Dickinson, Joseph Charles

2807 Private Joseph Charles Dickinson - 39th Battalion AIF

Joseph Charles Dickinson was born in Charters Towers Queensland on the 6th June 1894 to Joseph and Sarah Dickinson. He was one of eleven siblings born into the family.

A few years after his birth the family moved to Western Australia, settling in the Goldfields. Joseph took up a three year apprenticeship as a mechanic and also served in the Senior Cadets of the Citizens Military Forces while in the Goldfields.

Sadly his father died in Boulder in 1906. Sarah Dickinson then moved to Marmion Street East Fremantle and Joseph lived here prior to taking up farming at Jitarning. This small town is 20 kilometers south of the wheatbelt town of Kulin.

On the 22nd October 1916 Joseph enlisted into the Australian Imperial Force. He was found to be fit for enlistment, with the medical examiner recording his physical attributes as;

Height - 5 feet 8 inches tall;

Weight - 130lbs;

Chest Measurement - 35 inches;

Complexion - Fair;

Eyes - Brown;

Hair - Brown.

After his successful enlistment Joseph was sent to Blackboy Hill Camp where he was initially assigned to No.92 Training Depot. He spent a month here being taken through the basics of infantry work. On the 2nd December 1916 he was transferred into the 6th Reinforcements to the 39th Battalion AIF.

The 39th Battalion was a Victorian unit but they took a reinforcement group from WA. He had around four weeks of training with this group in WA but on the 29th December 1916 Joseph and his group entrained for Fremantle Harbour where they boarded the transport ship Persic and set sail for England, disembarking at Devonport on the 3rd March 1917.

After being disembarked the men were sent to the 10th Training Battalion at Durrington Camp on the Salisbury Plains. He would be here for the next few months. In June 1917 Joe suffered a hernia while training and was then sent to hospital at Tidworth. He would remain under treatment here till the 14th August 1917.

Joe was then sent back to the 10th Training Battalion at Durrington. He would have to train here for several more weeks, having to prove his fitness after the hernia.

On the 9th October 1917 Joe left Southampton England and proceeded across to France, where upon arrival he was sent to the 3rd Australian Division Base Depot at Rouelles. He spent ten days there but then joined the 39th Battalion in the line at Passchendaele in Belgium on the 20th October 1917.

The 39th Battalion had just been through an action at Passchendaele where they had sustained heavy casualties. They continued to hold the line in this sector through November 1917. In December the 39th Battalion moved south east of Ypres where they held a portion of the front line between Hollebeke and Messines.

On the 14th December 1917 Joe was evacuated ill to the 9th Field Ambulance. A few days later he was transferred to the 7th Field Ambulance but returned to the 39th Battalion on the 22nd December 1917.

The 39th Battalion spent December 1917 to March 1918 in Belgium. Joe remained with his unit during this time.

On the 21st March 1918 the Germans launched their massive attack which broke through the British lines in France. As a result the Australian Divisions were sent south to the Somme to help stop this advance. The 39th battalion, as part of the 3rd Australian Division were sent south to the Somme River region in the vicinity of Heilly. The Germans were met and stopped but casualties were heavy.

The 39th Battalion helped stabilise the line and for the next few months the Germans were held. On the 8th August 1918 the large Amiens advance commenced when Australian, British and Canadian divisions attacked and broke through the German lines. The 39th Battalion took their objectives this day and Joe came through unscathed.

The 3rd Australian Division was in action for the next few weeks near the Somme River. On the 25th August 1918 when the 39th Battalion were in action near Clery, a gas shell exploded nearby Joe, and through not wounded by the shrapnel, he was affected by gas poisoning.

Joe was initially taken to the 11th Field Ambulance and from there was sent to the 41st Casualty Clearing Station. He was treated here for a few hours and was then put on an ambulance train for the French town of Rouen where he was admitted to the 6th General Hospital.

He was treated there for two days and was then transferred to England. Upon arrival, Joe was sent to the 1st Birmingham War Hospital. Joe remained a patient here till the 9th October 1918. He was then transferred to the 3rd Australian Auxiliary Hospital at Dartford.

Joe spent nearly three weeks at 3rd AAH and on the 28th October 1918 was sent to No.2 Command Depot Camp at Weymouth. His health having improved Joe was given a two week furlough and during this time the Armistice was announced.

Joe then returned to camp and on the 16th November 1918 was transferred to No.1 Command Depot Camp at Sutton Veny. Joe went Absent without leave for five days and was fined 5 days pay as a result.

Due to his gas poisoning Joe had been marked down for return to Australia. On the 12th December 1918 Joe boarded the transport ship Nestor and returned to Australia, arriving at Fremantle on the 18th January 1919. Joe was then disembarked and sent to No.8 Australian General Hospital in South Terrace Fremantle for further treatment.

Joe was discharged from the AIF on the 12th March 1919.

After spending time with his Mother in Marmion Street Fremantle he remained local for a while receiving treatment for his gas poisoning.

In 1921 in Swanbourne Joe got married to Rosa Pickering, and a son Stanley was born in 1922 but sadly died five months after birth. Another son called Keith was born in 1923. The family then returned to farming out near Kulin at Jitarning.

He remained here till the late 1930's when they moved to Albany and Jow picked up work locally as a labourer.

On the 1st November 1940 Joe enlisted into the Australian Army for World War Two. He was given the service number W31019 and was assigned to the 19th Garrison Battalion at Albany. On the 25th March 1941 Joe was transferred to the 5th Garrison Battalion and he served in the Fremantle and Swanbourne coastal regions.

In July 1942 Joe transferred back to the 19th Garrison Battalion in Albany. He spent a few months being based near his home in Albany but in December 1942 was transferred back to the 5th Garrison Battalion seeing much of his service in Swanbourne and Melville Army Camp.

In March 1944 Joes was detached for duty to HMAS Leeuwin Naval Base. He returned to his unit after a few weeks but was then discharge from the Army in August 1944.

After his discharge Joe returned to Albany though they moved back to Perth in the 1960's.

Joe died on the 6th December 1968 in South Perth. He was buried in Karrakatta Cemetery Plot Anglican ZU 0441.