BURNS, Jack Rowland
| Service Number: | NX70405 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 29 October 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Captain |
| Last Unit: | Australian Army Service Corps |
| Born: | Annandale, New South Wales, Australia , 2 April 1913 |
| Home Town: | Lewisham, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Packer and Storeman |
| Died: | Presumed to be dead, Ambon, Netherlands East Indies, 20 February 1942, aged 28 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Commemorated ~ Column 6, 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 Captain, NX70405 | |
|---|---|---|
| 29 Oct 1940: | Enlisted NX70405 | |
| 23 Jul 1941: | Transferred Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Captain, Australian Army Service Corps, Part of Gull Force. |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Bonald
Captain Jack Rowland Burns (NX70405) was a member of the 8 Division Australian Army Service Corps who was transferred to “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 Captain Jack Rowland Burns 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 Captain Jack Rowland Burns 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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