Kempsey is well known for its Streets of Honour program, where streets were named after those from the Macleay local government area who enlisted in World War Two and the Vietnam conflict and paid the supreme sacrifice.
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Some of these names forming such lasting memorials in street names are well known, while others are less so. Keith Dunn Street is one of the lesser known stories.
Tucked away in West Kempsey, Keith Dunn Street was named along with several others as part of the Housing Commission and Bale Estate subdivisions approved in 1950 in the area bounded by Broughton and Dangar Streets, west of Cochrane Street in West Kempsey. Other names proposed and accepted were Clarence Ryan, Colin Tait, and Douglas Fentiman.
Raymond Keith Dunn was born in Broken Hill on November 11, 1918, the son of Robert and Birdie Dunn. Robert was the son of William Dunn, a stonemason of Lithgow. Robert himself became a monumental mason, as did several of his brothers and his son Raymond, and in the 1930's was practising his trade in Murwillumbah.
Robert moved from there to Kempsey in 1939 to join his uncle Eric, who had taken over the Monumental and Terrazo Works at Frederickton. The works were on the south-east corner of Great North Road and Memorial Drive, opposite the school.
Upon the outbreak of war, Raymond enlisted in the 2nd AIF on October 13, 1939 at Kempsey and a week later married Joy Harwood, the 20-year-old-daughter of Stanley and Hetty Harwood of Glenrock.
Keith Dunn joined the newly formed 2/2nd Battalion in Sydney and after basic training at the new Ingleburn Camp, sailed for the Middle East on January 10, 1940. He would never see his new bride, Joy, again.
Keith was graded as a Signaller and received further training in Palestine and Egypt. The 2/2nd Battalion took part in the battles of Bardia and Tobruk in January 1941, when they were deployed to Greece in March 1941 to resist the German invasion.
Keith was evacuated in early May seriously ill from typhoid fever and his parents in Murwillumbah notified by telegram. His parents were further notified on June 20, 1941 that he had in fact passed away on June 3, 1941.
Keith Dunn was buried at Gaza War Cemetery, Egypt. We have remembered him.
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