Thomas R. Guscott

Tom joined the Australian Military Force 48th Battalion in 1940 - this was the first military battalion to be mobilized in the Riverland. He spent several months in the Woodside and Warradale army training camps.
"I transferred to the Royal Australia Navy in mid 1942 after basic training at the Flinders Naval Depot after which I joined the HMAS 'Rockhampton' as a seaman gunner. We carried out convoy escort duties along the eastern seaboard of Australia. The Japanese were close to Australia at the time and we were very much on the defensive. I joined the HMAS 'Warrawa' after eighteen months with the 'Rockhampton'. Our missions included mine-sweeping in the Southern Ocean. I joined HMAS 'Bathurst', an Australian built Corvette in 1944 and spent considerable time in the Pacific on convoy escort and bombardments."

The Australian Naval forces joined the British Pacific Fleet at Subic Bay in the Philippines at the end of the Pacific War. The Japanese were disarmed in Hong Kong and the prisoners of war were freed from their camp. Missions after this included minesweeping operations along the Chine coast and then a return to Australia in April 1946.

Tom was discharged from the Royal Australian Navy at Port Adelaide.