BLAKE, Lewis John
| Service Numbers: | V58367, VX135416 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 17 December 1941 |
| Last Rank: | Lance Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | 8 Infantry Battalion AMF |
| Born: | Landsborough via Stawell, Victoria, 1 March 1920 |
| Home Town: | Stawell, Northern Grampians, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Melbourne, Victoria, 14 April 2004, aged 84 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Springvale Botanical Cemetery, Melbourne https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/231261816/lewis-john-blake Herald Sun (Melbourne) Death Notice: 15 April 2004 |
| Memorials: |
World War 2 Service
| 17 Dec 1941: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, V58367, 8th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 31 Mar 1943: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, V58367, 8th Infantry Battalion, 'in the field' Adelaide River NT | |
| 1 Apr 1943: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Lance Sergeant, VX135416, 8 Infantry Battalion AMF | |
| 19 May 1944: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Corporal, VX135416, 8th Infantry Battalion, embarked Cairns for Lae on board SS Both | |
| 26 Sep 1944: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Corporal, VX135416, 8th Infantry Battalion, embarked Lae for Emirau Island on board the Carlos Carilla | |
| 3 Jan 1945: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Corporal, VX135416, 8th Infantry Battalion, embarked Bougainville for Brisbane on board the Duntroon | |
| 22 Feb 1945: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Corporal, VX135416, 7th Infantry Battalion, embarked Townsville for Bougainville on board the Shawnee en route for Torokina via Treasury Island | |
| 15 Dec 1945: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Sergeant, VX135416, Australian Army Medical Corps (2nd AIF), embarked Torokina for Fauro Island | |
| 7 Apr 1946: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Sergeant, VX135416, 8th Infantry Battalion, embarked Fauro Island for Sydney | |
| 17 Apr 1946: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Lance Sergeant, VX135416, 8 Infantry Battalion AMF |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Younger of the two brothers (Percival and Lewis) who served in WWII, Lance Sergeant Lewis John Blake (Service Nos:V58367/VX135416) initially served in the ACMF (17 December 1941 - 31 March 1943) as a Private - appointed Driver - attached to 8th Infantry Battalion. Private Blake served in the Northern Territory (15 February 1942 - 17 September 1943) - appointed Driver Mechanic - and was 'in the field' at Adelaide River NT on 1 April 1943 when he transferred to the AIF. Corporal Blake served in New Guinea, Bougainville and Emerau Island with 8th Infantry Battalion, and on Treasury and Fauro Islands and Torokina with 7th Infantry Brigade and the Australian Army Medical Corps (AAMC) as a Sergeant (Hygeine). Lance Sergeant Blake was attached to 8th Infantry Battalion at Discharge on 17 April 1946.
Lewis was born in Landsborough via Stawell, Victoria in 1920, youngest of eleven children of James Lawrence Blake (b1867 in Landsborough via Stawell, Victoria) and Esther Mary Dean (b1876 in Landsborough via Stawell, Victoria). James and Esther married in 1894 in Stawell, and settled in Landsborough, where they raised their family and James was a Labourer.
Lewis worked as a Labourer in Stawell before enlisting in the Army in 1940, returning to Stawell followong his Discharge in April 1946 and in May he married Joyce Matilda Pickering (b1923 in Murtoa, Victoria) - Joyce was a Textile Worker in Stawell. Lewis and Joyce settled in Stawell, where they raised their family and Lewis worked as a Labourer. In the early 1960s Lewis and Joyce moved their family to Melbourne, where Lewis worked as a Labourer until retirement. Lewis died in 2004 and Joyce died in 2014.
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