Volunteer Defence Corps
The Volunteer Defence Corps(VDC) was a part time, unpaid, volunteer service, modelled on the British Home Guard. It was created on 6th June 1940 at a meeting of the Returned and Services League(R&SL) when the men of Western Australia wanted to do something to help defend their country.
Initially it was not recognised, funded or equipped by the regular Army, and the R&SL and the volunteers themselves had to provide whatever they needed. In the beginning it was only open to ex-servicemen but that requirement was relaxed by early 1941.
By late 1941, the Army had recognised the value of the Volunteer Defence Corps and took over responsibility for equipping, training and organising the men. It was taken under the umbrella of the Citizen Military Force but with different conditions of service. When the Citizen Military Force went to New Guinea the VDC carried out the CMF home duties and were involved in plane spotting and manning anti-aircraft installations, coast watching and manning the coast defence installations, protecting and patrolling around vital industries.
In Western Australia, the Volunteer Defence Corps was arranged into 16 Battalions. The records of these Battalions can be accessed via the icons on this page. The personal records of VDC members can be accessed via the alphabet tabs. Publications that concern all of the battalions are recorded under the General VDC Photos and Documents tab.
The Volunteer Defence Corps was officially disbanded late 1945.
VDC members were awarded the Australia Service Medal 1939-1945 for three or more years service.
The National Emergency Service was formed on 1st February 1939 and trained men and women as air raid wardens. This Service was not a part of the Volunteer Defence Corps but its members all volunteered their time and the personal records of its members can be accessed via this page.
ABBOTT, David
ADAMS, Francis Kilner - 7202, W68621
ADAMS, Richard
ALLAN, Alexander Niven - W48132
ANDERSON, Stanley John - W17032
ANDREW, John Douglas - 2828, W68900
ASHBURNER, John Joseph - W68811
ASHWORTH, Walter - 1689, W82920
AUGER, Albert
BAILEY, Harry Edward - W69481
BAKER, Henry Arthur James - W68891
BAKER, John Alexander - W47754
BAKER, William Robert - W68944
BAMBROOK, Gordon Lindsay - 2765
BARKER, Kenneth Louis
BARKER, William Arthur
BARRETT, William - 1519
BATES, Alfred Frank - 6718, W68893
BATEY, Norman Henry - WX33429
BEDFORD, Stuart Harold - W68942
BENNETT, Henry Gordon - N76069, NX70343
BESSELL-BROWNE, Alfred Joseph - W47915
BESSELL-BROWNE, Selwyn - W69480
BETTLES, Herbert Frederick
BICK, Walter James - WX33900
BICKLE, Herbert Thomas - 5987, W69234
BILKEY, Richard - W68761
BINGHAM, Henry James - W18758
BLACKHALL, Harcourt - W47968
BLAKE, Frederick Charles - 2384
BOVELL, Mervyn Frank
BOWRA, Nowell Maynard - WX6428
BOYD, Richard Stuart - W69431
BOYD, William Leighton - 7028, W67116
BRAY, Ernest Gilbert - 3990, W46123
BRICKHILL, Raymond Lennard - W57514
BRINDLE, Thomas Henry - W56218, WX38416
BROOKES, Arthur - W48888
BROOKS, Percival Clyde
BROWN, Frank Eric - WX36773
BROWN, Herbert Joseph - W68614
BROWN, John Forbes - W48113
BYRNE, Jack Alan - 2575
BYRNE, Michael John - W68812
CASSIDY, Edmund Joseph - W47986
CHAMBERLAIN, Walter Leslie - W69435
CHATFIELD, Thomas Ashworth
CLARKE, Arthur - W68902
CLOVER, Harold George - W48147
COBURN, Thomas John - W82843
COLBOURNE, William - 17451
COLLINS, William Thomas - 22005, W68764
COMBELLACK, Thomas John - W48146
COOK, Allon Francis - W48126
COOK, John Robert - W48185
CROWTHER, Robert Calder - 38, W47966
DAWSON, Arthur Wilfred
DAY, Walter Warner - 2652, W68886
DE BURGH, Ewart Keith - WX5152
DE CATANIA, Francis - W68951
DEMASSON, Bayly Gordon
DEMASSON, Ronald Hubert - W62757
DEVERELL, David - W69552, WX21923
DEWING, Edward John - 1993, W69526
DICKENSON, John Henry - W48254
DOWNEY, Leonard William
DUCAS, Roy Purves
DUFF, James - W68898
DUNSTER, George Henry - 422
DURY, Vernon John - 82114, W69532
ECCLES, Robert George
EDGECOMBE, George McDonald - W69439
EDGELOE, Stuart Alwyn - W47985
ELLERY, Andrew Maxwell - W48115
ENTWISTLE, Albert - W69455
EVANS, Brynmor Rhys
EVANS, Howard Lindon - 5967, W47857
FAWELL, Samuel James - W68895
FERGUSON, Donald Henry - 1866, W69479
FERGUSON, Joseph Beresford - 5173055, W26708
FEUTRILL, Harry Edward - 1942, W48108
FEUTRILL, John Thomas - W48129
FINLAY, Wilfred Lennard
FLETCHER, George Wesley
FORDHAM, Noel Archibald - 1240, W48085
FOSTER, Archibald
FOSTER, Horace Victor
FREETH, Robert Evelyn
FRY, Thomas Wilfred
GALLOWAY, James - W68999
GARDINER, Robin - W82352
GARDINER, Ronald Keith - W56206, 80283
GARRETT, Frank
GEDDES, Leonard William - W47973
GOLDSPINK, Derick Jack - W48128
GOLDSPINK, Herbert John - W68750
GRACE, John Francis
GRAFHAM, Thomas Leslie - W68814
GRAY, John Geddes
GREAVES, Archibald William - 7059, W48119
GRIFFITHS, Charles Matthew - 3401
GROVES, Charles - 383
GUEST, Ronald Grenville Robert - W68810
GUY, Alfred Alexander - W47967
HADDRILL, Douglas James - WX33854
HADDRILL, Eric - W68890
HAINING, Harold Roy - 38162, W17288
HAMERSLEY, Herbert George - 3658, W69458
HAMILTON, Bruce Douglas - W69445
HANSON, Roy William
HARDIE, Charles Richard - W69274
HARRISON, Rodney
HARRISON, Sidney - 3346
HART, Harold Ramsay
HAWTHORNE, Percy Harold - W69438
HEWITT, John Chamberlain - W68945
HIDE, Kenneth Gordon - W95769, WX38688
HILLS, Robert Bernard - 2148
HILTON, Maxwell Cecil
HOBBS, Edwin Henry - W73688
HODGES, Leslie Edward Charles - W63070
HOFF, Charles Frederick William - W68603
HOLDCROFT, John Henry - W68854
HOLLAMBY, Archibald William
HOOPER, Victor - W47772
HOOPS, William Lockier - W68885
HOOTON, Stanley Nelson - W48180
HORE, Edgar Brassey - 190166
HOWARD, Norman - W68760
HUSBAND, John Blyth - W56188, WX38315
JACKSON, Charles Henry - W69428
JACKSON, Ernest - 50907, W69434
JACKSON, Ernest Alexander - 3376, W48500
JACKSON, Leslie Garfield
JAMES, Joseph William Arnold - W82107
JAMES, Reginald Brand - 1336, W73101
JOHN, Ronald Douglas
JONES, Lloyd George - W68932
JONES, William Michael - W69449
JOSLIN, John Benjamin David
KARLOVSKY, Clement Hubert
KAY, Reginald Joseph - 4764, W61705
KENDALL, Frederick Nicholas - W68611
KENDALL, John Francis
KING, Charles William Henry - W68607
KNAPMAN, Robert Egbert - 1886, W68887
KUKURA, Anton - W82364
KUKURA, Paul Leslie - W82363
LAIDLAW, Harry - 22627
LAMONT, Clarence William Charles - WX38456
LAMONT, Leonard Lyndsay Neil - W68755
LAMONT, Neil - 459, 5887
LAMONT, Ronald Vernon - WX25441
LAUDER, Norman Alexander
LEE, Jacob - W31977
LEITCH, Dugald - 83, 823, 3083, A62980
LE MESURIER, Claude Rodney - 32546
LENEGAN, John Weatherup - 1078, 4871, WX4843, WX37440
LOGUE, Spencer Hardinge - W80314
LOWE, Ralph William Campbell - 29544, W73120
LOWSON, Robert James - 70, W68754
LYNCH, Joseph Kevin - W94384
LYON, Ian Donald - W47989
MABEY, Bernard Edric Alfred
MACEY, Donald Wetherly - W82393
MACK, Allen William - W68853, 83413
MAKIN, James - W48125
MANN, Frederic Keith
MARCHANT, Ernest Francis - W71915
MARR, Alexander - 28654, W67086
MARSH, William Douglas Exeter - W68610
MARSHALL, James Henry - 5793
MASKEW, John Charles - W48182
MASSEY, Edward Hamilton - 82058
McGLEW, Basil Lenard - W48250
McGLEW, Colin Owen - W68851, 84893
McGLEW, John Leslie Bowra
McHENRY, Bartley Liston - 7564
McKEOWN, Frank Reginald - W63726
McKINNON, Donald McLellan - WX31207
McLEAN, Donald
MEADOWS, Thomas Christie - W75386
MERRIFIELD, Charles - 20091, W68617
MILBOURNE, William Arthur Seymour
MINCHIN, Francis Keane - W68921
MITCHELL, Leonard Charles - W69459
MOODY, Frank - 52086, W90834
MOORE, Charles Alfred - W68609
MOORE, James Edmund - W68602
MURPHY, Thomas Francis
MURRAY, William
NAPIER, Dudley Clive - 1885, W69430
NAYLOR, George Robert
NEARY, John McIntosh - W48135
NEWMAN, Harold Osborne - W68758
NEWMAN, Keith Edward - W68749
NICHOLAS, Reginald Alfred - 938
NICHOLSON, Robert George Francis
NORRISH, William Wray - 113, W69448
PALMER, Charles Thomas - 968, W68705
PALMER, George Henry
PARRY, Walter Edward - 823, W48059
PATTON, Hilary Samuel - 739, W69432
PEARSON, Donald Leslie - W55741, WX37544
PENFOLD, William Alexander
PERKS, Betty Margaret
PILKINGTON, Gerard George
POW, James Robert - W69453
PRATLEY, Francis William George
PRESTON, Fred Robert - 3239, W68879
PRESTON, John - W82372
PRIDDLE, Andrew
PRITCHARD, John Henry - W69446
REEVES, Frederick Sydney - 353, W68943
RENSHAW, William George
RICHARDSON, Roy Chesson - 31377
RIDLEY, Harold Bernard Walford - 1061, W66673
RIDSDALE, Leighton Ernest Irwin - W68935
RIX, Frederick William George - W48120
ROBERTSON, William
ROBINSON, Kenneth Arthur
ROBINSON, Roy William John - W48138
ROBINSON, Stanley Keith - W68756
ROLINSON, John - W48246
RONEY, Charles George William - 232
ROSENBERG, Julius Myer - 4737, W48385
ROSICH, Matthew - W68888
ROURKE, Philip Maxwell
RUDD, John Ellwood - 1021, W70108
RUSSELL, Herbert Henry - W47972
RUTHERFORD, Richard Henry - 912, W47976
SADLER, Norman - W82366
SAVAGE, Ernest Allan - W82367
SCOTT, Colin - 7674, W75689
SCRIVENER, Donald Matthew - W68892
SEAL, George Percival - W69454
SHARMAN, Charles Adolphus - W14943, W69503
SHARPE, William Francis - W48145
SHEARING, Frederick John - 3149, W68762
SIGGINS, Eric Clarence - 1309, W70897
SMALL, Frederick - W69447
SMITH, Frank Condon - W69442
STANDRING, Arthur Fairbank Tennant - 3117, W68948
STEPHENS, Harold Malcolm - W69456
STEPHENSON, George James - W55925, WX33503
STEVENS, Alfred Raymond - W68901
STEVENS, James Henry - W48238
STEWART, Alexander Keith
STONE, George Edward - W68759
STONE, Philip David - W82365
SULLIVAN, William Frederick - W68903
SWEENEY, James Raymond
TAYLOR, John - W55340
TAYLOR, Stanley Ezra Viccars - 3977
TAYLOR, Thomas
THOMAS, Alfred Edward
THOMAS, Cyril Stanley - W68748
THOMAS, Harry - 10887, W48249
THOMPSON, Samuel - 3479, W69433
THORN, Dudley Edward - W68753
THORN, Lindsay - 12323
THREADER, Henry Thomas - W69457
TOMICH, Jack Andrew - W68899
TOMLIN, William Alfred Burchell - W48243, W65849
TOMPKINS, Harry Philip - 195636
TOMPKINS, Robert Harry
TOWNSEND, William Graves - 1791, W48331
TRIMBLE, Nelson
TRUSLOVE, Mark Woodbine - 1713
WALDECK, Noel Kniest - W68904
WALKER, William - 3298
WALKERDEN, Norman - W47690
WALTERS, John Hughes - W47703
WALTON, Edward Storry - W69429
WATSON, Frederick Henry - 17721, W73956
WATSON, John Frederick - 2252, W68158
WATT, Alexander Stephen George - 1796
WEAIRE, Harold - W68605
WEBSTER, Colin George - W48114
WHYBOURNE, Jack Webb - W68822
WILLIAMS, Howard Thomson
WILLIAMS, Joshua Martin Alexander - 1395
WILLIAMS, William Shirley
WILLOUGHBY, Samuel William - W48189
WILSHUSEN, James - 7501, W68950
WILSON, Guildford Russell - W69451
WILSON, Harry
WILSON, Harry - 18016, W68747
WILSON, John Alexander
WILSON, Sidney William - 3510, W48174
WOOLLCOTT, Thomas Joseph - 15915, W69478
WRAY, Albert Edward
WRIGHT, William Raymond