Kenneth Austin Hammond (1917 - 1971)

Ancestors

Biography

Kenneth Austin Hammond was born on 16th December 1917 at Chatswood, New South Wales, Australia. As the younger son of Leonard Hammond and Grace Fuller he was a descendant of the local pioneer families Hammond, Henry, Fuller and Jenkins. ^[1]

In 1941, Ken married Alice Beth Hodge, in the Chatswood South Methodist Church (now Uniting Church). ^[2]

On 3rd February 1941, Ken enlisted in the Second Australian Imperial Force for military service overseas during the Second World War. ^[3] Following basic training he was posted to the 2/1st Australian Infantry Battalion, then in the thick of the disastrous Greece-Crete campaign. He joined the battalion in Palestine (Israel) with other reinforcements, the unit then being down to just 100 men. The battalion spent the winter on garrison duties in snow-bound Syria and then the northern summer 1942 doing the same in tropical Ceylon (Sri Lanka). After a very brief stop-over in Australia in July 1942, Ken was off to Papua with the battalion and the infamous Kokoda Track. ^[4] On the Kokoda Track at Menari in mid-October, he became the first battalion member, of many, to be evacuated to hospital with malaria. He was a Corporal at that time. ^[5]

Ken's cousin once removed, Arthur Evans, also served in the same Battalion. They were both Sergeants and they were both wounded at Aitape-Wewak, New Guinea early in 1945. Arthur named a son after his cousin, Kenneth Evans. Ken was demobilised on 4th September 1945. ^[3]

Following the war, Ken found that he could no longer work in a fresh meat industry, even in a family-owned business such as Hammond Bros Butchers. He became a salesman.

Ken passed away in 1971, just 53 years of age, in Chatswood, New South Wales. ^[6]

Sources

1. ↑ New South Wales Birth Index #4606/1917
2. ↑ New South Wales Marriage Index #6518/1941
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Australian War Memorial nominal roll: NX68101 Sergeant Kenneth Austin Hammond
4. ↑ Australian War Memorial Unit record: 2/1st Australian Infantry Battalion
5. ↑ Givney, E C. The First at War: The Story of the 2/1st Australian Infantry Battalion 1939-45.The Association of First Infantry Battalions. Earlwood, 1987
6. ↑ New South Wales Death Index #10928/1971

Bibliography

• Givney, E C. The First at War: The Story of the 2/1st Australian Infantry Battalion 1939-45.The Association of First Infantry Battalions. Earlwood, 1987.
• Johnston, Mark. Aitape-Wewak 1944-1945. Department of Veterans' Affairs. Canberra, 2005
• Thorne, Les. A History of North Shore Sydney from 1788 to Today. Angus & Robertson. Sydney, 1979, rev ed.