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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2018-10-16 Daily Xml
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Ministerial Statement

Corey, Mr W.T.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:05): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: The early hours of last Wednesday saw the passing of one of the last Rats of Tobruk, William Thomas Corey OAM, or Bill, as he was known to the veterans in South Australia whom he regularly represented and the school groups with whom he shared his experiences of life. Bill recently celebrated his 101st birthday.

Born in Riverton, he grew up in Walkerville and went to Adelaide High. He was working as a butcher when he enlisted in June 1940, aged 22. In August 1941, he took part in the siege of Tobruk, a small town on the Libyan coast that was central to much of the fighting that took place in the Western Desert during World War II. The soldiers who held the garrison of the Port of Tobruk during fierce fighting over more than seven months came to wear the name Rats of Tobruk as a badge of great pride.

To quote from Bill's own unassuming words about his experiences in Tobruk, I would like to read into Hansard some of his thoughts:

Easter found us surrounded and the siege of Tobruk had begun. There was the red line which was the front line, and a blue line which was just behind the red. So there was always a period in the front (red) then change with another on the blue. This didn't always mean a rest because we were always changing into a new position around the perimeter and we knew by now why Australian soldiers were called diggers because every time we shifted it seemed we had to dig new holes.

His (German) artillery could shell just about anywhere in the area and his air force could do just as they pleased because after the first few days what hurricanes we had had been shot out of the sky. After that, we didn't have any aeroplanes. We used to fire on the planes when they were very low, just for fun really because you would have had to be very lucky to bring one down.

We did have some fun—Australians have a pretty good sense of humour. We didn't wash because we didn't have any water, we cut each other's hair with blunt scissors, sharpened razor blades to have a shave and believe it or not if you tied your shorts or shirt to a peg and let them be blown around in the sand or dirt they became clean. Spiders, scorpions, fleas and rats used to get into our blankets so it paid to give the blankets a shake before using them.

Bill went on to serve with the 2nd/43rd Battalion in El Alamein and Syria, but his war did not end there. He returned to Australia in 1943 and then went to New Guinea to fight against the Japanese before taking part in the campaign to recapture Borneo from the Japanese in June 1945.

As a result of his wartime experience in uniform, Bill came to value mateship above all else. He was an unfailingly positive and optimistic gentleman and inspired thousands of South Australian children and adults alike. His passion for passing on his life experiences to the younger generations remained with him until his final days. Just four weeks ago, Bill made his last school visit to St Michael's College, where his talk and answers to questions held the history students captivated.

When the ANZAC Centenary Memorial Walk was opened in 2016, Bill was chosen to join His Excellency, the Governor of South Australia, the Hon. Hieu Van Le AC and then premier Jay Weatherill to cut the ribbon and officially open our state's major contribution to mark the centenary of ANZAC. There was no more fitting person to perform this duty than William Thomas Corey. This Friday at 4pm a funeral will be held to celebrate Bill’s amazing life at Berry Funerals in Norwood.

On behalf of the house and the people of South Australia, I convey our condolences to Bill's family, particularly his devoted children Don and Dianne and grandchildren Julie, Michael, Matthew, Keyte and Lee, and Bill's many, many friends. He will be missed.

Vale, Bill Corey. Lest we forget.

Honourable members: Hear, hear!

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