Branch of Service

Army

Conflict

World War II (1939-1945)

Date of Enlistment

03/12/1940

Date of Discharge

25/11/1944

Place of Enlistment

Paddington NSW

Gender

Male

Other Name(s)

Known as 'Cec' or 'Cecil'

Date of Birth

12/06/1900

Place of Birth

Michelago NSW

Address (at enlistment)

Michelago NSW (previously Naas ACT)

School(s) Attended

Naas School

Occupation

Mechanic

Next of Kin

Ellen Cotter (mother), Michelago NSW

Service Number

NX66159

Final Rank

Craftsman

Final Unit

2/4 Field Park

Michelago School Roll of Honour

Cecil Cotter lived at Top Naas with his family until about 1920 when they moved to Michelago. He went to school at Naas His brother Frank died at the end of World War 1. They were grandsons of Garrett Cotter after whom the Cotter River is named.

Cotter was described in 1920 as being almost blind. Despite his poor eyesight he was able to enlist (lowering his age to 37) and served at the siege of Tobruk in 1941 with the 2/4 Field Park (where he was wounded) and at the Battle of El Alamein in Egypt in 1942. He claimed he lost his sight at Tobruk, when his retina was detached, but totally lost his sight in 1951. He became President of the Rats of Tobruk Association (NSW Branch) in 1952 and led the march after ROTAs annual commemoration at Martin Place despite not being able to see. He was later awarded Honorary Life Membership of ROTA (NSW). Cotter died on 5 January 1975 at Lady Davidson Hospital in Sydney.

The 2/4 Field Park built the original Rats of Tobruk Memorial at Tobruk during the siege but it was later destroyed. It served as the model for the memorial subsequently erected in Anzac Parade, Canberra.

WWII Nominal Roll http://www.ww2roll.gov.au
ROTA Vol.27, No.1 Jan-Feb 1975 (p.5, p.31)
The Canberra Times - 27 January 1941
Canberra News - 13 November 1972
Sydney Morning Herald - 7 April 1952, 6 January 1975
NAA RecordSearch - Series B883 (Second Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1939-1947)
Stories from the ACT Memorial, 'Cotter Boys from Tharwa to France', ACT Heritage Library www.library.act.gov.au/find/history/stories_from_the_act_memorial