Quite a few years ago, before we left Sydney there was a moratorium on payment for the records of WW1 personnel and I downloaded my Grandfather's full service record. 30+ pages.
Recently I spent the required $27.50 and ordered my Dad's records from WW2. 16 pages.
Most of the records, which detail place of enlistment, training, embarkation, and any moves are handwritten but decipherable with a bit of time and effort. It's my intention to transcribe them in full to a typed record.
Dad was in PNG towards the end of the Kokoda campaign and Balikpapan (Borneo). Came away with malaria which plagued him on and off for the rest of his life - probably a pretty minor ailment compared to many others. He never talked about the war, but never missed an ANZAC Day march.
Pop was on the Western Front, suffered a gunshot wound and the initial mediacal assessment was, no chance of returning to combat and only a 25% chance of a normal life.
He was back on the front lines in a few months.
I think of them a lot on the 25th April each year.
