Second World War Australia Service Medal 1939–1945 - Private Thomas Arthur Austin
Australia Service Medal 1939–1945 - NX67665 T. A. AUSTIN
Thomas Arthur Austin was born in London, England, on 25th December 1903. Before emigrating to Australia, he had served briefly with the 13th/17th Lancers in the British Army, being discharged for being underage in December 1919. By the late 1930s, he was living in New South Wales, working as a labourer and later a cook.
Austin first enlisted in the Militia (Citizen Military Forces) on 31st January 1939 at Marrickville, N.S.W., joining the 55th/53rd Battalion. He was described as 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighing 146 lbs, with brown hair, blue eyes, and a fair complexion.
With the outbreak of the Second World War, he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (A.I.F.) on 22nd January 1941 at Paddington, being posted to the 1st Ordnance Workshop Company. He embarked for overseas service aboard the SS Mauretania in January 1941, arriving in the Middle East later that month. His service record notes an attachment to Lake Timsah Convalescent Camp, Egypt, and onward embarkation from the Middle East to India, where he disembarked in Bombay aboard the City of Paris in March 1942.
Serving as a Private, Austin’s role as a cook was vital to the workshop units that maintained and repaired vehicles and equipment across the Middle East and India. Unfortunately, his health deteriorated during service—records show repeated hospital admissions for illness, including dyspepsia—and he was eventually discharged medically unfit for further military service on 3rd August 1942 after 1 year and 194 days of active duty.
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