Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Albert Lionel served in the 2/31st Battalion AIF enlisting at Paddington in Sydney, naming his brother Harold as ‘Next of Kin’. 
 
The 2/31st Battalion AIF first served in the Middle East being brought back to Australia on 9 February 1942 for additional training before embarking for New Guinea where the Japanese Forces were moving swiftly towards Port Moresby. They arrived on 9 September tasked with reinforcing the battered troops along the Kokoda Trail. On 1 November 2/31st was the first battalion to re-enter Kokoda and played a key role in breaking the last Japanese defensive position on the trail at Gorari. After flying back to Port Moresby on 15 December they eventually sailed home to Australia in early January 1943 for much needed leave. By 26 July, with leave over, they were preparing for the next operation – an advance on the Japanese base at Lae. Flying into Nadzab on 12 September and, after a hurried advance, they participated in a successful campaign that reclaimed Lae and its strategic position. On 29 September the 2/31st was flown from Nadzab to Kaipit and spent the rest of the year principally engaged in patrol actions in the Ramu Valley and the foothills of the Finisterre Range.[iv] It was during this time that Albert succumbed to illness, dying on 16 November, 1943.
 
Albert would no doubt have been buried near where he died, in the Ramu Valley north-east of Lae. Following the end of hostilities, volunteers, many of whom had served themselves, searched for the remains of soldiers in order to rebury them with dignity in a dedicated war cemetery. This was the case with Albert whose remains were exhumed and reburied at Bomana War Cemetery, Port Moresby.