BOLTON, Cyril Robert Ashleigh
| Service Number: | VX65678 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 5 November 1941 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/21st Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Balham, England, 27 January 1918 |
| Home Town: | Gunyah, South Gippsland, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Rigger |
| Died: | Presumed to be dead, Ambon, Netherlands East Indies, 20 February 1942, aged 24 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, Boolarra & District Memorial Hall, Morwell War Memorial, Newborough Cenotaph |
World War 2 Service
| 5 Nov 1941: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, VX65678 | |
|---|---|---|
| 7 Feb 1942: | Imprisoned | |
| 20 Feb 1942: | Involvement Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, VX65678, 2nd/21st Infantry Battalion |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Elizabeth Allen
Cyril Robert Ashleigh BOLTON was born in Balham, England on 27th January, 1918
His parents were Cyril Ashleigh BOLTON & Lilian May TYLER who married in Wandsworth, London in 1916
He was taken a prisoner of war & listed as missing on 7th February, 1942 & presumed deceased on 20th February, 1942
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His Father Cyril Ashleigh BOLTON served during WW1 (SN 31 in the 14th Infantry Battalion & returned to Australia in 1916 - he also served in the Volunteer Defence Corps (SN V380854) during WW2 and was discharged on 10th October, 1942
His brother Thomas Arthur BOLTON (SN VX26315) was also taken as a prisoner of war and died of illness in Ambon on 8th March, 1945 - he was also with the 2nd/21st Infantry Battalion
Biography contributed by Stephen Bonald
Private Cyril Robert Ashleigh Bolton was a member of the 2nd/21st Australian Infantry Battalion which formed 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 Cyril Robert Ashleigh Bolton 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 Cyril Robert Ashleigh Bolton was one of these servicemen to which the fortune of war, has denied a formal 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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