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Allen, born on the 19th August ’22 in Donnybrook (now known as Clare) was the eldest son of Thomas Horace and Sarah Lillian Maynard. His siblings included older sisters Edna Emily and Vida Lillian and a younger brother, Glen Thomas.
Just weeks before Allen’s fourth birthday his 33-year-old father died on the 26th June ’26 in the Clare Hospital. Typical of country generosity, the community began an appeal to support Sarah and her ‘four little ones, all, with one exception, under school-going age, and no provision for their maintenance and support.’ With a considerable sum still owing on the family home, Sir Sydney Kidman and Sydney Ayres both made initial, substantial financial gifts, with the community adding to a Trust Fund through donations and Benefit Concert. By March ’38, the appeal raised £475, which was paid to the State Bank. It was an exceptional, charitable contribution.
A further, huge blow struck the family with the death of 13-year-old Vida on the 25th September ‘34.
The Maynard children all attended the local Clare School. The year following Vida’s death, Allen gained his Qualifying Certificate, ranking tenth of the 21 successful students, with a score of 536. He also received the Grade VII Improvement Prize and a Woodwork Certificate.
Allen’s mother re-married Adolph Edward Beinke, adding a further two children Ted and Daphne to the family. A combination of the family deaths and becoming part of a new family was challenging. Post school, he worked as a labourer but with the outbreak of WWII he enlisted on the 29th May ‘41. Being under-age at 18, he added four years, claiming his birth year as 1918 and him being 22. The ruse worked, although his photo perhaps suggests his correct age. Allen chose to keep his surname, but creatively chose ‘Melvin Reginald’ as his Christian names. (Melvin Reginald was, in fact his cousin, born in January ’18, so a clever ruse.) Allen nominated his older sister, Edna Emily as his next of kin, a role she continued after her marriage to Robert Joseph Turner.
The local Clare community prepared presentations for Allen in August, ’41. However, as he was unable to remain in the town to receive them, they were forwarded by Miss Lucy Ohlmeyer. The parcels were from the Fighting Forces Comforts Fund, Soldiers' Presentation Committee, Country Women’s Association and Women’s Branch of the Agricultural Bureau.
(Allen’s younger brother, eighteen-year-old Glen Thomas, served with the 3 AIT Battalion as S112361. He later enlisted on the 19th April ’43 as SX29392 and served in the 19th Battalion. His service was as colourful as Alan’s with numerous charges whilst in NSW and the Northern Territory. He was discharged on the 25th October ’46.)
Allen was given the number SX13037 and immediately allocated to the 2/48th reinforcements, then the 2/10th. Training at Woodside in the Adelaide Hills saw his first taste of discipline when he was absent for a day, charged with being drunk and then smashing a window in the guard room – an expensive exercise. However, the AWL and drinking charges continued. He left for the Middle East in September, arriving on the 20th October ’41, continuing to attract fines for his behaviour. By the end of May ’42 he returned to his original allocation with the 2/48th Battalion.
The next six weeks involved fierce fighting as the battalion proudly wore what was meant as a derogatory term, ‘Rats of Tobruk’. In late June, 42 with Rommel crossing into Egypt, the 2/48th Battalion attempted to capture West Point in a dawn attack to take Trig 33 considered strategically essential to the Allied’s advancement. This was achieved on the 10th July but was preceded by German tanks charging and running over the slit trenches in which the Australians were sheltering. In his book, ‘Tobruk to Tarakan’ John Glenn described how the intense action continued “for the next fortnight, bitter and bloody fighting was to rage around this feature until it was finally occupied by A Company.
Allen’s battalion then advanced south, capturing the Tel el Eisa station and repelling numerous counter attacks. The 2/48th Battalion’s casualties for the first day were six men killed in action, eighteen wounded, thirteen missing. Unfortunately, they were eventually forced to withdraw, having suffered over 100 casualties. In the frenetic fighting, Allen later stated that the two forward sections were not told of the retreat but continued to hold off the attack until a mobile enemy infantry attacked from the rear. With tanks in front and on their flank, the group could not hold out longer. With no other alternative, Allen, SX7967 Corporal Alvine Montgomerie, SX7532 Lance Corporal M Richardson, SX8953 Private S.G. Kinsman, SX7858 Ron Irwin and others were all forced to surrender and became amongst those, including Allen, reported missing. All had become Prisoners of War. The 2/48th Battalion suffered 215 casualties between the 7th July and 23rd October. Of that number, 64 men were killed and six, died of their wounds. 125 other men were wounded but survived.
By July ’42 Allen was reported missing in action and believed taken as a Prisoner of War, the latter being confirmed on the 27th August ’42.
The Chronicle published a list of those killed or wounded in that action in action in August ’42. From Allen’s battalion, they included SX1312 Pte. Reginald W. C. Brown Whyalla. SX12765. Pte. Charles A. Corfield Clare. SX7166 Pte. Arthur R. Davis Rosewater SX13018 Pte. Colin J. Hanley Port Augusta. SX8236 Pte. Gerald J. Hayes. Wirrabara SX6297 Pte. Donald S. Ridley Loxton SX11052. Pte. Walter M. Shane. 2/48th Spalding and SX8315 Pte. Robert O. Sunman. Port Augusta. Died Of Wounds SX8087 Cpl. Francis W. Fletcher, Aldgate SX8454 Cpl. Arthur A. Harding. Peterborough. Wounded In Action SX10613 Pte. Percy H. Evans,. Stirling East. SX8178 Pte. William E. G. Snider. Peterborough. SX6639 Pte. Gilbert M. Speck. Croydon. Accidentally Wounded SX13350 Pte. Douglas C St. Clair. Seaton Park. Believed Prisoner Of War SX13037 Pte. Melvin R Maynard. Clare. (He continued to be listed by the Army under this assumed name throughout the war.)
In October ’42 the family received a letter that was later published in the Northern Argus. ‘The following letter has been received in Clare from the Officer in charge of an Australian Infantry Battalion somewhere on active service: —Australian Infantry Battalion Abroad 4th. October., 1942. Dear Mr. Maynard, I am writing to convey to you the sympathy both of myself and of the Officers and men of the Battalion, in the knowledge that your brother Pte. Allen Sydney Maynard is a prisoner of war. At the same time, it is good to know that he is alive and well and will return to you at the end of the war. When he was captured he was doing a first rate job and you have every reason to be proud of the service he has rendered to this unit and to his country. While he was with us he was a good and brave soldier; and now he is sadly missed by all his comrades. I hope it will not be long before you have the happiness of seeing him again. Yours Sincerely, Comd.. Aust. Inf. Battn.’ Allen is correctly named in the letter, but his official record was not changed from his alias.

Back in Clare, the Northern Argus, shared that ‘On Thursday morning Mrs. R. Turner, Jun., of Clare, received word that her brother, Private Alan Maynard, was reported missing in Egypt, believed prisoner of war. He is a son of the late Mr. Tom Maynard, and Mrs. A. E Beinke.’
Similarly, the September issue of the Advertiser carried a photo with the report ‘Advice had been received that Pte. M.R. Maynard (Alan) a son of Mrs A.E. Bienke and the late Mr Tom Maynard of Clare is a prisoner of war. He sailed in September 1941.’

Allen’s POW status was confirmed in September ’42, but it was not until the following year that his nominated next of kin, his sister Edna Emily (Turner) received a confirming message. "Apostolic Delegation, 40 Edward Street, North Sydney, N.S.W. 11th. January 1943— His Excellency the Apostolic Delegate, Archbishop Panico, has much pleasure in informing you that he has received the following message by radio from Private A. S. Maynard, SX13037, Camp 57, Posta Militaire 3.200, Italy "Best Wishes for Christmas and Happy New Year." The message is franked with the Apostolic Delegates personal stamp. Pope Pius XII acted as an intermediary between the Axis powers and the prisoners.
Ironically, at this time the ‘real’ married Melvin Maynard, a munition worker of Carrington Street, Adelaide was in December 1942 granted a divorce from his wife on the ground of desertion.
Allen and other POWs were sent to Italy via the Mediterranean Sea but in doing so were targets for Allied ships and aircraft who were unaware of the presence of the POWs. Being a non-officer, Allen was sent to campo 57 where conditions were later reported to be extremely harsh with minimal food and crowded, insanitary conditions, which contributed to pneumonia and kidney disease – called the ’57 twins’. Later reports described the Camp Commander, Colonel Vittorio Calcaterra as a ‘sadist and a beast and an accessory to murder.’ Ten Australian died in the Camp and over 1,200 Australians were held there. Sadly his death prevented Calcaterra from being tried as a war criminal.
Allen later documented that he had been in three other Camps prior to Camp 57 for a few weeks in each. From Camp 57 he then moved to Camp 106/3 for five months over 1943. Two months later this was updated to Camp 106. Allen’s report highlights the very primitive and basic conditions of the Camps. Having come from the heat of the desert, he had only the clothes he wore when captured. The exceptional role of the Red Cross issue and the provisions supplied certainly added to the tolerance of conditions. Allen was expected to work in the rice fields, unpaid, for eight hours each day, but in Camp 57 received a fortnightly pay for an hour each day as a fruit worker. That particular Camp became renown for the cruel and vindictive leadership. However as the tide turned in the war, as with all bullies, the attitude changed. At some stage Allen escaped, with British troops reporting in October that he had escaped to Switzerland across the mountain, then to the Middle East for a return home. He was just 22, the age he ‘officially’ gave at his enlistment.

Back home, definite news was difficult to ascertain as Allen was first reported Missing in Action, then ‘missing believed POW.’ Others in a similar situation were listed as SX10598 Pte. Raymond Bannister, North Adelaide, SX66O6 Pte. Louis T. Kostera Balaklava. SX6604 Pte. Max G. Reid, Balaklava. SX7532 and Syd Kinsman SX8953. Eventually, that fate was officially confirmed in February ‘43. Finally, confidential word was received in October ’43 from a British source that Allen was one of six men then in Switzerland, escaped PoW’s from the 2/48th Battalion. The others were:
SX8281 Francis Joseph Dornan - reached Switzerland October 7, 1943
SX7858 Ronald Charles Irwin - reached Switzerland October 6, 1943
SX8953 Sydney George Kinsman - reached Switzerland September 21, 1943
SX13037 Melvin Reginald (Allen) Maynard - reached Switzerland November 3, 1943
WX10398 George Neil Thompson - reached Switzerland September 24, 1943 and
SX7532 L/Cpl Max Richardson - reached Switzerland October 12, 1943
They travelled for almost a month. It is challenging to comprehend how a young man from country South Australia and a Mediterranean climate could traverse the mountainous terrain including a glacier in wintry snow, wearing ragged uniform and crumbling shoes, being hungry and cold whilst constantly avoiding not only the well-resourced German soldiers and Italian Militia but also avalanches.
In August ’43 the Blyth Agriculturalist carried an insightful interview with SX5699 Private Henry Messenger from Armagh on his return to Clare. He served with the 2/8th Fleid Ambulance and was also taken as a POW. He described how the first winter was terrible, cold and showery, with only two blankets each. Any new clothing was British battle dress from the Red Cross. Red Cross parcels, through Geneva, were fairly regular till March, 1942, but a 60 to 80 per cent, cut in Italian food rationing left us badly off. Even our Red Cross parcels stopped. This was our bad time. He added “A man in the same camp as myself was Private Alan Sydney Maynard. a son of the late Tom Maynard, of Donnybrook and of Mrs. Sarah Beinke. He was only 20 years old. A great scout, cheerful and hardy, and still there last April.”

By October ’44 Allen was described as an escaped POW for return to Australia. “Good news was received in Clare on Wednesday by Mrs. Robt. Turner, Junior, to the effect that her brother—Private Alan Maynard, A.I.F., aged 20, is no longer a prisoner of war, and is to be repatriated home shortly. It is over two years since he was taken prisoner by the Italians in the Middle East. When the Allies invaded Rome he escaped into Switzerland, and the telegram says he is now back with British forces In Italy and will shortly be sent back to Australia.”
Allen finally arrived in Melbourne in November ’44. The Blyth Agriculturist joyously announced that “Private Alan S. Maynard A.I.F., a son of the late Mr. T. H. Maynard, of Donnybrook, and of Mrs. R. Beinke, arrived home in Clare this week after having been repatriated from Italy where he had been a prisoner-of-war for some considerable time. He has had many graphic adventures since he was taken prisoner in the Middle East campaigns. After his experiences he is looking very well. Youth, however, was on his side, as he actually enlisted when aged a little over sixteen. Welcome home to the old home town Alan ! He spent one year in Italy and one year in Switzerland.” He and seven other servicemen were warmly welcomed home. The nearby Pirie Recorder also carried the joyful news, adding “He enlisted when a little older than 16.”
In an horrific contrast to the joy of Allen’s return, on the 1st December ’44 his mother Sarah had a fatal fall, hitting her head on the rockeries near the Clare Town Hall. Despite surgery and attempts to resuscitate her, she died in the local hospital. The loss made even more poignant, as reported by the Northern Argus as ‘Mrs. Beinke 's son, Private Alan Maynard, A.LF. — only returned a short while ago after being a prisoner of war in Italy and interned in Switzerland for over two years.
The family placed a tribute in the Advertiser in December ’44 ‘BEINKE. —On Dec. 1, at Clare (suddenly), Sarah Lillian, dearly loved mother of Ted and Daphne Beinke, Alan and Glen Maynard (A.I.F.), Vida (deceased), and Edna (Mrs. R. J. Turner), and grandma of Robbie. Died December ’44.’
Not unexpectedly, having been in captivity for so long, Allen spent much of February in 52 Camp Hospital as he regained his physical strength. He wanted his freedom and to be rid of the war, turning to his early response of being AWL and attracting the inevitable fines, including for breach of good conduct, and ironically losing his freedom by being confined to barracks. By April ’45 he was declared an illegal Absentee, then when apprehended was held in custody over May. In Sydney with minimal money, Allen was caught breaking, entering and stealing, bound over for £10 and a Good behaviour bond for 18 months. He was finally discharged on the 31st October ’45.
Allen moved to Mt Gambier, living and working in the Myora Pine Forest but found in June ’50 that he was unable to gain a Housing Trust home without his War Gratuity entitlement under his assumed name. Finally, on the 28th June ’50, he contacted Army records to explain his true identity. (Interestingly, his lawyers claimed he was born in 1923, which is different to the 1922 date on his headstone.) The result was that he was classified as being identical to Mervyn
On the 5th July ’85 62 year old Allen and his 58-year-old wife Sylvia Muriel died in Mount Gambier. Both now rest together in the local Carinya Gardens Cemetery. They were remembered by their children Ken, Allan, Elaine, Linda, Steven Wayne and Meredith. (The real ‘Melvin Reginald’, died in July ’89 aged 81.)
Researched and written by Kaye Lee, daughter of Bryan Holmes SX8133, 2/48th Battalion.