Edward Henry Giesen (abt. 1920 - 2008)

Born about 26 Sep 1920 in Tauranga, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand [uncertain]

Ancestors

Died 27 Aug 2008 at about age 87 in Queensland, Australia [uncertain]

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Biography

Born in New Zealand, on 26 September 1920 (year uncertain), to Edward Henry Rufus and Kitty Marie Giesen, Edward Henry Rufus Giesen, known as Harry, emigrated to Australia at an early age with his family.

Harry was an original member of the 2/1st Australian Infantry Battalion (6 Division, 16 Brigade) enlisting 19 October 1939 at Crows Nest NSW, when he was assigned the Army service number of NX1121, and then sailed from Sydney on 10th January 1940.

Harry Giesen is a Military Veteran.
Served in the Second Australian Imperial Force 1939-1945
2/1st Australian Infantry Battalion

His birth date given on Enlistment form was 26 September 1918, (although the New Zealand Births, Deaths & Marriages Registration no. is 1920/24502) implying real birth year was 1920 and he put his age up by two years when enlisting in 1939 from 19 to 21 years. [Birth year of 1920 would correspond with the age (87 years) on his memorial plaque at the Queensland Brisbane Garden of Remembrance]

His marital status was stated as single, his occupation as Fruit Grader, and living at Waverton, with next of kin given as father Mr E.H.R. Giesen, Shirley Rd, Crows Nest NSW.

Harry served in the Middle East, North Africa (Bardia and Tobruk), Greece and Crete. He became a Prisoner of War when captured on Crete on 6th June 1941, and then spent 3 and a half years in POW camps, until he escaped from Stalag XVIIA (18A) in Austria during October 1944 reaching the allied mission in Yugoslavia with George Rushton (TX2378). This was after six prior failed attempts. He arrived in London in December 1944 and was repatriated to Australia the following month, arriving Sydney 22 Feb 1945 on the Dominion Monarch. In Australia he transferred to the 21 A.I.T.Bn (Australian Infantry Training Battalion) at Cunungra, Qld until November 1945 when he was discharged.

In December 1945 Harry married Barbara Milne (Babs) at Ashfield, NSW. The best man was Johhny Doran MM (NX9045). They started a family in Brisbane, Qld.

He wrote of his life in his memoir 'Seventh Time Lucky' which was published in 2008 shortly before his death aged 87 years.

In the book he tells of his visit with Barbara to Crete in 1991 for the 50th anniversary of the German paratroop invasion. "Australian veterans were give a right royal welcome, and those wearing medals received laurel wreaths as a token of gratitude. We visited the Allied cemetery at Suda Bay where so many of my comrades were buried, and the German 'Friedhof' which contained all of the six thousand German dead whose bodies had been recovered" (page 213). Staying at a hotel at Stavromenos near to the airstrip and Olive Oil Factory where in May 1941 during an assault on the factory John Oriel 'Nosey' Parker (NX3582) had been killed, Harry met two former German paratropers, Otto and Rudi, who had fought in 1941 on Hill 'A' at Rethymnon (Retimo) as the 2/1st Battalion had known it. (page 216). That night at the Hotel in Stavromenos, the three men and their wives had dinner together.

Harry dedicated his book to “John Oriel Parker (NX3852) and so many others who sleep under the Australian flag at Suda Bay on Crete. And the German paratroops, at peace in the 'Friedhof' nearby who died for what they thought was right.”

Harry's wife, Barbara Giesen, passed away in May 2009, eight months after him.