2/5 Australian General Hospital

Cpl Cecil (Jack) Selwood

NX140984 

Cecil, or Jack as his mates called him, was born in Orange on 1 January 1904, and was given a typical ‘country upbringing’. After the outbreak of WW2, Jack, at the age of 37 enlisted at Inverell, and was assigned to the Australian Army Medical Corps at Tamworth, and was later transferred to Cowra.

His reason for enlisting was very patriotic, he wanted to “serve and help protect his country, and to make life secure for his family."

Whilst with the AAMC Jack was promoted to Sergeant, but after four months in this position he requested to be demoted back to Corporal, his reason for this was ‘he wanted to be with his mates.’ A real Country Boy.

On the 14 December 1942, Jack enlisted in the A.I.F. and was attached to the 2/5 Australian General Hospital, a 1200 bed Hospital Unit that saw service in five theatres of war, namely Greece - Crete - Eritrea  - New Guinea and Morotai Island.

Jack was to serve with the Unit at Bootless Bay, New Guinea, and again on Morotai Island, when the Unit was sent there to treat the returning POWs who were maltreated in Japanese POW camps.

Jack described his role within the Unit as a ‘Stretcher Bearer’, this meant he was to attend to the wounded, and get them safely to the hospital and under medical care.

For his service to his country, Jack would have received the following Awards:-

The Pacific Star --- 1939 / 1945 Star --- Defence Medal --- 1939 / 1945 Medal --- Australian Service Medal The Dutch Cross.

This information and photos was given to the 2/5 AGH Association for reproduction on our website by the following family members – Len, Colin, Trevor, and Phyllis.