TART, Reece

TART, Reece – A Southern Downs Veteran

CONFLICT : WWII
SERVICE NO : QX16765
RANK : Lance Corporal
UNIT : 2/15th Battalion
ENLISTMENT DATE : 26/02/1941
AGE : 21
PLACE OF ENLISTMENT : Toowoomba, Queensland
PLACE OF BIRTH : Featherstone, England
RELIGION : Methodist
OCCUPATION : Farm Hand
DATE OF DEATH : 23/09/1943
PLACE OF BURIAL : Lae, Papua New Guinea

MEMORIALS : Tannymorel War Memorial, Killarney War Memorial, Warwick War Memorial, Tannymorel and District World War II Honour Roll, Southern Downs Rats of Tobruk Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour

View Veteran’s Service File : TART, Reece

NOTES : Reece Tart was a well-liked young man who had his whole life ahead of him. He was born at Featherstone, England on December 28, 1919. His parents David Henry & Mary Francis Tart decided to leave England and move to Australia. David worked at the Mt Colliery mines until he purchased a farm. The farm was named, “Poplar Farm”, and this is where Reece and his sisters were raised. They attended the local Tannymorel State School and after completing his schooling, Reece worked as a dairy farmer in the area.

21-year-old Reece was courting Dawn O’Donnell at the time of his enlistment in February 1941. Throughout his diaries we see how these sweethearts wrote to each other at least weekly and often on a daily basis, time permitting. Reece was always so happy to receive letters from home and especially from Dawn. They planned to get married as soon as the war was over.

Army life suited Reece and he often made comment in his diaries on how much he enjoyed his service and how he valued the close friendships he had formed with his fellow troops, both in his own battalion and others he met during his service.

Meeting up with old friends from home who were also serving while he was posted in the Middle East and New Guinea were cause for celebration. He was always keen to pass this information on in his letters back home. A few times he mentions meeting up with his good friend Tom Phillips. These two men had grown up together as boys and had even worked on the same dairy together as young men. Tom valued these meetings as much as Reece.

Another local man Reece fought with at Tobruk was Francis John (Barney) McCall. Both Reece and Barney were Rats of Tobruk.

Reece was a courageous soldier, an example to the men under his command, a man who was well respected by both his commanding officers and peers. He was keen to attain different skills and attended any courses offered with an enthusiastic attitude to achieve the best results he could so he could lead his men with skill and confidence. He often found things going on around him as “quite interesting”.

His family, girlfriend Dawn, his many friends at home and those he met, worked, and fought beside in the army were shocked and very saddened by his untimely death in Papua New Guinea. It is evident Reece made a positive and lasting impression on those who knew him.This is evident in the letter’s sent by his commanding officers to his parents after his death. For years, Dawn and several of his friends continued to commemorate his life with memorial notices in the newspaper on the anniversary of his death.

Read about Southern Downs Military History here.