AYA, David
| Service Number: | 8071 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Sapper |
| Last Unit: | Tunnelling Companies |
| Born: | Townsville, Queensland, Australia , 4 August 1888 |
| Home Town: | Townsville, Townsville, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Townsville, Queensland, Australia , 22 September 1964, aged 76 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Townsville (Belgian Gardens) Cemetery, Qld Section C1, row 24, grave 382 Official Cemetery Records list his Surname as Wright. This is also shown on his headstone. Wright could be his birth father's name as Aya appears to be his step fathers Surname. |
| Memorials: | City of Townsville WW1 Honour Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 26 Nov 1917: | Involvement Sapper, 8071, Tunnelling Companies, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '6' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: SS Indarra embarkation_ship_number: '' public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 26 Nov 1917: | Embarked Sapper, 8071, Tunnelling Companies, SS Indarra, Melbourne |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Gregory Harris
Sapper David Aya, was born in Townsville, 4 August 1888 and worked as a labourer prior to his enlistment in July 1917. He was the oldest child of Lizzie Cassidy an Aboriginal woman from Black River, via Townsville, his stepfather was John Aya, a Ceylonese man born in Cooktown.
David Aya embarked from Melbourne where he had been training, on board HMAT Indarra 26 November 1917. They disembarked in Egypt before sailing for Europe. When he arrived in England he was hospitalised with mumps, and just a few months later became seriously ill having contracted pleurisy.
Sapper Aya was returned to Australia in April 1918 and discharged, medically unfit.
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