LAE WAR CEMETERY (PAPUA NEW GUINEA)
In the early months of 1942, Japan enjoyed a crushing superiority in the air, and it was Lae and its neighbouring airfields that were the objects of the first Japanese attack on New Guinea. Lae and Salamaua were bombed on 21 January 1942 by 100 planes, but the land forces did not enter the territory until 7 March, when 3,000 Japanese landed at Lae. There were landings too at Salamaua, followed on 21 July by further landings at Buna and Gona on the east coast in preparation for a drive through the Owen Stanley Mountains across the Papuan peninsula to Port Moresby. The vital stage of the New Guinea campaign dates from that time. Lae became one of the bases from which the southward drive was launched and maintained until it was stopped at Ioribaiwa Ridge, a point within 60 kilometres of Port Moresby.
LAE WAR CEMETERY was commenced in 1944 by the Australian Army Graves Service and handed over to the Commission in 1947. It contains the graves of men who lost their lives during the New Guinea campaign whose graves were brought here from the temporary military cemeteries in areas where the fighting took place. The Indian casualties were soldiers of the army of undivided India who had been taken prisoner during the fighting in Malaya and Hong Kong. The great majority of the unidentified were recovered between But airfield and Wewak, where they had died while employed in working parties. Of the two men belonging to the army of the United Kingdom, one was attached to 2/9th Australian Infantry Battalion and the other was a member of the Hong Kong-Singapore Royal Artillery. The naval casualties were killed, or died of injuries received, on H.M. Ships King George V, Glenearn and Empire Arquebus, and the four men of the Merchant Navy were killed when the S.S. Gorgon was bombed and damaged in Milne Bay in April 1943.
The cemetery contains 2,818 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War, 444 of them unidentified. It was unveiled by the Governor-General of Australia, Field Marshal Slim, on 21 October 1953.
Prior to the First World War, north-eastern New Guinea and certain adjacent islands were German possessions, and were occupied by Australian Forces on 12 September 1914. Several cemeteries in New Guinea contain the graves of men who died during that war. There is one such grave in Lae War Cemetery, brought in from a burial ground where permanent maintenance could not be assured.
The LAE MEMORIAL, which stands in the cemetery, commemorates more than 300 officers and men of the Australian Army, the Australian Merchant Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force who lost their lives in these operations and have no known grave. Casualties of the Royal Australian Navy who lost their lives in the south-western Pacific region, and have no known grave but the sea, are commemorated on Plymouth Naval Memorial in England along with many of their comrades of the Royal Navy and of other Commonwealth Naval Forces.
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SURNAME
Tregaskis
FORENAME
Thomas Norman (Curly)
UNIT
2/3 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
VX105910
DATE OF DEATH
6th July 1943
AGE
19
GRAVESITE
Lae War Cemetery,Papua New Guinea N.D.5
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
born Canterbury,Victoria
son of Walter Leslie and...
-
SURNAME
Topham
FORENAME
Robert Francis (Bob)
UNIT
2/3 Independent Company
RANK
Sergeant
NUMBER
VX58799
DATE OF DEATH
17th August 1943
AGE
28
GRAVESITE
Lae War Cemetery,Papua New Guinea N.D.16
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
born Yapeen,Victoria
son of John Thomas and Elizabeth...
-
SURNAME
Thomas
FORENAME
Leonard (Len)
UNIT
2/3 Independent Company
RANK
Corporal
NUMBER
VX21564
DATE OF DEATH
17th August 1943
AGE
35
GRAVESITE
Lae War Cemetery, Papua New Guinea P.D.11
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
born 20.7.1908 South Melbourne, Victoria
son of William David...
-
SURNAME
Snell
FORENAME
John William Joseph
UNIT
2/3 Independent Company
RANK
Lance Sergeant
NUMBER
VX56555
DATE OF DEATH
3rd September 1943
AGE
22
GRAVESITE
Lae War Cemetery,Papua New Guinea N.C.6
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
born Richmond,Victoria
son of John and Victoria...
-
SURNAME
Smyth
FORENAME
Raymond Edward
UNIT
2/3 Independent Company
RANK
Lance Corporal
NUMBER
WX13256
DATE OF DEATH
25th August 1943
AGE
23
GRAVESITE
Lae War Cemetery,Papua New Guinea P.C.10
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
born Fremantle,Western Australia
son of John Carlton and...
-
SURNAME
Sides
FORENAME
Francis William (Frank)
UNIT
2/3 Independent Company
RANK
Lance Sergeant
NUMBER
QX15400
DATE OF DEATH
25th August 1943
AGE
29
GRAVESITE
Lae War Cemetery,Papua New Guinea Q.A.3
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
born 15.12.1913 Mackay,Queensland
son of John...
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SURNAME
Shortis
FORENAME
Gregory
UNIT
M Special Unit (Infantry)
RANK
Trooper
NUMBER
NX69784
DATE OF DEATH
25th March 1944
AGE
27
GRAVESITE
Lae War Cemetery,Papua New Guinea H.A.16
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
born Marrickville,New South Wales
son of John and Elsie Mary...
-
SURNAME
Russell
FORENAME
Donald McRae
UNIT
2/3 Independent Company
RANK
Captain
NUMBER
VX44768
DATE OF DEATH
2nd February 1943
AGE
23
GRAVESITE
Lae War Cemetery,Papua New Guinea K.A.9
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
born Adelaide,South Australia
son of Walter McRae and Pauline...
-
SURNAME
Robb
FORENAME
Cyril Thomas (Squib)
UNIT
2/3 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
QX34340
DATE OF DEATH
17th August 1943
AGE
21
GRAVESITE
Lae War Cemetery,Papua New Guinea Q.D.15
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
born Marrickville,New South Wales
son of Cyril Andrew and...
-
SURNAME
Prentice
FORENAME
Leslie Alexander
UNIT
2/3 Independent Company
RANK
Lance Corporal
NUMBER
VX105889
DATE OF DEATH
9th July 1943
AGE
19
GRAVESITE
Lae War Cemetery,Papua New Guinea Q.A.11
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
born North Melbourne,Victoria
son of Alexander and Ivy...
-
SURNAME
Pheeney
FORENAME
Kitchener
UNIT
2/3 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
NX48066
DATE OF DEATH
31st January 1943
AGE
20
GRAVESITE
Lae War Cemetery,Papua New Guinea J.A.14
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
born Tilba,New South Wales
son of Thomas and Eliza Sophia...
-
SURNAME
Parker
FORENAME
Reginald Philip
UNIT
2/3 Independent Company
RANK
Corporal
NUMBER
WX12270
DATE OF DEATH
6th February 1943
AGE
25
GRAVESITE
Lae War Cemetery,Papua New Guinea G.A.1
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
born 22.05.1917, Pingelly, Western Australia
son of William...
-
SURNAME
Osborne
FORENAME
Harold Thomas (Aussie)
UNIT
2/3 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
WX12996
DATE OF DEATH
15th May 1943
AGE
18
GRAVESITE
Lae War Cemetery,Papua New Guinea M.D.14
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
born Subiaco,Western Australia
son of Thomas and Elsie...
-
SURNAME
Nordin
FORENAME
Nils Bertil
UNIT
2/3 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
VX109264
DATE OF DEATH
17th August 1943
AGE
25
GRAVESITE
Lae War Cemetery,Papua New Guinea P.D.14
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
born Luckston,Sweden
son of Nils Anton and Hilma Gunilla...
-
SURNAME
Muir
FORENAME
Andrew Steuart (Bonnie)
UNIT
2/3 Independent Company
RANK
Lance Sergeant
NUMBER
VX57539
DATE OF DEATH
29th July 1943
AGE
27
GRAVESITE
Lae War Cemetery,Papua New Guinea Q.D.7
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
born Kerang,Victoria
son of Andrew Steuart and Agnes...
-
SURNAME
Morgan
FORENAME
Thomas Henry
UNIT
2/3 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
NX66736
DATE OF DEATH
19th August 1943
AGE
33
GRAVESITE
Lae War Cemetery,Papua New Guinea N.B.15
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
born Sydney,New South Wales
son of Edward Bruce and Mary Esther...
-
SURNAME
Mitchell
FORENAME
Clement Patrick
UNIT
2/3 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
WX9730
DATE OF DEATH
3rd February 1943
AGE
25
GRAVESITE
Lae War Cemetery,Papua New Guinea K.B.10
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
born Perth,Western Australia
son of Matthew and Elizabeth...
-
SURNAME
Miell
FORENAME
Ross William Gordon (Snowy)
UNIT
2/3 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
DX20
DATE OF DEATH
2nd February 1943
AGE
30
GRAVESITE
Lae War Cemetery,Papua New Guinea H.C.10
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
born Tailem Bend,South Australia
son of Edmund Rankin...
-
SURNAME
McRonald
FORENAME
Donald (Bill)
UNIT
2/3 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
NX69445
DATE OF DEATH
3rd February 1943
AGE
23
GRAVESITE
Lae War Cemetery,Papua New Guinea H.D.15
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
born Arncliffe,New South Wales
son of Donald and Elizabeth...
-
SURNAME
McDougall
FORENAME
William James
UNIT
2/3 Independent Company
RANK
Private
NUMBER
NX38916
DATE OF DEATH
18th June 1943
AGE
21
GRAVESITE
Lae War Cemetery,Papua New Guinea P.A.3
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
born Wickham,New South Wales
son of William Munro and Jane...