The war diaries from January 1942 have been uploaded. Major Rix is the Officer Commanding and he needs to deal with the water supply issues due to the freezing weather. There are also issues with rowdyism in the wet canteen, possibly a sign that the soldiers have been on Yorke Island too long. In addition there are problems with soldiers writing on the walls in the latrine. Major Rix was probably happy to see the 31 Battery personnel depart for Stanley Park Fort and the 85 Battery personnel return to Yorke.
The war diaries from December 1941 have been uploaded. Major Ransom was the Officer Commanding and the 7 December Part I Orders contains the attached Warning order, subsequent orders canceled all leave and imposed black out on the island. The Lions Gate Riding & Polo Club provided a Christmas donation, all cameras were prohibited (Which may explain a shortage of photos from this timeframe), Thompson sub machine guns were requested and several bring to rounds were fired. What's new for January 1941 on Yorke Island? Major Theo Dumoulin was the Officer Commanding. There was a measles quarantine, a meningitis outbreak, a request for replacement cobbler equipment, the installation of the Q.F. 6-Pdr Hotchkiss gun, discussion about major war vessel identification, a letter regarding a United Service Institute meeting, difficulties with the 1934 Chevrolet light truck on the Island, bring-to rounds, completion of the rifle range and a problem with light bulbs (40 blew out in one day - could it be a generator problem?). Check out the latest January 1941 upload here.
The final Bombardier Blackburn photos have been uploaded. The album will now be stored in our Museum and Archive collection. The photos will be accessioned into our collection so that they will be properly accounted for and available for researchers. Your task is to read through the Yorke Island War Diaries and see if you can connect any of the photos to events described in the diaries. Email me if you find any connection!
More photos from the Bombardier Blackburn collection. Would anyone like to scan the War Diaries from 1940 to find when he might have landed on Yorke Island?
Another 20 photos have been uploaded to the Bombardier Blackburn page. There's a few that are copies of photos that we have received from other collections. I wonder if they were printed whenever someone went on leave and then shared around the barracks? Or were they printed after the war and shared between Yorke Island buddies?
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