timber mill, where the hours were long and the work hard. Private soldiers could be used as labour by their captors, but non coms, warrant officers and officers could not. At intervals, Delegates from the Red Cross would visit Stalag 18A to ensure that the prisoners were being treated according to the Geneva Convention. [Stalag XVIII a Wolfsburg, Austria Stalag XVIII-A Wolfsberg Carinthia, Austria Location N/E 46-15 Stalag XVIII-A/Z Spittal Drau (Became Ilag 17)Carinthia, Austria Location N/E 46-13 Stalag XVIII-B Spittal Drau Opened March 1941. Moved from Spittal to Wagna in 1942.]

The Red Cross give the following: 21 June 1941: Bert is a POW at Stalag 17A, Carinthia, Greece. 7 Dec 1941: Berlin Radio announces that Drvr. H J Gorman of Hillend via Morwell is a POW in Germany (unofficial). 11 June 1945: Walter receives a cable from UK. 22 June 1945: List 204, Middle East, advises Bert arrived UK from West Europe. It seems that Bert was liberated in June 1945, shortly after VE Day. He might have been referring to comrades released via Russia in his story about their poor treatment, unless he was in a work camp liberated by Russians.

[Nazi Germany used radio propaganda extensively in WW2 under Joseph Goebels. In 1941 they broadcast names of POWs and messages from them to present themselves as sympathetic, but also that their forces were irresistible, and so undermine morale in English speaking countries. They hoped to bring about an early surrender.]

[Stalag XVII-A Kaiserbruch Stalag XVII-A Kaisersteinbruck Bei Bruck Austria Location N/E 48-16]

Live Wire 2 May 1945

BCM News
PERSONAL.
Relatives and friends of Ptes. Eddie Gribble. Len Rose and Ormond Jewell, who enlisted in the AIF in 1940 and have been POW in Germany for four years, were thrilled to hear the good news that they are at last liberated and are now safe and Sound in England and awaiting their return to the Hill—and home.
We are still waiting for the good news of Ptes. Alec. Scott and Gorman (POW Germany).
A day we also look forward to is the liberation of Ptes. Bill and Jack Spriggs and Ben Stepnell, who are POW in Japanese hands.
Mr Clarence Ham, who owned the "corner grow shop" at Tanjil East, and later enlisted in the AIF, was recently reported "Died of illness while in Japanese hands" Mr Ham was very wel, liked and highly respected. He leaves a widow and family to mourn his loss.

Live Wire 20 June 1945
BCM (Brown Coal Mine)
Mr and Mrs Gorman, of Tanjil East, have been notified that their son, Pte. H. Gorman A.T.F., who has been p.o.w. in Germany for over 4 years, is now safe and sound in England.
Another son AC1 Eric " Gorman, RAAF, is home on leave.

Live Wire 22 Aug 1945
B.C.M. News.
PERSONAL.
Sgt. Herbert Gorman, recently returned POW, is home with his.parents, Mr and. Mrs Gorman. .Another
son, Pte.-Maurice Gorman, accompanied by his wife and baby daughter, are spending holidays with them.

MARRIAGE Gippsland Times 1 Oct 1945 ENGAGEMENTS The engagement is announced of Lorna Blanche, elder daughter of the late Mr. F. Lane, and of Mrs. Lane, Almond Street, Caulfield, to Herbert John Gorman (ex-p.o.w.), second son of Mr. and Mrs. J. Gorman, Brown Coal Mine, Yallourn.

Name: Herbt John Gorman Gender: Male Marriage Registration Year: 1946 Marriage Registration Place: Victoria, Australia Spouse: Lorna Blanche Lane Reference Number: 2687

ELECTORAL ROLL 1946: After the war Bert was living at 28 Almond Street, Caulfield, with Lorna's family.

Live Wire
30 April 1952
YALLOUm NORTH PROGRESS ASSOCIATION.
Next monthly meeting
PUBLIC HALL, MAY 5th.
at 8 p.m.
A full attendance would be welcomed.
Discussion election of a J.P.
F. Hunter, Pres., H. J. Gorman, Hon. Sec.

DEATH & BURIAL Name: Herbert John Gorman Death Registration Year: 1987 Death Registration Place: Victoria, Australia Father: Walter James Gorman Mother Maiden Name: Richardson Reference Number: 4637

First name(s) Herbert John Last name Gorman Birth year 1918 Birth date 28 Dec 1918 Death year 1987 Death date 20 Feb 1987 Cemetery Queenscliff/Point Lonsdale City Point Lonsdale State Victoria Country Australia

Herbert John Gorman Born: 28 Dec 1918 Died: 20 Feb 1987 Cemetery Queenscliff / Point Lonsdale Cemetery 157 Point Lonsdale Road Point Lonsdale, Queenscliffe, Victoria Australia

Lorna Blanche Gorman (Lane) Buried here 24 May 1920 - 6 Aug 1999

Bert also has a memorial plaque at Springvale Botanic Cemetery, Dandenong Rd Springvale, Vic (see pics)

                                   --------------------------------------------------------------------------- In Red Cross Archives at University of Melbourne Description

Surname: GORMAN. Given Name(s) or Initials: H J. Military Service Number or Last Known Location: VX5747. Missing, Wounded and Prisoner of War Enquiry Card Index Number: 2630.

211050 Item: [2016.0049.20573] "Gorman, H J, VX5747"

The 2/5th Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army that served during World War II. It was raised at Puckapunyal, Victoria on 18 October 1939 as part of the Second Australian Imperial Force, attached to the 17th Brigade of the 6th Division. The 2/5th were one only two Australian infantry battalions to fight against all of the major Axis powers during the war, seeing action against the Germans and Italians in Egypt, Libya and Greece and the Vichy French in Syria before returning to Australia in 1942 to fight the Japanese. The battalion took part in two campaigns in New Guinea, firstly in 1942–43 and then again in 1944–45 when they took part in the Aitape–Wewak campaign. Following the end of the war the battalion embarked to return to Australia on 1 December 1945 and disbanded at Puckapunyal in early February 1946. Today its battle honours are maintained by the 5th/6th Battalion, Royal Victoria Regiment.