US Military Cemetery Karrakatta, Karrakatta Cemetery, Perth, Western Australia, during WW2

US ARMED FORCES (USAF) CEMETERY KARRAKATTA
KARRAKATTA CEMETERY,
PERTH, WA DURING WWII

By 1943, twenty seven American servicemen were buried in the US Armed Forces (USAF) section of the Karrakatta Cemetery in Perth in Western Australia during WWII. Concrete crosses were erected on all of the graves. An American flag also flew on a flag pole erected in the area, which was raised and lowered every day. By the end of WWII 64 American personnel had been buried at Karrakatta.

The Australian civilian cemetery staff carried out daily grave maintenance in the US Military section of the Karrakatta Cemetery.

One of those who were buried in the US Military Section at Karrakatta Cemetery was QM1 Richard Winters Andes, US Navy (3820858), from USS Swordfish SS-193, who died after a horse accident in the Perth area. He died from a ruptured diaphragm and internal haemmorhage on 30 September 1942 in the 110 Australian General Hospital and was buried in Grave No. 205, Row "G" in the USAF Section in Karrakatta Cemetery on 2 October 1942.

All of the American bodies were exhumed towards the end of the war and relocated and buried in the US Armed Forces Section at Rookwood Cemetery in Sydney, New South Wales for temporary storage until they were exhumed again in November 1947 and travelled by train to Mausoleum No. 4 at Redbank about 16 miles from Brisbane in south east Queensland. Caskets from both Rookwood (465 souls) and Ipswich (1,406 souls) were then loaded onboard USAT Goucher Victory in the Brisbane River for return to the United States via Guadalcanal where they were offloaded onto another ship, USAT Cardinal O'Connell, for the journey to Hawaii.

All American bodies were embalmed to facilitate this process of eventual relocation to the US.

The original American flagpole at Karrakatta was presented to the Young Australia League Camp at Araluen in the foothills east of Perth.

In 1979 US Navy Chaplains of USS Midway dedicated a Memorial Gazebo that had been erected by the crew of USS Enterprise at the Karrakatta Cemetery in 1978 in memory of their fallen comrades. See photos of four plaques that were erected. Joe Ritacca, Commander of VFW Post 12163 advised me on 29 November 2024 that three more plaques would be dedicated there at 10am on 6 April 2025.

I'd like to thank Joe Ritacca, Graham McKenzie-Smith and Douglas E. Campbell for their assistance with this web page.

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