AINGER, Allan Frank
| Service Number: | VX46424 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 12 July 1940, Caulfield, Melbourne |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/21st Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Tynong, Victoria, Australia, 28 January 1919 |
| Home Town: | Newmarket, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Foreman Labourer |
| Died: | Presumed to be dead, Ambon, Netherlands East Indies, 20 February 1942, aged 23 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" |
| Memorials: | Ambon Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial |
World War 2 Service
| 3 Sep 1939: | Involvement Private, VX46424 | |
|---|---|---|
| 12 Jul 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, VX46424, Caulfield, Melbourne | |
| 24 Oct 1940: | Transferred Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, 2nd/21st Infantry Battalion |
Help us honour Allan Frank Ainger's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Mari Walker
Private Ainger was the son of Frank Robert Ainger and Zillah Elizabeth (nee Baxter). He was a Foreman Labourer, serving with the 2/21st Australian Infantry Battalion in Australia, and on 17 December 1941, was sent to Ambon as part of Gull Force. Pvte Ainger was reported missing 2 February 1942. Pvte Ainger was taken prisoner of war at Laha.
The 2/21st Battalion was formed at Trawool, near Seymour in central Victoria in August 1940 and later, with a number of additional troops from other attachments, formed part of “Gull Force”. The force consisted of 1131 men, mostly Victorians.
Gull Force was sent to Ambon to defend the strategic island's harbour and air strip. In January 1942 an overwhelmingly larger Japanese force of approximately 20,000 men landed on the Island. Some members of Gull Force were sent to defend the air strip at Laha on the western side of the bay and after a series of short but fierce battles, fighting on Ambon Island ceased on 2 February 1942. During this conflict, 47 men were killed in action, 11 escaped, 5 managed to join the rest of the force on the other side of the Island, and 229 were massacred after surrendering.
During the conflict on the other side of the Island, 7 members of Gull Force were killed in action, 804 became Prisoners of War. Of that number 267 were subsequently taken to the Chinese Island of Hainan, where 86 died as prisoners.
Investigations after the war determined it was impossible to positively identify many of the remains found at Laha and these ‘war dead’ were declared “became missing and for Official Purposes Presumed to be Dead, 20 February 1942”. The remains which were found were reinterred in the Ambon War Cemetery.
Biography contributed by Brittany Spadaro
Allen was greatly missed by his family. His sister Joyce Ainger (later Joyce Mc Millin) missed him dearly and always wondered what had become of him. He was never forgotten and even though the mystery of Ambon always loomed in the midst he remained in the forefront of everyone's hearts and mind. Even 80 years later your death and sacrifice is honoured with your picture hanging on your Neices wall (Joyce Collins) .
Your great, great niece has finally discovered the exact whereabouts of your grave, the history of what happened and your legacy 80 years on.
You will always be remembered
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