Allan Wesley GAMBRILL

Allan Wesley GAMBRILL Update Details

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GAMBRILL, Allan Wesley

Service Number:	NX89776
Enlisted:	21 February 1942, Paddington, New South Wales
Last Rank:	Lance Corporal
Last Unit:	2nd/33rd Infantry Battalion
Born:	Windsor, New South Wales, 14 July 1922
Home Town:	Freemans Reach, New South Wales
Schooling:	Not yet discovered
Occupation:	Orchardist
Died:	Injuries, New Guinea, 8 September 1943, aged 21 years
Cemetery:	Port Moresby (Bomana) War Cemetery, Papua New Guinea CWGC Grave No: Section C. Plot 1. Row C. Grave 14. Inscription: "SUPREME SACRIFICE"
Memorials:	Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Lower Portland WW2 Honor Roll

World War 2 Service

21 Feb 1942:	Enlisted Private, NX89776, 2nd/33rd Infantry Battalion, Paddington, New South Wales
21 Feb 1942:	Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Lance Corporal, NX89776, 2nd/33rd Infantry Battalion
8 Sep 1943:	Involvement Lance Corporal, NX89776, 2nd/33rd Infantry Battalion

Help us honour Allan Wesley Gambrill's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.

Biography contributed by Elizabeth Allen

Allan Wesley GAMBRILL was born at Windsor, NSW on 14th July, 1922

His parents were Wesley Charles GAMBRILL & Clara Muriel HERPS who married at the Methodist Church in Lower Portland, NSW on 29th October, 1919

Biography

"...NX89776 Lance Corporal Allan Wesley Gambrill, 2/33 Battalion, of Windsor, NSW. He was a farmer prior to enlistment from Paddington, NSW on 21 February 1942. L Cpl Gambrill died of injuries in New Guinea on 7 September 1943. He was 21 years of age." - SOURCE (www.awm.gov.au)

Biography contributed by Stephen Bonald

On Tuesday, September 7th, 1943, at Jackson Field in Port Moresby, New Guinea, a B-24D Liberator bomber (The Pride of the Cornhuskers) from the 403rd Bomber Squadron, 43rd Bombing Group USAAF, crashed during take-off, likely due to pilot disorientation in the dark. The aircraft hit trees and slammed into a convoy of trucks carrying over 130 soldiers from D Company, 2/33 Infantry Battalion of the Australian Army, who were waiting to board C-47 transport planes to move to the front lines. The bomber’s 500-pound bombs and 2,800 gallons of fuel exploded, killing 15 Australian soldiers instantly and severely injuring 47 more, who later died. Another 90 soldiers were wounded but survived, all 11 crew members aboard the bomber (The Pride of the Cornhuskers) were killed. Lance Corporal Allan Wesley Gambrill – NX89776 was one of the 47 Australian Military personnel severely injured succumbing to extensive second degree burns.

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