McKenzie, Kenneth Whaite

6195 Corporal Kenneth Whaite McKenzie (Belgian Croix de Guerre) - 12th Field Ambulance AIF

Kenneth White McKenzie was born in Adelaide South Australia on the 17th September 1892 to John and Mary McKenzie. He was educated in Adelaide and after leaving school he found work as a clerk with the Adelaide Steamship Company.

In 1910/11 Ken came to Western Australia to work for the Adelaide Steamship Company in their Fremantle office which is located at 10-12 Mouat Street Fremantle. They shared the short Mouat street with Ratazzi and Co., who, along with being the representative of the Imperial German Mail line, was also the Imperial German Consul for WA.

The area was flush with Australian, British, Nordic, German and Italian shipping interests.

Ken lived locally in Fremantle while working at the Adelaide Steamship Company.

On the 22nd September 1915 Ken enlisted into the Australian Imperial Force. He was passed as fit for service and the medical examiner recorded Ken's physical attributes as;

Height - 5 feet 9 inches tall;

Weight - 129lbs;

Chest Measurement - 35-37 inches;

Complexion - Dark;

Eyes - Blue;

Hair - Dark.

After his successful enlistment, Ken was sent to Blackboy Hill Camp and was assigned to the Australian Army Medical Corps and then to the 11th Reinforcements to the 4th Field Ambulance.

This reinforcement group left Fremantle on the A35 Benalla on the 1^st November 1915. He didn’t spend long in Egypt as after their arrival his group was sent on to Gallipoli, arriving there on the 9^th December 1915. The 4^th Field Ambulance were then in the region of Waldon Grove. 11 days after their arrival Gallipoli was evacuated, so his time at Anzac was not long. The 4^th Field Ambulance was sent back to Egypt where they continued to support the 4^th Infantry Brigade.

Pictured below on the transport ship to Gallipoli (from left to right, Ernie Aberle MM - standing, Ken McKenzie Croix de Guerre - sitting, Ray Davis - sitting and Anton Andersen - standing)

In March 1916 Ken was transferred to the newly forming 12th Field Ambulance. 

In March 1916 the AIF expanded with the result that half of the 4^th Field Ambulance went on to form the 12^th Field Ambulance. Ken, along with his three mates from the above photo, was one of the men sent to form the 12^th. After a few more months training in the Egyptian desert, the 12^th Field Ambulance embarked for France on the 4^th June 1916, arriving in Marseilles on the 11^th June.

After a short stint in the line at Armentieres, the 12^th Field Ambulance was sent to the Somme battlefield and was involved at Pozieres for a much longer period than the soldiers in the infantry. The field ambulance men went into the line to help evacuate the Australian casualties from late July and continued to do so until the first week of September. Casualties were heavy though Ken emerged unscathed. His good mate Ernie Aberle was awarded the Military Medal for Pozieres.

After their time at the Somme battlefield, the 12th Field Ambulance were sent to Belgium for several weeks, before returning to the Somme Battlefield. They would remain in the Somme region till March 1917.

In December 1916 Ken was detached for duty with the 8th Field Ambulance. He returned to his unit on the 31st December 1916 but would only spend one more month with the 12th Field Ambulance.

On the 31st January 1917 Ken was transferred to the 1st Australian Division Supply Column as a Driver. On the 30th March 1917 he was transferred to the "K" Supply Column and spent the remainder of 1917 with this unit.

Ken's job was now as a motor driver for the supply columns.

In February 1918 Ken was granted a period of leave to Paris and after returning to his unit, was then transferred to the 4th Australian Division Motor Transport Company. Apart from a period of leave to the UK in July 1918, Ken remained with this unit through to the end of the war.

He had been appointed Corporal during this time and in December 1918 news of the award of the Belgian Croix de Guerre came through, though unfortunately the recommendation for which it was awarded no longer exists.

Ken remained working with the Motor Transport Company in France and Belgium up to June 1919. He was then returned to England and on the 22nd July 1919 he boarded the transport ship Ulysses to return to Australia.

As Ken had family in South Australia, he disembarked in Port Adelaide on the 30th August 1919. He was then discharged from the AIF on the 24th October 1919.

However, as his job had been kept for him at the Adelaide Steamship Company, Ken then returned to live and work in Fremantle. 

He married Dorothy Adeline Ford Lewis on 16 May 1921 and they would reside at Phillimore Street and later at 42 Bedford Street in East Fremantle. They would have three children, Ken, Helen and Ian.

Kenneth continued working as a Shipping Clerk and became involved in the local community.

In the book 'In My Father's Words' which is the diaries from his mate Ray Davis, there was mention made that Ken had regular catch ups with Ernie Aberle and Ray Davis.

Ken McKenzie died in Fremantle on the 9th May 1941, aged 48, with the newspapers reporting that he died after four months' illness. Ken was cremated at Karrakatta Cemetery with a memorial in the Crematorium Rose Gardens, site 28, position 0019. His wife Dorothy passed away on 16 April 1959, aged 60, and was also cremated: she is in the Crematorium Rose Gardens at Karrakatta with Kenneth.

Not long after Ken's death, his son Ken who had been serving in the AIF (WX14463) was sent to Timor with the 2/1st Heavy battery and was captured by the Japanese when Timor fell. He was recovered in Japan in 1945, having survived his Prisoner of War experience.

Ian McKenzie served in the Royal Australian Navy during World War Two, with the main ship he served on being HMAS Australia. He survived the war and stayed in the Navy long term until 1959.