QX31731 Corporal Kenneth Hilton Taylor
2/10 Australian Infantry Battalion
by Robert Simpson
Kenneth Hilton Taylor was born on 19th December 1906 in Singleton, New South Wales, a son to John William Taylor and Anne Welsh. He was one of eight children to them. John and Anne had been married in 1900 in Singleton. All their children were born in Singleton. John had been born in Blackwood Lancashire England in 1876 and Anne in Tambo Springs NSW in about 1877. In the 1931 electoral roll, they were living at Springsure at Carmila and he was a farmer. Another family tree notes that John passed away about 1939 in New South Wales (to be confirmed). Anne was living at Carmila in the 1949 electoral roll, with her son Aubrey, who was a farm labourer. She passed away on 9th May 1957 in Queensland.
Their first born was Daisy Gwendoline Taylor, born on 1st June 1901. In the 1935 electoral roll, she was living at 26 Cassino Road Lismore and had married Christopher George Cowan (in 1921), a porter. She died on 6th July 1977 and is buried at Northern Rivers Memorial Park in Lismore. Christopher had died in 1971.
Verena Mary Taylor was born on 2nd August 1902. In the 1968 electoral roll, she was living at 15 Joseph Street, with Edward Gilbert Leal (married in 1937), a cleaner and Wendy Mary Leal, a nurse. She passed away on 16th November 1977 and is buried in Northern Rivers Memorial Park in Lismore. Edward died in 1975.
James Fletcher Taylor was born on 29th February 1904. He married Maud Elizabeth Parrott in Queensland in 1932. He enlisted for WW2 in Sarina, serving as Private Q215468 and was discharged from 15th Battalion Volunteer Defence Corps (Qld) on 21st October 1945. His service records have not yet been examined. Nothing else is known about them.
Janet Maxwell Taylor was born on 27th March 1905. She married Edgar Robert Boase Stratford in 1925 in Lismore. In the 1968 electoral roll, they are living at 122 Wyrallah Road Lismore and he had no occupation. She died on 26th April 1996 and is buried in Lismore Memorial Gardens. He died in 1983.
Aubrey Neville Taylor was born in 1908. He was a farm labourer at Carmila (in central Queensland) in the 1958 electoral roll. By the 1977 roll, he had moved to 60 Juliet Street Mackay and was retired. He died there in 1987.
John Leonard Taylor was born on 5th September 1910. He served in WW2 as QX2857, joining at Carmila. He was discharged on 23rd February 1945 as a Private at Headquarters of 25th Australian Infantry Brigade. His serviced records have not yet been examined. John died in Mackay in 1999.
Annie Violet Taylor was born in 1913. She married Vincent Edmond Scully in 1930 in Queensland. In the 1963 electoral roll she is living with him at Evans Heads. He had no occupation listed. In the 1980 roll, she was by herself at Currajong Street Evans Heads. No other records can be found for her.
Kenneth was living in Toowoomba in the 1928 electoral roll at Hawarden in Hume Street and was a clerk. He was still there in the 1930 roll and by the 1931 roll had moved to Glene House, 133 Herries Street with the same occupation. In the 1934 roll, he had moved to Freemason’s Hotel, Herries Street with the same occupation. Between Toowoomba and Cairns, Kenneth lived in Townsville where he ran a Singer Sewing machine shop. It was here that he first met Ethel Alice Rogers. By the 1936 roll, he had moved to Cairns, living at 182 McLeod Street and he was list as a traveller in the roll. He ran a Singer Sewing machine shop in Cairns, as he had done previously in Townsville, and later he ran a mobile library in and around the Cairns area. The same details were recorded in the 1937 roll. In the 1939 roll, he was living at Hayles’ Flats, Esplanade in Cairns by himself and he was a traveller.
The Sunday Mail in Brisbane on Sunday 15th August 1937 had on page 6:
“Marriages
TAYLOR — ROGERS.— On 26th July, 1937, at Cairns, Kenneth Hilton, second Son of Mr. and Mrs. John Taylor, of “Carmila.” Mackay, to Ethel Alice, second Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Wyndham J. Rogers, of Hermit Park, Townsville.” They married in the Cairns Registry Office. Ethel had been born in 1905 in Willesden Green, Middlesex and had come to Queensland with her parents and family, leaving London on 7th May 1913 on Waipara. Ethel had previously been married to Eric Laurence Marsland on 14th August 1926 in Queensland. Eric had been born in 1896 in Mt Morgan and had served in WW1. When he enlisted on 25th November 1915, he stated his birth place as Maryborough and his occupation as wool classer. He was Gunner 20976 with the 15th Reinforcements of 13th Field Artillery Brigade. He arrived in France and was sick with trench fever in 1917. He only returned to his unit in January 1918. After dealing with an abscess in April 1919 and doing a course in England, he returned to Australia in October 1919. He was entitled to a pair. Eric and Ethel had a girl. They divorced in 1935 and their daughter wrote a story on what happened to her afterwards: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29423256-wednesdays-child . Eric had a brother, Hugh Lambert Marsland, born in 1895, who served with the 11th Light Horse Regiment, rising to the rank of Captain during the war. He was Mentioned in Despatches by General Allenby and awarded the Military Cross. He fought on Gallipoli with the 2nd Light Horse. His Military Cross was awarded for “distinguished services in the field in connection with Military operations culminating in the capture of Jerusalem.” He served in WW2 as Q3000 Lieutenant-Colonel with HQ Northern Command and was awarded Australian Efficiency Decoration.
Kenneth enlisted in Brisbane on 22nd April 1942. He was living in Cairns at that time. Kenneth was a bit of a dare-devil type of man and always up for adventure. He abandoned his wife Ethel and went off to war with his mate. When he enlisted, he was in his mid-30’s. He trained up on the Atherton Tablelands at a place called Wondecla and was shipped out to New Guinea from Townsville. In World War II as part of the Atherton Project, tent encampments were established by the Australian Army (6th and 7th Divisions) near Wondecla, Wongabel, and Ravenshoe. While training at Wondecla, he visited his step-daughter, who was in boarding school at St. Mary’s on the Atherton Tableland. His next of kin was listed as K Taylor. He was given the service number QX31731. As he served after WW2, his service records are not available to view, so not much is known about what he did.
He is recorded in the 1941 and 1943 electoral rolls at Tropical Flats, 44 Abbott Street Cairns with Ethel, and he was a traveller. It was from this place that he ran the mobile library. When he went off to war, Ethel was told that she had to move south to Brisbane – as did most of the civilian population of Cairns who were not involved in war related work. It was feared at the time that Australia would be invaded by the Japanese. The Royal Australian Air Force took over the flat at 44 Abbott Street in Cairns. The entire mobile library was left at the flat. No compensation was ever received for the many hundreds of books. Kenneth told his Grandson, Don Morrisson that on the ship en-route to New Guinea he was told he would be a Bren Gunner. He had not heard of nor seen such a weapon in his short training period. His superior said, “Don’t worry, we’ll give you one when you get there!” They did and Kenneth said it constantly jammed until he found one that was made in the U.K. He later became a runner and said that he was one of the oldest men in his company. On one occasion while carrying a message through the jungle he came upon three Japanese soldiers eating lunch. He said that he ran one way as fast as he could and the three Japanese the other. No shots were fired! Kenneth loved the Army life and often spoke to Don when he was very young about his wartime experiences. He certainly did not glorify war, and even though he was a young child, Kenneth spared Don none of the gruesome stories.
The Australian War Memorial gives a good description of what the 2/10 Battalion did in WW2 and after returning from the Middle East in early 1942, goes on to say: “Papua was the 2/10th’s next battleground and the battles it fought there were its most bitter and costly. It arrived at Milne Bay on 12 August and on the night of 27 August was overwhelmed by Japanese marines in a confused battle. The battalion fared even worse in its next engagement – Buna. Between 23 December and 2 January the 2/10th lost 113 men killed and 205 wounded in often ill-conceived attacks against Japanese bunkers around the old airstrip. The 2/10th’s final engagement in Papua was at Sanananda between 9 and 24 January 1943. It returned home on 12 March 1943.
The 2/10th returned to Papua in early August 1943. It trained around Port Moresby until deployed to the Finisterre Mountains in New Guinea on 31 December, where it participated in the operations to secure Shaggy Ridge between 4 January and 1 February 1944. Arriving back in Australia on 8 May, the 2/10th spent a year training before undertaking its final operation of the war. On 1 July 1945 the battalion landed at Balikpapan in Borneo and stormed the heights of Parramatta Ridge. In ensuing days it cleared the Japanese from in and around Balikpapan town, and was withdrawn into reserve on 6 July. It did not carry out another active role before the war ended on 15 August 1945. 2/10th personnel were progressively returned to Australia for discharge and with a cadre of only 42 remaining, the battalion disbanded at Balikpapan on 29 December 1945.”
Like so many men who fought them, Kenneth had a deep-seated hatred for the Japanese, yet he respected them as soldiers.
When Kenneth returned from New Guinea, he brought with him a pair of Zeiss binoculars that he had retrieved from the body of a dead Japanese officer. He said that the dead man was all bloated and covered in flies and, as he was concerned that the man’s body had been booby-trapped, (as the Japanese often did), he used a bayonet fixed to a .303 rifle to remove the lanyard from around the deceased man’s neck.
When Don was a young child about 7, he would love to watch Kenneth through those binoculars as he boarded the train at Taringa station; all dressed in his army uniform bound for Victoria Barracks. Kenneth always referred to these binoculars as “the bl***y stinking dead Japs’ Binos”.
Before Don set off to the U.S. on business in 1988, Kenneth was in a Bundaberg hospital. His mother said that he should drive up and visit him before he left as Kenneth was not doing very well. He went up and saw him and on leaving said that he’d see him when he returned home in 10 days’ time. Kenneth replied that he would not be here, that he’d had enough and was ‘leaving.’ He then told me that his medals were in his dresser draw and that he had put the binoculars into a Bundaberg jewellery shop to have them cleaned, as they had a fungus on the inside of the lens. He said the receipt was on his dresser top.
Upon returning from the U.S. a brother met Don at the Brisbane airport and they drove straight to Bundaberg for Kenneth’s funeral. Don’s mother searched everywhere for the binocular receipt and never found it and he rang just about all the stores in Bundaberg and none knew anything about them.
About seven years ago, Don was at a military/ gun show in Brisbane and was about to leave when he walked past a stall where a man with a thick Liverpudlian accent was selling binoculars. They got chatting and Don told him about the lost binoculars. He said he was ‘an expert’ on Zeiss binoculars and that as far as he was aware the company never made them with brown leather covering (at least not during WW2), and that he had never heard of any being supplied to the Japanese military, especially ones with English letters in one lens that could be used for plotting artillery. He then proceeded to pull a pair from a plastic tub on the floor and hand them to him. They were exactly as he remembered Kenneth’s binoculars and of course, he said that he’d buy them then and there. By now the man was intrigued and asked him where Kenneth lived. He told him Bundaberg and he didn’t know where that was from Brisbane, but said that he had bought them off e-bay from a man in Maryborough. He also said that by the photo posted, he thought that they were a fake, that someone had put together a few different pairs of Zeiss binoculars, or that they weren’t Zeiss at all. He went into great detail as to why he thought this (he really did know a lot about Zeiss binoculars)!
He wouldn’t sell them to Don but instead wanted to do some research with Zeiss. This he did and almost a year later rang him and said that they were very rare Zeiss indeed and that the Zeiss Company had supplied a few dozen pairs to the Japanese military before WW2. He learned this through serial numbers etc. He said that he would clean them up for Don to come and get them, as he had no doubt what-so-ever that they were Kenneth’s binoculars and therefore his!
Kenneth was discharged from the AIF on 7th July 1948 as a Corporal in 2/10 Australian Infantry Battalion. Kenneth was sent home to Australia from New Guinea in very poor health. It was feared that on his arrival in Brisbane that he would die. He was covered in tropical ulcers and spent many months in hospital recovering. When Kenneth arrived back in Brisbane, he was so sick Ethel felt sorry for him and decided that she would ‘take him back,’ according to the family.
His Certificate of Discharge from Australian Military Forces was numbered 384907. It showed that Corporal QX 31731 Kenneth Hilton Taylor 2/10 Australian Infantry Battalion served on continuous full-time war service in the Australian Imperial Force from 22nd April 1942 to 30th June 1947 and the Interim Army from 1st July 1947 to 7th July 1948. He had a total effective period of 2269 days which included active service in Australia for 1431 days 465 days outside Australia. He received no other decorations or wards for that service, apart from his war medals. He was issued War Badge R.A.S. No. 358940 and was discharged from the Interim Army on 7th July 1948 in Brisbane. It was signed by the Officer in Charge of Northern Army Command Records Office on 12th August 1948. His description on discharge was: height 5 foot 6 inches with grey eyes, a fresh complexion and fair hair. He had a scar on his right knee. His Trade Group in which he was employed during his Army Service was listed as clerk. Ken signed the form for a specimen signature. Afterwards, it would seem he was posted to Victoria Barracks in Brisbane, where he spent many years. Kenneth stayed in the army after WW2 and worked until his retirement at Victoria Barracks in Brisbane.
By the 1949 electoral roll, they were living at “Shale” Kings Road at Taringa and he was listed as a soldier.
A picture of Ken, taken mid-1951 in his backyard in Taringa Brisbane with a Granddaughter, Claire Morrisson, who became a successful Australian singer in the U.K. and Europe. Don and Claire were part of the group Xanadu, who enjoyed considerable international success and spent almost 10 years in the U.K. They had records released around the globe and had a massive hit in Germany. They also toured Vietnam and Don wrote a book on it- “A Dangerous Place to Play”, which was only one available anywhere that tells what it was like for musicians under contract to USARV-MACV during the war. This is one of their songs – https://youtu.be/pStohugj0BE
Don wrote a book on the experiences the band had in Vietnam: https://www.amazon.com.au/Dangerous-Place-Play-Story-Vietnam-ebook/dp/B019YCP73Y
A picture of Ken having a morning tea break at Victoria Barracks.
In the 1954 roll, they were still living at the same place in Taringa. The 1959 roll lists it as 21 Kings Road Taringa. The house in 2013 is below, sold for $920,000.
The old Australian flag that flew at Victoria Barracks, Brisbane was presented to Corporal Kenneth Hilton Taylor. His last posting was there. He served there for many years until his retirement from the Australian Army in the 1960’s. His Commanding Officer presented him with the flag when he retired, as it had been his job to see to it that it was correctly raised and lowered each day. The museum has this flag.
In the 1968 electoral roll, they were living at Murdocks Road Moore Park via Bundaberg and Kenneth was a gardener. The same details were recorded in the 1972 roll. By the 1977 roll, they were living at 10A River Terrace Bundaberg and he had retired. In the 1980 electoral roll they were still living at 10A River Terrace Bundaberg (below).
Ethel passed away on 9th July 1982 and was cremated in Bundaberg on 12th July 1982. Her notice in the Bundaberg News Mail read: “TAYLOR: Ethel Alice, late of 10A River Terrace, Bundaberg passed away on 9th July 1982, dearly beloved wife of Kenneth, loved mother and mother-in-law of Heather Morrisson, Burnie (deceased) and loved Grandmother of Barry, Claire and Donald. Aged 76 Years. At Rest. Relatives and friends are invited to attend her Cremation Service to be held at the Chapel of the Bundaberg Crematorium, today MONDAY, commencing at 11a.m.”
Kenneth passed away on 30th June 1988 in Bundaberg. His service was at the Bundaberg Crematorium on 4th July 1988. His notice in the News Mail reads: “TAYLOR, Kenneth Hilton: Late of 10A River Terrace, Bundaberg. Passed away peacefully at the Bundaberg Base Hospital on 30th June, 1988. Dearly beloved husband on the late Ethel Alice, loving stepfather and grandfather of Heather, Claire and Dave, Don and Anna, Barrie and Hazel, loved brother, brother-in-law and uncle of Daisy Cowan (Lismore), Jean Stratford (Lismore), Ann Scully (Evans Heads), Eunice Pini (Mackay), John Taylor (Mackay), and Vera Leal, Aubrey Taylor and James (all deceased) and their respective families. Aged 81 years. “At Rest.” Relatives and friends of the late Kenneth Hilton Taylor are respectfully invited to attend his Funeral Service which is appointed to be held in the Chapel of the Bundaberg Crematorium on MONDAY NEXT, 4th July, 1988, commencing at 1pm. No flowers by request. A.K. & S.M. SMART Funeral Directors”.
The family called them “Kenny” and “Tay”.
His medals are 1939-35 Star, Pacific Star, 1939-45 War Medal, Australian Service Medal and Long Service and Good Conduct medal with clasp Australia.
The museum does not have his Australian Service Medal and the ribbon bar is missing the 1939-45 Star.
With thanks to Don Morrisson for his input, corrections and stories.
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