BALLINGER, Oliver James
| Service Number: | VX45616 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 9 July 1940, Caulfield, Vic. |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/21st Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Horsham, Victoria, Australia , 20 January 1919 |
| Home Town: | Horsham, Wimmera, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Farm 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, VX45616 | |
|---|---|---|
| 9 Jul 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, VX45616, 2nd/21st Infantry Battalion, Caulfield, Vic. | |
| 19 Sep 1940: | Transferred Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, 2nd/21st Infantry Battalion, Transferred from 11th Infantry Training Depot. |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Mari Walker
Son of Walter James Ballinger and Margaret Francis Ballinger, of Horsham, Victoria, Australia.
Pvte Oliver James Ballinger was born in 1919 in Horsham, Victoria, and enlisted in July 1940.
He was a member of the 2/21 Australian Infantry which was part of Gull Force, and arrived in Ambon on 17 December 1941.
Gull Force consisted of 1131 Australian soldiers, Dutch and local native troops whose objective was to occupy Ambon Island and hinder the Japanese advance. After a number of short fierce battles, fighting on Ambon ceased on 2 February 1942. Many men were captured but those who had survived the battle for Laha (approximately 315 men) were later executed and buried in one of four mass graves.
Investigations after the war determined it was impossible to positively identify many of the remains found at Laha and these ‘war dead’ were declared “missing and for Official Purposes Presumed to be Dead, 20 February 1942”. The remains which were found were reinterred in the Ambon War Cemetery.
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