South Gippslanders in the ill-fated Gull Force.
Impossible task remembered
LYN Skillern from the Leongatha Historical Society has started researching the men from South Gippsland who served in the ill-fated Gull Force on the now Indonesian Island of Ambon in World War II.
She has previously written about the men of Gippsland who served in Lark Force at Rabaul New Guinea and feels those from Gull Force also need to be remembered.
So what was Gull Force?
With the Japanese moving southward in South-East Asia during 1941, the Australian Government ordered the formation of three forces to go to and help protect strategic locations to our north.
The forces were given bird names; Lark Force went to Rabaul New Guinea, Gull Force to Ambon in what was then called the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) and Sparrow Force went to Timor.
All forces fell to the Japanese in early 1942.
Gull Force comprised predominantly of the 2/21st Battalion second AIF.
Research of the nominal roll for that battalion has discovered eleven men associated with Wonthaggi, four with Leongatha, three with Korumburra, two with Mirboo North and one with Bass.
Seventy-one men in total came from the wider Gippsland region.
Gull Force is not well known.
So many died and the story was basically forgotten unlike The Burma Railway or Singapore.
It has taken many years for the sacrifice and endurance of these prisoners of the Japanese to be accepted and acknowledged.
Gull Force suffered the worst death rate of any group captured by the Japanese, with that including brutal executions.
The 2/21st Battalion trained at Trawool near Seymour, then Bonegilla on the Murray River before travelling through the outback to Darwin.
After some time training, they were shipped to Ambon Island in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) to protect a strategic airfield and port.
The Australians served with Dutch and local Indonesian troops.
In February 1942, the greatly outnumbered and ill-equipped force faced an impossible task.
After fighting with determination, Gull Force faced defeat and capture.
Of the 1131soldiers 229 were massacred at Laha Airfield shortly after capture, 378 died on Ambon, 85 died on Hainan Island after being moved there, and others were executed or died in bombing raids.
In all, only 352 survived.
Brothers Jack and Ray Wheildon of Mirboo North, and Doug and Stan Jackson of Korumburra and Lang Lang, were massacred at Laha Airfield, as were Alexander Morgan of Kilcunda and William Wiseman of Bass.
Another set of brothers, Alan and Murray Bolding of Wonthaggi, died of illness within three days of each other in July 1945.
Most others died of starvation and illness either in Tan Tui camp, Ambon, or Hainan Island off the coast of China.
The four men from Leongatha listed below all died of illness.
Lyn is seeking information about the men of Gull Force listed below and would greatly appreciate hearing from any relatives.
Her contact number is 0400 249 048.
The list below shows soldiers who were either born in South Gippsland or gave a South Gippsland area as their location before enlisting.
Wonthaggi
VX21884 Francis William Alford POB Wonthaggi location Milnedale? died of illness 26/7/45
VX25004 Leo Francis Ayers POB Malvern location Wonthaggi North survived discharged 24/12/45
VX25019 Ronald Edgar Beattie POB Carlton location Lance Creek died of illness 28/8/44
VX31813 Raymond George Boak POB Wonthaggi location South Melbourne died of illness 27/5/45
VX25024 Alan Claude Bolding POB Traralgon location Wonthaggi died of illness 22/7/45
VX25018 Murray Arnold Bolding POB Traralgon location Wonthaggi died of illness 25/7/45
VX25021 Henry William Coe POB Charters Towers Qld location Wonthaggi discharged 7/8/43 he may not have gone to Ambon.
VX24998 John William Gordon Fincher POB Wonthaggi location Wonthaggi escaped Ambon and was placed in the 2/4th Battalion. He was discharged on 4/1/46.
VX42639 Alexander Morgan POB Fifeshire Scotland location Kilcunda died 20/2/42 Laha
VX26999 Edward Joseph Nugent POB Shepparton location Wonthaggi survived discharged 14/1/46
VX40295 William John Langtree Reilly POB Wonthaggi location Burnley died of illness 20/6/45
Leongatha
VX24718 John Robert Field POB Fitzroy location Ruby died of illness 31/7/45
VX24741 John Linton Simmons POB East Melbourne location Mt Eccles died of illness 17/4/44
VX28803 Oswald Henry Uren POB Fish Creek location Fish Creek and Meeniyan died of illness 7/12/43
VX29987 Mitchell Lindsey Wightman POB Leongatha location Leongatha died of illness 6/8/45
Korumburra
VX66131 James Frederick Elmore POB Korumburra location Kinglake died of illness 23/5/45
VX48414 Douglas Kenyon Jackson POB Korumburra location Lang Lang died 20/2/42 at Laha
VX38949 Stanley Arthur Jackson POB Korumburra location Lang Lang died 20/2/42 at Laha
Mirboo North
VX48329 Jack Lancelot Wheildon POB Mirboo North location Wangaratta died 20/2/42 at Laha
VX24735 Raymond Thomas Wheildon POB Morwell location Mirboo North died 20/2/42 at Laha
Bass
VX25406 William John Wiseman POB Bass location Kanina? Died 20/2/42 at Laha
