Captain Wilfred Garnet Hope

Captain Wilfred Garnet Hope

Wilfred Garnet Hope was the second son of Garnet John Hope and his wife Christian Thurgate (nee Lovett) and was born on 29 June 1912 in St Leonards, New South Wales although his sister and two brothers were all born in Hobart.

Wilfred enlisted in the Australian Militia Forces on 29 December 1932 and described himself as a farmer who lived and worked at “Restdown”, Mount Direction which was on the east bank of the Derwent River.

However he was discharged from the militia on 1 July 1934 when he moved to Killara in New South Wales where he worked as a mechanic. Then in 1936 he was a station overseer at “Roseneath”, Tenterfield NSW, the property of Lt Colonel Sir Michael Bruxner, a prominent member of the NSW Parliament. He returned to Tasmania in 1937 and was again living at “Restdown” with his parents and his sister Eileen.

On 25 May 1940 he married Elizabeth Veronica Thomson at the Church of the Holy Ghost, Sandy Bay, Tasmania. The bride was known as Beth when she was married but later on is usually referred to as Bessie.

They were living at 47 Fitzroy Crescent, Hobart and he was working as an engineer when on 12 April 1941 he was called up for continuous full time duty as the officer in charge of the M. T. Pool, Section 6 District Ordnance Depot in Hobart with the rank of Lieutenant. He then volunteered to join the A.I.F. Reserve on 30 May 1942, retaining his rank. At this time his home address was 47 Fitzroy Crescent, Hobart, Tasmania.

This appointment was part of the response to the urgent need to improve the infrastructure which was necessary to maintain the fighting capacity of the Australian Army at the time. In 1939 the Australian Army Ordnance Department in Australia was understaffed, mainly by civilian workers and in the Middle East soldiers from the Australian Army Ordnance Company worked in the British Ordnance Depots.

At first the Ordnance Corps was responsible the maintenance and repair of vehicles but in 1942 this function was transferred to the newly formed Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.

Wilfred had been transferred on 13 Oct 1942 from Australian Army Ordnance Corps (Admin & Stores) to A.A.O.C. (Mech Engs) and was then transferred to the Corps of A.E.&M.E. on 1 December 1942 having already moved to Queensland where he had joined the 95 L.A.D. (Light Aid Detachment) which was attached to the 2/9 Armoured Regiment. It is also noted in the records that his daughter (Robin) was born on 31 December 1942 and his home address was now 53 Montague Street, New Farm in Brisbane.

L.A.D. workshops were attached to a particular unit to provide on-the-spot repairs and the maintenance of mechanical equipment. According to Lt Col Neil Smith a LAD was typically “commanded by a Lieutenant or Captain with a largely technical staff of tradesmen with qualifications suited to the type of parent unit to which the LAD was attached. A typical personnel establishment would include a Staff Sergeant and 11 Other Ranks. Trades included were usually four fitters, an armourer, four drivers including a batman, an electrician, a technical storeman from AAOC and a cook. Clearly if the parent unit was say an artillery regiment, there would be a greater number of gun artificers or if signals, more electrical trades would be represented. The LAD was usually equipped with two Light General Service Vans, a 3 ton breakdown lorry, a three ton stores and spare parts lorry and a garage trailer and carried the normal range of weapons and a light machine gun.” (Neil Smith, The Light Aid Detachments in World War Two, Mostly Unsung Military History research and Publications, Brighton Victoria, 2006)

Wilfred was appointed Captain and O.C. 95 L.A.D. on 25 August 1943 but in August 1944 he was reallotted for duty in Tasmania. His home address was now 9 Cressy Street, New Town, Tasmania and his army service concluded on 25 February 1945.