18/06/2026
Raymond George KAIRL
Born WILMINGTON on 27th April 1921
~
Died in ADELAIDE on 19th June 2008 aged 87 years.
Raymond George KAIRL was born on 27th April 1921,at WILMINGTON to Eric Leslie and Edith Emily KAIRL (nee MASTERMAN) of WILMINGTON.
Raymond is recorded with the following known siblings:-
1.Arnold Royce KAIRL 1917–1985
2.Harold Leslie Abel KAIRL 1918-2005
3.( Raymond )
4.Joyce Selina Kairl BARKER 1922–1996
5.Margaret Clara Kairl HOSKINS 1923–2006
6.Gladys Mabel Kairl BURRIDGE 1926–2011
7.Frances Jean Kairl ELLIOT 1928–1998
8.Betty Dawn Kairl JONES 1929–1987
9.John Edward KAIRL 1930–2017
And 10. Ronda Lesley Kairl SEARLE 1931–2021
(although his memorial plate lists he was one of 16!)
Raymond was known to everyone as “George”.
It appears he was educated at TERKA and WILMINGTON Schools.
The Register newspaper reported on the 20th of February 1930 (page 20) George, the youngest son of Mr. and Mrs. E. L. Kairl, was severely scalded on the ' chest when he ran into his father, who' -was carrying a dish of hot water.
Raymond enlisted into the militia and served 3 years with the 9//23 Light Horse.
On October 11th 1943 Raymond married Betty SEANEGER, (born 6 Jan 1924) in Toowoomba, QLD ~ ( Betty died on 24th May 2000; in Toowoomba, QLD.)
Ray and Betty had three children, Lorelle, Rob and Ray. Ray (Jnr), sadly, died on the 17th day of May 1944 aged less than six months old and was buried in the Drayton & Toowoomba Cemetery.
Raymond enlisted into the 2nd AIF on the 16th of May 1941 at Wayville in SA. He was allocated army serial number SX12798. And was allotted to the 2/27th Infantry Battalion.
On enlistment he was described as 5’11” tall, 12 Stone, with fair complexion, light brown hair and blue eyes. He was described as having scarring on his neck, chest and arm and listed his address as WILMINGTON and his occupation as a Labourer. On other army paperwork he listed himself as a “farmer and butcher”
On Raymond embarked for the MIDDLE EAST on the 28th of June 1941. As part of the 21st Brigade of the 7th Australian Division, the 2/27th’s first operational assignment of war was to bolster the defences along the Egypt–Libya frontier against an expected German attack. It occupied positions at Maaten, Bagush and Matruh throughout much of April and May 1941, before returning to Palestine in preparation for its first offensive operation – the invasion of Syria and Lebanon, which began on 8 June.
The 2/27th was employed in the drive north along the Lebanon coast but most of its operations were outflanking moves in the hills that edged the coastal plain. Its major actions were at Adloun on 11 June, Miyeoumiye on 13–14 June and around El Boum, as part of the battle of Damour, between 6 and 9 July. After the armistice of 12 July, the 2/27th remained in Lebanon as part of the Allied garrison until 11 January 1942.
After sailing from Egypt on 30 January 1942, the 2/27th disembarked in Adelaide on 24 March. The battalion’s stay in Australia, however, was brief. On 14 August it arrived at Port Moresby in Papua, and by 6 September it was in position at Mission Ridge on the Kokoda Trail preparing to meet the relentless advance of the J*panese. The battalion held on to its positions for two days before being forced to pull out by a J*panese outflanking move that cut the Trail behind it.
A grim 2 week withdrawal through the jungle, with little food or supplies followed. Sick and exhausted, the 2/27th rejoined the main Australian force at Jawarere, 40 kilometres east of Port Moresby, on 22 September.
After a period of rest and retraining the 2/27th returned to action at Gona in late November. It suffered heavily in series of rushed and ill-conceived attacks and was further assailed by the ravages of tropical disease.
On 23rd November 1942 at GONA Raymond was injured receiving a gun shot wound to his left calf. He was hospitalised and later transferred to Australia for medical care.
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The “News” newspaper on Thursday 24 December 1942,( page 3) reported:-
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VIVID, STORIES OF PAPUA
Wounded Return –
Vivid pictures of the grim fighting at Buna and Gona have been brought back by the latest batch of wounded South Australians who have been admitted to an Army base hospital here. There are touches of wry humor, hints of tremendous will power and pluck, and spontaneous gratitude to the ex-cannibal carriers who today are becoming more widely known as the fuzzy-wuzzy angels.
THE J*panese were determined soldiers, but not so skilled as they had been made out. according to these returned men. They were very good at camouflage. but they soon became disorganised under an unexpected attack. Each individual soldier, how-ever, resisted tenaciously, and generally had to be wiped out, because he would not surrender.
One man described how, when advancing along the shore during the attack on Gona, he saw parties of J**s wandering about the beach, apparently uncertain what to do. These men were taken prisoner. The story of a company's 17-day trek back to its base through the bush after having been cut off by the J*panese at Efogi, was told by Private George Kairl, of Wilmington, who was wounded in the leg during the attack on Gona. They existed for the 17 days on occasional yams and sweet potatoes eaten raw, after having been "scrounged" from deserted native gardens. Hard Army training stood them in good stead, and they all got back safely, carrying 11 stretcher cases with them.
"When we found the J**s be-hind us, we went bush, and worked our way round along the ridges,'' he said. "To avoid the trails which led to J*panese-occupied. villages, we hacked our way through the moss-covered vines and bush with bayonets.'
"Every afternoon it poured with rain, but we dragged ourselves along through the mud, hanging on to trees sometimes to keep ourselves from falling flat through weakness. "Sometimes we went up to four days without food, sleeping with only a groundsheet for covering. We were glad to rise in the mornings to stretch our cold and cramped limbs. "Our matches gave out in the first few days, and after that we had no warmth or smokes. Insects tormented us, except when we were high up on the ridges, trekking along with the cloud-filled valleys on either side."
Stew Looked Good
ABOUT four miles a day was good going, said Pte. Kairl. Sometimes they managed only two the stronger men helping their weaker comrades. "When we got back they fed us up like lords," he grinned. "The first whacking great meal I had was of Army stew. It was the first time Army stew had looked really good to me."
After a week's rest and good food, they marched over the trail over the Owen Stanleys. and took part in the attack on Gona, where Pte. Kairl was wounded in the leg by a bullet. Although wounded, he counts that day the luckiest of his life.
*'We were pinned down by machine-gun fire about a quarter mile from the village of Gona." he said. "We lay in grass two feet high. "At 10 a.m. a bullet tore through my haversack at lunch time a bullet glanced off my Bren gun, and burnt my arm, and about 2 p.m. another bullet perforated the roll strapped on to the back of my belt. I crawled 200 yards back through the mud to the regimental aid post." The J*panese shooting from treetops were not trained snipers, but generally part of their front-line troops, said Corporal Bill Grifflths, from Burra, who led a section in the attack on Gona.
The difficulty of discovering the J*panese in their camouflage was described by Private Matt Quigley, of St. Peters. In an attack on a machine-gun post they could not tell where the fire was coming from, because it was covered by fire from other sectors. The post was dug in behind logs, and they were on top of it before they knew.
A hand gr***de rolled on the ground between him and an officer. He yelled a warning to the officer, and threw himself flat. The officer was killed, and Quigley was wounded in several places by fragments.
MODEST HERO
Corporal Jack O'Brien, of Minnipa West, was at Milne Bay, but omitted to mention to the interviewer that he had just been awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal. He said that the J*panese tanks there "annoyed" the Australians, because the diggers were prevented by mud from getting their anti-tank guns into' action. "Our boys tried everything to stop them," he said. "Some of them hopped on the tanks-but could not get the lids off!
"Generally the J**s did not dis-play the masterly tactics which we have come to expect from them. At Milne Bay they made a number of serious mistakes." Private J. Bates, of Wilcannia, said the J*panese bombing of a field hospital at Soputa on November 27 was deliberate and callous. "We could do nothing," said Bates. "We had to stay with the wounded and stretcher cases. Twenty-nine were killed and 31 wounded. The dead included two of our doctors."
KILLED IN TRENCH
Pte. R. S. Honson, of Broken Hill, said that there was only one slit trench close to the hospital. A couple of Americans and some natives were the only ones close enough to get there, but a bomb scored a direct hit on the trench and they were all killed. Private Bates said the native carriers were wonderful and gentle. At night they would camp round their patient so that no one could interfere with him. "If there is any fund for those; native carriers I will slap a few quid in." declared Private R. Runholm, of Morgan.
They carried him all one morning after he received a bullet through, a leg at Buna. Private M.. Mclntyre, of Cleve. was in action at Gona without seeing one J*p. Finally, a sniper put a bullet through his arm-but he did not even see him.
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An article in the News on Thursday 24 December 1942,( page 3)
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Lost in Jungle, Later Decorated
Capt. A. J. Lee
LOST for 14 days in thick jungle early in the New Guinea campaign, Captain Arthur James Lee, of South Australia, led his company safely back to his unit, and later took part in a dangerous rearguard action in the Owen Stanley Ranges, which earned him a Bar to his Military Cross.
He won the Military Cross in Syria. His Bar was for "exemplary courage in leading his company under intense fire from the J*panese at ranges of from 20 to 30 yards." As his company with-drew he stayed behind with two volunteers and halted the advancing enemy.
Capt. Lee is a son of the president of the Licensed Victuallers Association (Mr. Arthur J. Lee). He was manager of the Berri Hotel before he enlisted two and a half years ago. His brother, Captain Jack Lee, has also been in action in New Guinea. AT MILNE BAY Captain (now Major) G. R. Miethke, of Angas street, Alberton, gained the Military Cross in an action believed to have taken place at Milne Bay.
Attacked by J*panese tanks and infantry, he led his men in fierce counter attacks that eventually drove the J*panese back and saved the rest of the battalion from heavy casualties. Major Miethke, who is 26. was formerly an accountant in the Taxation Department. He has been in England, Egypt, Palestine. and Syria. He returned to Australia last March.
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By the time 2/27th was relived on 6 January 1943, it was only 70 strong. The 2/27th returned to Australian in mid-January but was back in Papua by early August. It spent a month training near Port Moresby before being flown to Kaipit in New Guinea to take part in the advance along the Ramu Valley. Leaving Kaipit on 29 September, the 21st Brigade reached Dumpu on 4 October and then began pushing up into the Finisterre Ranges. The 2/27th occupied several key features during these operations and bore the brunt of the one major counterattack launched by the J*panese on 12 October. Thereafter, the 2/27th’s operations were principally patrol actions. It began returning to Port Moresby on 3 January 1944 and arrived back in Australia on 1 March 1944.
After his wounding Raymond was regularly having ‘run ins’ with the military for behavioural or AWOL (Absent WithOut Leave) matters. On the 26th of April 1944 Raymond was re hospitalised with complications of the old gunshot wound.
On the 22nd of November 1945 Raymond in Australia and was discharged from the Australian Military Forces due to the end of WW2.
Raymond earned the 1939-1945 star, the Pacific Star, Defence Medal, the War Medal and the Active Service Medal but didn’t collect them.
By 1949 Raymond and family were living in EAST TOOWOOMBA, QLD (according to the 1949 electoral rolls) Ray moved back to SA and was at one stage listed as a Linesman with BHP WHYALLA.
In 1995 Ray contacted the Army Records Office seeking copies of his records. At this time he was living at 6 Symes Street WHYALLA. As a result of the correspondence in September 1989, he requested the issue of his medals. It appears they were issued shortly afterwards.
Raymond had moved into the RSL VILLAS at Trafford Street ANGLE PARK and died on the 19th June 2008 aged 87 years of age at Adelaide. He is interred at WILMINGTON General Cemetery.
LEST WE FORGET
