Research from watching a TV show. (Like I haven't got my own research to do!)

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 I have been watching Inside Central Station,  on SBS, for the past 10 weeks and found it very interesting. Last Sunday, 14 November was the last show and they went into the unused train tunnels, under Sydney's Hyde Park. They were looking for World War 2 graffiti and found one that had the person's name, unit and service number, sooooooo guess what I did?  Yes I researched him.


The photo is of the image on the TV, so it's not the best but it's enough to show that information. 



I went to the Australian War Memorial website, but didn't find anything but they had links to the National Archives of Australia - Personal service records and the Department of Veterans' Affairs Nominal Rolls.

I discovered that Robert Harry Dunkley  was born in 1924 in Adelaide, South Australia. Next of Kin was Nelly Dunkley. He enlisted 13 May 1934 and was discharged 15 July 1946. His posting at discharge was 14 Aust Work Coy. His rank was Private.

As his Army Records aren't digitised and he isn't mine to pay for them to be done, I turned to Trove.

It would appear that on his discharge Robert returned to South Australia but the newspaper reports aren't favourable, with him even serving 12 months in gaol.

I wonder if his post-war trouble stemmed from his war service? With out his records I don't know but it leads me to wonder how many of our Diggers  had similar post-war troubles? 

So I'm saying goodbye to Robert and hope that family my contact me and let me know how he faired. 

Websites used.

Australian War Memorial;  www.awm.gov.au

National Archive of Australia;  www.naa.gov.au

Department of Veterans' Affairs, Nominal Rolls;  www.nominal-rolls.dva.gov.au

Trove; www.trove.nla.gov.au


Comments

  1. Alex Daw17 November 2021 at 19:51

    I'm glad there's someone else who likes doing other people's family history! Excellent work!

    ReplyDelete

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