ROSE, Bernard Joseph

ROSE, Bernard Joseph – A Southern Downs Veteran

CONFLICT : WWII
SERVICE NO : QX36450
RANK : Private
UNIT : 2nd Ordinance Vehicle Park
ENLISTMENT DATE : 4/07/1941
AGE : 27
PLACE OF ENLISTMENT : Killarney, Queensland
PLACE OF BIRTH : Toowoomba, Queensland
RELIGION : Roman Catholic
PRE-WAR OCCUPATION : Labourer
DATE OF DEATH : 28/09/1946
PLACE OF BURIAL : Warwick, Queensland

MEMORIALS : Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour

View this person’s Service File : ROSE, Bernard Joseph

NOTES :

Bernard was the son of Arthur Robert and Norah Ethel Rose (nee Davies).

The Rose family all lived in Hamilton Street, East Warwick, Queensland.

He had a love of horses and was a keen horseman. He worked on local farms in the Warwick District.

 

He had 4 sisters, Thelma, who married John Marshall;

Dorothy, who married Mick Hade;

Alma (Dorothy’s twin sister)

and Phyllis, who married Dean O’Brien.

Being the only boy of five children, he was called Boy by his sisters.

 

Before his enlistment Bernard was a member of the A Squad 11 Motor Regiment.

After enlisting he was posted to Papua New Guinea, disembarking in Port Moresby in August 1943.

Bernard returned to Townsville on the “Duntroon” in May 1944, and embarked to Balikpapan via Morotaion the “Sea Barb”in July 1945.

He returned to Australia on the “HMAS Manoora” in January 1946 and was posted to Wallangarra Barracks.

On Friday September 27, 1946 Bernard had been to Brisbane to visit his father who was in hospital. When the train he was travelling on arrived at the Wallangarra Railway Station, he and a number of other soldiers were picked up by a truck from the barracks.

On the way back to base the truck ran off the road and hit a tree. Three soldiers were killed instantly and Bernard sustained a fractured right forearm and chest injuries. He died of his injuries the following day, September 28, 1946.

He is buried in the Warwick cemetery.

RIP

His military service qualified him for :
– The 1939-1945 Star;
– The Pacific Star;
– The War Medal 1939-1945;
– The Australian Service Medal 1939-1945;
– The Australian Service Medal 1945-1975 with Clasp “SW Pacific”; and
– The Australian Defence Medal.

Read about Southern Downs Military History here.