Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

The siren wails across Glenferrie Oval. Alf Giblett draws a long breath, sets his sights on the big sticks, and kicks for goal. It is 1935, and the twenty-seven-year-old from Warrnambool is wearing the brown and gold stripes of the Hawthorn "Mayblooms". He plays nine senior games this season and boots three goals before the winter turns to spring. He is an athletic presence on the field, a man who knows how to find space and hold a mark.

By December, the season is over and Alfred is a married man. He and his wife, Valma, settle into a house at 7 Fairview Avenue in Burwood. For the next six years, the football is replaced by a sample case. Alfred works as a commercial traveller for Robert Harper & Co., navigating the suburban streets of Melbourne to sell wholesale groceries. He is thirty-three when the war finally forces his hand.

He enlists on 14 January 1942 at Surrey Hills. He is not a new soldier; he has already put in three years with the 39th Battalion in the Citizen Forces. He is posted to the 24th Battalion, a Victorian unit, and by March 1943, he has earned the stripes of a Corporal.

In June 1943, the 24th Battalion is in the thick timber of New Guinea. On the 19th of that month, Alfred is part of a small patrol that walks into an ambush. Under heavy machine-gun fire, the patrol is ordered to "break bush". His commander, Lieutenant Alderdice, sees Alfred stumble about 50 yards from the ambush point. He does not appear hit. He is last seen heading for thick cover. A burst of light machine-gun fire follows him into the trees.

The patrol leader stays in the vicinity until 1615 hours, listening to the silence. He returns again at 2000 hours and waits until 0100, but hears nothing. The next day, a patrol combs the area but finds no trace of the missing NCO. Alfred was a man his officers described as "brave, capable and popular".

Back in Burwood, Valma receives the news that her husband is missing. It takes three years for the Army to confirm what the jungle had already claimed. Alfred Rowton Giblett was officially reclassified as presumed dead in July 1946. He has no known grave. His name is recorded on the memorial at Port Moresby (Bomana) War Cemetery.

Lest we forget

Rod Hutchings

Director, Virtual War Memorial Australia