Clarence M. Dawes: Vale Clarrie & Mary
Posted on: Mon 30 Aug 2021
1938… just one year before WWII began. The little coastal ship Coorabie pulled away from the wharf at Thevenard on the far west coast of South Australia. A young boy stood on the deck watching Thevenard fading into the distance. 14 year old Carrie Dawes had just told his mum as he flew out of the door with a sugar bag containing clothes slung over his shoulder… “Mum I have a job and I’m on my way….”
In 2019 Service Voices spent two days in Thevenard with the then 93 year old Clarrie recording interviews about his life, and wartime service in Small Ships (The U.S. Army Small Ships Section 1942-1947, a unique organisation formed in response to advancing Japanese Forces in the South Pacific during WWII).
Clarrie passed away recently, not long after his beloved wife Mary. We re-broadcast some of Clarrie’s interviews today.
Photos:
Clarrie Dawes WWII provided by C Dawes and used with permission
The Jessie Darling approx 1910. Renamed Coorabie in approx 1912. STATE LIBRARY OF SA
