Branch of Service

Army

Conflict

World War II (1939-1945)

Date of Enlistment

01/01/1940

Date of Discharge

21/11/1945

Place of Enlistment

Paddington NSW

Gender

Male

Other Name(s)

Known as 'Dick'

Date of Birth

31/07/1916

Place of Birth

North Sydney NSW

Address (at enlistment)

Dominion Circuit, Forrest ACT

School(s) Attended

Ainslie Public School, Telopea Park School, Canberra Grammar School (1929-1934)

Occupation

Bank officer

Next of Kin

James Brackenreg (father), Dominion Circuit, Forrest ACT

Service Number

NX12453

Final Rank

Lieutenant

Final Unit

2/2 Australian Infantry Battalion

Honour Roll in 'The Beacon', the Magazine of Ainslie School, 1943

Dick Brackenreg's father arrived in Canberra just after the naming ceremony in March 1913 to take up a position as lands inspector, initially living with his wife at the Rectory (Glebe House) and later at the groom's residence at Yarralumla. Dick's mother travelled to Sydney for his birth on 31 July 1916 and by the time they returned his father had moved into a house at 8 Liversidge Street, Acton. Dick went to school at Acton, Ainslie and Telopea Park before the family moved to a new home in Monaro Crescent, Red Hill. He was one of the first students to enrol at Canberra Grammar in 1929 and was school captain in 1934. After finishing school he joined the Commonwealth Bank. He served with the 3rd Militia Battalion before the war and helped form the Militia Hockey club.

He served in World War 2 as an officer with the 2/2 Battalion in Greece from March 1941 until he was wounded. A letter to his father states that it happened when his unit was ordered to withdraw. On 18 April 1941 Brackenreg was checking that each Section of his Company had withdrawn when he was hit by a bullet in the right shoulder. Two other men dressed his wound but once night had fallen Brackenreg insisted they leave. After giving them an hour's head start, he called out to some Germans camped nearby and became a prisoner of war. He spent the rest of the war as a German POW until April 1945 when he was liberated by the Americans from a camp near Munich. After the war he married Hilary Grimwade and they lived in Canberra until 1956 before work commitments with the Commonwealth Bank saw them move away. He and his wife returned to Canberra in 1975 upon his retirement. Dick Brackenreg died on 9 August 2008.

WWII Nominal Roll http://www.ww2roll.gov.au
ACT Electoral Rolls 1916 to 1967 http://canberraheritageportal.org/default.php
Geoff Burkhardt, 'A Jubilee History of Ainslie School 1927-2002', Canberra 2002
The Canberran : Magazine of Canberra Grammar School, 1935 (p.26), 1936 (pp.26-27), 1941 (p.24)
The Canberra Times - 12 January 1932, 5 June 1937, 2 November 1939, 2 May 1940, 27 January 1941, 11 June 1941, 18 September 1941, 16 August 2008
J.R. Brackenreg, 'Brackenreg Lives and Times', Canberra Historical Journal, March 1985
Adrian Keenan (ed.), 'Catching the Vision. the Foundation of the Canberra Grammar School', 1997 (p.58)
Image from 'The Canberran : Magazine of Canberra Grammar School', 1934 (p.35)
Image courtesy of Pamela Hunt, Canberra Grammar archives