Hi, Just a note to bring to your attention, the Milne Bay Military Museum, originally HQ for 11th Light Horse, Toowoomba, then the headquarters of the 25th Battalion, The Darling Downs Regiment, now will undertake family research of your ancestor if he/she served in either of the two great wars we didn't have to have. You will need the serial number of the person and his/her name for them to send for the details. They do not have them on site but can get them from the Archives for us, (saves a bit of paper work on our behalf). There is a small fee involved. Please contact the Museum at P.O. Box 94, Toowoomba, Qld, 4350, for more details.......PS I have no connection with the Museum, but think it is lousy, that they are having some much trouble with government red tape. They are attempting to stage a re-inactment to mark the 60th anniversary of the march our troops made from Cabarlah to Spring Bluff to catch the train to Brisbane and from there to " hell's entrance" - the war back in 1942 but getting nowhere from all levels of government, and the local defence forces in so far as co-operation etc and promotion, so I'm told. Cheers Jim

Dear Jim, thanks for that information about the military records available. My father was conscripted into the Army in WW2 and was in Cabarlah. He said that he soon learned not to volunteer for anything. However, one day while on parade, the sargeant in command asked if there were any carpenters and joiners in the company. They were to step forward. My father thought they would be sent to build something at the camp, so he and others stepped forward. When he, and others stepped forward, the sargeant dismissed the other soldiers and told the handful of carpenters and joiners to follow him. They did. To their surprise,and delight, they were mustered out of the army and sent back to their joinery and carpentry employers and were under a type of contract (as my father explained to me) with the army to build munition boxes and that is what he did for the duration of the war. Unfortunately, I do not know his army registration number or the dates of his service in Cabarlah, but I believe that he was there for a number of months before being mustered out. cheers, Beverly.