BAYFIELD, Matthew
| Service Number: | VX53364 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 17 April 1941 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/21st Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | North Melbourne, Victoria, Australia , 22 February 1920 |
| Home Town: | South Melbourne, Port Phillip, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Metal Trade |
| Died: | Presumed to be dead, Ambon, Netherlands East Indies, 20 February 1942, aged 21 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Commemorated~ Column 3, Ambon Memorial, Maluku, Indonesia. |
| 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, VX53364 | |
|---|---|---|
| 17 Apr 1941: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, VX53364 | |
| 3 Jun 1941: | Transferred Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, 2nd/21st Infantry Battalion, Part of Gull Force. |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Bonald
Private Matthew Bayfield was a member of the 2nd/21st Australian Infantry Battalion which was a part of “Gull Force”.
This force consisted of 1131 Australian soldiers, Dutch and local native troops whose objective was to occupy Ambon Island, which is located approximately 350 miles North Northeast of Timor in the Banda Sea and hinder the Japanese advance. Private Bayfield was a member of the large garrison, positioned around Laha Airfield prior to the Japanese invasion of 30 January 1942.
After a series of short but fierce battles, fighting on Ambon Island ceased on 2 February 1942. Although many of those captured on other parts of the island survived the war. The troops who had survived the “Battle of Laha” (approximately 315 personnel) were systematically 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. Therefore these ‘war dead’ were declared “ Become missing and for Official Purposes Presumed to be Dead, 20 February 1942”. Unfortunately, and sadly Private Bayfield was one of these servicemen where the fortune of war, has denied this known and honoured, ANZAC, burial given to his comrades in death."
“Not one life can we call lost, For with it will be riven, The sacred memory of a life, Unto his country given." -
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