ABOLIN, Peter
| Service Number: | 1021 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 39th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Riga, Latvia, 22 February 1892 |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Seaman/labourer |
| Died: | Randwick ,Sydney, 1980, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 27 May 1916: | Involvement Private, 1021, 39th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '18' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Ascanius embarkation_ship_number: A11 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 27 May 1916: | Embarked Private, 1021, 39th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ascanius, Melbourne |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Glenunga International High School
Peter Abolin, the son of John Abolin and the husband of Amelia Selina Rayner nee Hancock was born 22/02/1892 in Riga, Latvia. At the age of 17 he travelled to America and then from there he came to Melbourne, Australia,He arrived on 03/06/1915. Approximately nine months later he enrolled in the First World War.
Peter was part of the 39th infantry battalion, first formed on 21 February 1916 at the Ballarat Showgrounds, in Victoria. Under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Robert Rankine. The 39th infantry battalion was raised and formed to be part of an expansion of the First Australian Imperial Force. Following a brief period of training in Ballarat lasting four months he was sent to France in November. After completing the Channel crossing on 23/24 November, they landed at Le Havre and moved to the front by train. On the night of 10th December, the battalion took its place in the trenches along the Front. The Western front was mainly a defensive role and in Messines, Belgium in June 1917 one year into the war the 39th battalion faces its most major engagement. They suffered a high number of problems during the time after a German gas attack which resulted the 39th only being able to gather about a third of its manpower for the attack. However they managed to get themselves together to be able to come together again as a strong unit.
Two years later Peter was discharged on the 04/09/1919 and arrived home safely soon after arriving home to Melbourne he moved to Sydney to work on the waterfront. He spent the rest of his life in Sydney and died in a small suburb Randwick in 1980 at the age of 88. Looking at the amount of traveling he did it seems like he joined to army for and adventure and for the experience.