Warrant Officer Class II HOWARD JOSEPH DICKSON NX125074, A.I.F., Australian Army Catering Corps who died age 38 on 27 January 1945 Son of Samuel James Dickson and Ada Maude Dickson; husband of Rose Juanita Dickson, of Wollongong, New South Wales. Remembered with honour PORT MORESBY MEMORIAL CWGC :: Cemetery Details
These are three of a group of databases available (for free) from the Australian War Memorial website. Nominal Roll, Roll of Honour, Circular. Name DICKSON, HOWARD JOSEPH Service Australian Army Service Number NX125074 (N44769) Date of Birth 21 Nov 1906 Place of Birth PARKES, NSW Date of Enlistment 30 Jul 1942 Locality on Enlistment WOLLONGONG, NSW Place of Enlistment DAPTO, NSW Next of Kin DICKSON, ROSE Date of Death 27 Jan 1945 Rank Warrant Officer Class 2 Posting on Death 2/6 Commando Regiment WW2 Honours and Gallantry None for display Prisoner of War No Roll of Honour WOLLONGONG NSW Roll of Honour - Howard Joseph Dickson Service number: NX125074 Rank: Warrant Officer Class 2 Unit: 2/6 Cavalry Commando Regiment Service: Australian Army Conflict: 1939-1945 Date of death: 27 January 1945 Place of death: New Guinea Cause of death: Accidental (Drowning) Source: AWM147 Roll of Honour cards, 1939-1945 War, 2nd AIF (Australian Imperial Force) and CMF (Citizen Military Force) View attachment Dickson_Howard Joseph.pdf
Hi Spidge - is the Nominal Roll really available from the AWM site? I always go to World War Two Nominal Roll which is run by the DVA Following on from the free resources listed, for further info this member's pers file has been digitized by the National Archives of Australia (NAA). That file describes his death as drowned (accidentally) in action Unfortunately another free resource (being the unit's war diaries) hasn't been digitized on the NAA or AWM sites. In desperation I turned to Wiki to see where his unit was in relation to the pers file entries: Aitape–Wewak campaign - the offensive began in December and as the Australians advanced eastwards over the course of the following months, elements from the 2/6th found themselves involved in a number of roles, patrolling ahead of the rest of the 6th Division and where necessary being used in a traditional infantry role to seize and hold ground. As the fighting began to draw to a close, the regiment was used mainly in "mopping up" operations in the Boiken area, where Japanese raiding parties continued to cause havoc amongst the Australian forces right up until the end of the war. The regiment's casualties in this final campaign were high. There were 29 killed in action, nine died of wounds, four died of accident, and 99 wounded in action
Reading further info on the Aitape–Wewak campaign (still on Wiki), I came across this paragraph: The operations were characterised by prolonged small-scale patrolling with small-scale company attacks. Progress was slowed by the difficulties of transporting supplies overland or by barge and the flash flooding of a number of the rivers the Australians had to cross. In one incident, seven men from the 2/3rd Battalion drowned in the swollen waters of the Danmap River which had risen suddenly after a torrential downpour. Checking the CWGC (via Geoff’s search engine) for unit 2/3 and the date of death for WOII Dickson of 27/01/1945 provides a list of the blokes I presume died in the same incident: 001 BATEUP LA NX4584 AIF 2/3 BN 27/01/1945 AUSTRALIAN INFANTRY PANEL 2. 002 CARROLL MW NX23486 AIF 2/3 BN 27/01/1945 AUSTRALIAN INFANTRY LL. C. 15. 003 CHILCOTT DL TX14609 AIF 2/3 BN 27/01/1945 AUSTRALIAN INFANTRY PANEL 2. 004 DAVIS R NX122705 AIF 2/3 BN 27/01/1945 AUSTRALIAN INFANTRY PANEL 2. 005 HOOD DR NX4757 AIF 2/3 BN 27/01/1945 AUSTRALIAN INFANTRY LL. B. 7. 006 KENDALL KB NX120151 AIF 2/3 BN 27/01/1945 AUSTRALIAN INFANTRY PANEL 2. 007 SHIEL TK NX4614 AIF 2/3 BN 27/01/1945 AUSTRALIAN INFANTRY PANEL 2. Attached extract from war diaries of the 2/3rd gives an insight into the events of that day (there is no mention of WOII Dickson being with the men of the 2/3rd - his unit must have been nearby though):
Hi Spidge - is the Nominal Roll really available from the AWM site? I always go to World War Two Nominal Roll which is run by the DVA Hi Dave, The database (Nominal Roll) is on the AWM site however they would link to DVA. On the right side of the AWM site, there is a list of links which is much easier. I didn't add the other goodies as not all units are available and not all files are digitized. Cheers Geoff