HE TRIED HARD

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 219, 30 September 1940, Page 2

HE TRIED HARD

AUSSIE'S ADVENTURES WANTED TO SEE "STOUSH" When Colin Winkworth, a 22 year old Sydney waiter, boards a slup for Australia in a week or so, it will mark the end of an almost incredibly determined attempt to serve with the A.I.F. Winkworth's adventures in the fast six months read like fiction and include his discharge from the A.I.F for medical reasons, stowing away on a transport, in a borrowed uniform, and five weeks spent in a civil prison in Jerusalem, rubbing shoulders with desperate Arab criminals. Winkworth, who is now in Jerusalem, wearing civilian clothes, supplied by the A.1.F., said: •'I enlisted in Sydney last year and left with the first convoy In January as a private. I became ill before reaching Fremantle, where I was ordered ashore and sent to hospital. "I returned to Sydney later and was discharged from the army on the ground that I was medically unfit. "I spent a few weeks in Sydney seeking work, and then heard that a second convoy was leaving soon. I decided to hitch-hike to Western Australia, and made the journey in 13 days —not bad for a beginner. "I met a man discharged from the A.I.F. in Perth. He had not surrendered his uniform to the military authorities, and I induced him to give it to me. '*He was a little bloke and I am uearly 6ft tal'l, and his uniform fitted me like a very tight glove," con tinued Winkworth. "Still nobody challenged me when I went on board one of the ships of the second convoy at night, with men who had been on leave in Perth "I dodged all suspicion for two days and then gave myself up." Winkworth was given a job on the transport as mess orderly, but severely scalded his leg and was in hospital for the remainder of the journey. He also spent a few weeks in the hospital in Palestine after his arrival* After his discharge from the A.I.F hospital, Jie came to Jerusalem, where he was arrested by the police as an illegal immigrant. The A.I.F. authorities learned of Winkworth's plight, made representations for his release, and did every thing to help him pending his release. Lieut. Harvey Gale, of Woolongong visited him -daily with fruit and chocolate to supplement the prison fare. Winkworth is now happy and well but says: '"It is jjretty miserable having to go home without hearing a shot fired when I tried so hard to get into the big stoush."