BAINBRIGGE, Lyal Thomas
| Service Number: | NX43372 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 22 August 1941 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/18th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Nowra, New South Wales, Australia, 20 November 1917 |
| Home Town: | Nowra, Shoalhaven Shire, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Nowra Intermediate High School, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation: | Truck Driver |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Malaya, 27 January 1942, aged 24 years |
| Cemetery: |
Kranji War Cemetery Sp. Mem. 5. D. 4. |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Nowra All Saints Anglican Church WW2 |
World War 2 Service
| 3 Sep 1939: | Involvement Private, NX43372 | |
|---|---|---|
| 22 Aug 1941: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Private, NX43372, 2nd/18th Infantry Battalion | |
| 27 Jan 1942: | Involvement Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Private, NX43372, 2nd/18th Infantry Battalion, Malaya/Singapore |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Karen Standen
Private Lyal Thomas Bainbrigge NX43372
Lyal was born in Nowra on Tuesday the 20th of November 1917 (NSW Birth Reistration 47386/1917) to parents, Thomas Clement Bainbrigge and Bertha Maud Bainbrigge (nee Brady). During the 1930’s, the family were living on Kinghorne Street.
On the 22nd of August 1941, Lyal enlisted at Paddington in Sydney and named his mother as his next of kin (NOK). Having arrived in Singapore in the October, Lyal was taken on strength by the AIF 2/18 Infantry Battalion on 2nd of December 1941. His new unit was at that time stationed on the east coast of Malaya at Mersing.
By mid January 1942, the Japanese forces were advancing through Malaya and the battalion was ordered to withdraw south towards Jemaluang. On the 27th of January, near the Nithsdale and Joolye Estates, the 2/18 engaged in its first major action and it was during this battle that Lyal, aged 24, was killed in action.
Lyal was initially reported missing with his name appearing in casualty lists published in the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) as early as the 20th of February 1942. His death was not confirmed in his service record until 1945.
In Lyal's home town of Nowra, Bainbrigge Cr was named in his honour and he is also remembered on the Second World War All Saints Church plaque. In remembrance of her son, Lyal's mother planted a tree during the 1947 Marriott Park Memorial Tree Planting Ceremony. Sadly these trees were removed in the 1980's for highway development and only a handful of plaques survived. L. T. Bainbrigge's plaque is among those currently held by the Nowra RSL Sub-branch.
27-01-2024
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