Private John Alan Atkinson - 5/400096

 



John Alan Atkinson, (known as Alan), was born in the UK, but came out to Australia as a child. His family settled on the south coast, and by the 1940s had a farm in Albany.  His father John and brother Horace, (known by his middle name Michael), served in the Australian Army during World War II.  His father had previously been a Royal Marine during his time in the UK, according to a letter he wrote about his experiences to the Western Mail newspaper in 1934[1].

Atkinson was employed by the WA railways, which explains why his place of association is West Midland. He was in one of the first drafts of Australian troops to serve in the British Commonwealth Occupation Force in Japan, going to Japan straight from ‘the islands’. Newspaper accounts of his service in Japan and death in Korea as well as the dates on his National Archives files all indicate that Atkinson served in WWII, but his name is missing from the WWII Nominal Rolls.

Atkinson was interviewed for a local Albany newspaper on his return from Japan[2] and recounted some of his experiences there. He possibly gave what was a censored account of what he saw as an Army Driver stationed at a camp 14 miles from Hiroshima, just a short time after the atomic blast. Atkinson commented on how quickly the temporary houses were being built for the many thousands of homeless people; that there didn’t seem to be a lingering effect of the radiation with trees and crops growing vigorously; and that the people living there didn’t seem to have been permanently affected, although many had bad scarring.   

Atkinson compared conditions in Japan when the first Australians arrived to those on ‘the islands.’ The soldiers went straight from the tropics to the Japanese winter with indoor heating provided only by fires in open drums.  In his time in Japan conditions had improved 200% and the Australians were no longer clamouring to go home straight away.

On his return from Japan, Atkinson went back to the family farm in King Road, Albany to assist his father, (who had also been away on active service during WWII) get the farm into shape again. He was interested in then doing a rehab. course, perhaps in tree felling. 

Did Atkinson complete the tree felling course?  What we do know is that he volunteered for service in Korea less than four years later. By March 1951 Atkinson was on the ground in Korea with the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment, (3RAR), after completing his training. His death at Kapyong on 24 April 1951 came after only 43 days in service and just over a month in Korea. Atkinson’s parents were first informed he had been reported missing in action but was confirmed dead a month later. His body was first buried at Kapyong in an isolated shallow grave but was later moved to the UN cemetery in Busan in July 1951.

Sergeant Toby Millwood was the other West Australian who was killed at Kapyong on 24 April 1951 and he is also burried in the UN cemetery in Busan. 


[1] Western Mail (Perth, WA : 1885 - 1954), Thursday 1 March 1934, page 2. Accessed via Trove on 7 March 2023

[2] Back from Japan: Dvr Alan Atkinson. Mount Barker and Denmark Record (Albany, WA : 1929 - 1949), Monday 24 March 1947, page 2. Accessed via Trove on 7 March 2023.

 

John Alan Atkinson's grave at the UN Cemetery in Busan, 1952

Photo from Australian War Memorial 

Atkinson was one of the 32 Australians who died on during the two days (23-24 April, 1951) of the battle of Kapyong.  The Chinese forces were held back and the approach to the capital, Seoul, was protected.

Atkinson’s platoon commander, Lieutenant Mulry, sent his father a letter with details about his death.  We aren’t privy to what was in this letter but do from contemporary accounts that Lieutenant Mulry had called for his troops to come with him to take the ground back and that the men were firing at the Chinese troops until they received an order from Major O’Dowd to stop firing because ammunition was in short supply.[1]

John Alan Atkinson is remembered on the WA state and Albany war memorials as well as in Korea.


[1] Tassie Long’s account of Kapyong from http://www.koreanwaronline.com/history/oz/kr/chapter37.htm.  Accessed on 8 March 2023.

 

Photo of John Alan Atkinson's grave in UNMCK, Busan taken in December 2022.

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