PROMOTING THE HISTORY AND ARCHIVES OF MT COMPASS
Polomka, Reginald
Reginald Lawrence Polomka (Private)
Reg was the son of Thomas Albert Polomka & Ivy Ruth Polomka (nee Schultze), born on 19th March 1920, one of their nine children.
The family moved to Mt Compass from Jamestown in about 1926.
All of Reg’s schooling was carried out at Mount Compass until finishing in 1934 as an over age student.
He enlisted for service on 18th October 1940 with the 18th Light Horse on a Reserve basis (Citizen Military Forces - CMF) and was called up for full time duty on 15th October 1941. His civilian occupation at that time was recorded as ‘tractor driver and cultivation & clearing contractor’, employed by his father. His religion was recorded as Roman Catholic, which was not common for this district. His brother Albert had also enlisted at the same time with the CMF.
Private R L Polomka now joined the 43rd Aust Infantry Battalion, serving in the Northern Territory and Queensland. His mother is recorded in the service records as having applied for and received a ‘Female Relative’s Badge’. These were given to the nearest female relative of members of the Defence Forces who are on active service abroad. Even though Reg was recorded as only having arrived in Darwin, his mother was approved a badge.
While he was still serving in the army, Reg’s family moved to Port MacDonnell (South Australia’s southernmost town) where his father worked as a fisherman and farmer.
Reg, who discovered that he was allergic to the khaki dye in Army uniforms, suffered a number of hospitalisations with this condition. He was discharged in September 1944 as medically unfit due to this dermatitis, which continued to cause him trouble throughout his life.
He married Barbara Franklin Hayes (whose brother William, was to later be the Lord Mayor of Adelaide from 1971 to 1973 and a Chairman of the Electricity Trust of SA). Reg and Barbara were engaged during the war (1943) and married in 1946 following his return.
They had two children, Marilyn & Lawrence (Lawrie).
In 1947 he took a job with Broadlands Pastoral Company, on a 12,000 acre property at Lucindale. He managed this property until retiring to Robe, with Barbara.
Reg died on 18th September 1987, with his wife Barbara passing in 1999. They are buried together in the Robe Cemetery.
References: Marilyn Bertram (nee Polomka) & Lawrie Polomka, Army Service Records, trove.nla.gov.au
