USS LST-458
IN AUSTRALIAN WATERS DURING WW2
I received the following information from a source unknown way back in 2004.
"On 14 June 1943, Mr Proctor of the 2/7th Australian Armoured Ordnance Field Park based at Caloundra boarded USS LST-458 at Caloundra bound for Townsville, in north Queensland. LST-458 arrived in Townsville on 18 June 1943. LST-458 was carrying armoured tanks, ammunition, support vehicles and spare parts. Once unloaded in Townsville, Mr Proctor drove a truck containing spare parts to the Atherton Tablelands along with the rest of his unit. They then returned to their base at Caloundra. They were part of a small unit which drove trucks supporting an armoured tank unit. The trucks carried spare parts for the tanks."
Given that Mr. Proctor supposedly went to Atherton it is suspected his unit was 2/9 Armd Regt Ord Fd Pk as the 2/9 Armd Regt was the only one that went to Atherton. It had previously been based at Caboolture, not Caloundra. The War History for LST-458 shows that it arrived from the USA and reported into the Commander Seventh Amphibious Forces on 18 June 1943 which is in conflict with the info above. There are 104 Proctors on the WWII Nominal Roll, so I have not got any spare time to work my way through all of them to try to find the right one.
In about February 1944, the 2/7 Armoured Regiment in WA was allocated to join the 4 Armoured Brigade Group at Nerang (Qld) to replace 3 Tank Battalion which was to be disbanded. So 3 Tank Battalion Workshop and 3 Tank Battalion Ordnance Field Park were renamed in March 1944 as 2/7 Armoured Regiment Workshop and 2/7 Armoured Regiment Ordnance Field Park. The transfer to the 4th Armoured Brigade Group did not happen, so the 2/7 Armoured Regiment Ordnance Field Park was disbanded in Nerang in August 1944. It did not go to either Caboolture or Caloundra.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I'd like to thank Graham McKenzie-Smith for his assistance with this web page.
Can anyone help me with more information?
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This page first produced 10 July 2004
This page last updated 14 November 2022