William Henry BARNES

William Henry BARNES Update Details

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BARNES, William Henry

Service Number:	VX38371
Enlisted:	29 July 1940
Last Rank:	Private
Last Unit:	2nd/21st Infantry Battalion
Born:	Stawell, Victoria, Australia , 9 May 1918
Home Town:	Bolton, Swan Hill, Victoria
Schooling:	Not yet discovered
Occupation:	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, VX38371
29 Jul 1940:	Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, VX38371
11 Aug 1940:	Transferred Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, 2nd/21st Infantry Battalion

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Biography contributed by Mari Walker

Son of Robert Archer Barnes and Janet Cameron Barnes, of Bolton, Victoria, Australia.

Pvte William Henry Barnes was born in 1918 in Stawell, Victoria. He enlisted in July 1940 and 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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