Members of the Queanbeyan RSL Sub Branch will join members of the Yass RSL Sub Branch to recognise Walter Albert Thatcher - a World War II soldier from Yass who served in the Second Force Australian Infantry Battalion and the Z Special Unit between 1939 and 1945.

Walter Albert Thatcher, affectionately known as “Ned,” was born in Yass on January 19 1907. He died at the Goulburn Training Centre on May 24, 1959 from a heart condition, believed to be linked to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Ned Thatcher was buried at the Yass Cemetery and his unmarked grave went largely unnoticed until relatives began searching for him some years ago.

When Julie Wheelhouse approached Richard Stone, ex-RAAF Logistics Officer and President of the RSL Queanbeyan Sub Branch, with service details of her grand-uncle’s time in the Australian Armed Forces, he was amazed.

“I saw his service record and I was just amazed,” Mr Stone said.

While the Ethos of the RSL is to leave no sailor, airman or soldier in an unmarked grave, this was not the only force compelling Mr Stone to help Ms Wheelhouse honour her grand-uncle.

“He must have been a very, very good soldier because he was promoted a number of times.

“To be part of the Z Special Unit he had to be a very special person,” Mr Stone said.

Secretary of the Queanbeyan RSL Sub Branch and ex-Lieutenant-Colonel, Darryl Patch, said Mr Thatcher served in Greece, Crete, New Guinea and the Middle East.

He was transferred to the Z Special Unit, a precursor to the British Special Air Service (SAS) and the Australian Special Air Services Regiment (ASASR).

The Z Special Unit was a joint Australian, British and New Zealand commando unit which saw action against the Empire of Japan during WWII. The Z Special Unit carried out 284 covert operations in the South West Pacific theatre, many of which still remain cloak-and-dagger today.