First Remembrance Day for fallen Digger John Tassell in Adelaide

THE family of John Tassell will be able to gather at his grave for the first time on Remembrance Day after he was brought home from Malaysia, 50 years after he was killed in action.

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MORE than 50 years after his death fighting in the Malaya-Borneo Confrontation the family of John Darrell Tassell will gather on Remembrance Day to commemorate the young man whose body was only recently brought home to Adelaide.

John’s sister Vicki Crannaford was only two years old when her brother was killed fighting on April 4, 1966, but his memory has never left the family.

Signalman John Tassell after he had joined the military, circa 1966. He was killed in the Malaya Borneo conflict.

“I don’t have many memories of him at all but my siblings do,” Ms Crannaford said.

“He was a bit of a prankster and certainly had a very good sense of humour. A really lovely brother.”

John was only 21 when he travelled to Malaysia with the 208 Signal Squadron and was killed in action.

His body was laid to rest alongside other servicemen in Malacca, Malaysia but was repatriated back to Australia in June 2016.

He was laid to rest in the Enfield Memorial Park in a full military service with pall bearers from the Signals Squadron.

John’s remains join those of his father, Bryce Arnold Tassell, whose ashes were scattered at Enfield Memorial Park in 1980.

“To have somewhere where both dad and John are is amazing,” Ms Crannaford said.

“We still that his presence is here and to have somewhere to come along and remember them is fantastic.”

John was following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather when he elected to fight for his country.

Vicki Crannaford (centre) with her daughters Meegan and Brooke, at the veteran memorial grave of their grandfather and uncle John Tassell at Enfield Memorial Park. Picture: Bianca De Marchi

Bryce was a member of 2/43rd Infantry Battalion and saw action in North Africa during World War 2.

He was one of the ‘Rats of Tobruk’, soldiers who survived the seven-month siege of Tobruk by General Erwin Rommel’s Afrika Corps.

“It’s a bit of a tradition, my grandfather on my mother’s side also fought in World War 1,” Vicki said.

Bryce survived the horrors of World War 2 but succumbed to cancer in 1980.

John’s mother Shirley, 96, is planning to visit her son’s final resting place on Remembrance Day, happy to have her son home after so long.

“She was quite overwhelmed when they bought her son home,” Ms Crannaford said.

“She is glad to have him home on Australian soil.”

Originally published as First Remembrance Day for fallen Digger John Tassell in Adelaide