Good afternoon, Further to my previous topic, in search for two former British prisoners, I am also looking for several Australian POWs who reached the Swiss Borders. Apart for one of them (Hayes), their records on NAA are not available - not yet examined. I would need further information and, if possible, a contact with their families. Here the names and data: TURNER Joseph Henry Driver TX75 2/12th BATT RUSSELL Thomas Watson Bdr VX32995 3rd Light A/A BTY PREISER Ernest Baden Gnr VX32728 3rd Light A/A BTY WALLER William Francis Gnr VX47958 3rd Light A/A BTY BARNDON Albert Vernon (Mick) Pte WX15376 2/28th BATT HAYES Ernest Andrew VX34562 2/24th BATT SMITH Brian Daniel Pte VX33912 2/24th BATT RHODES George James Pte VX33373 2/24th BATT LAUDER Stuart John Pte QX9995 22 MG AIF KELLY Thomas Henry Pte VX36598 2/23rd AIF IRWIN Ronald Charles Pte SX7858 2/48th AIF Thank you indeed for your kind help, Marco
you can order the files of those not yet open, there is no issue with that, however there is a small cost. Regards Simon
you can order the files of those not yet open, there is no issue with that, however there is a small cost. Regards Simon Hi Simon, Yes, I know, I already ordered six records in 2010 - about 25 Australian dollars for each folder if I remember well. 10 Euro each, anyway.
Marco, You may well be able to obtain 1st hand information from at least 1 you seek. Ernest Hayes appears to be still alive as per the link to the Battalion website, not listed as having passed on the nominal roll. The other 2 members of 2/24 you were looking for have passed, 1 in 1990 & the other in 1991. You will find a lot of formations have web sites for their members, if you run into trouble, you can always contact the RSL (in the appropriate state) where the unit was raised & they will be able to pass on to you contact details of the secretary of the unit association if not the web address. 2/24 Australian Infantry Battalion Main Page I think that in respect of Lauder you will find that it is not 22 Machine gun Bn but rather 2/2 MG Bn being 2nd AIF - 2nd Bn. Good luck & hope I have given you something positive to go on with Regards Simon
Thank you indeed, Simon, Sure your help has been precious. I will follow your kind suggestion and contact the 2/24 Battalion. Best regards, Marco
I presume you have already looked at the aifpow site for any helpful info - for some reason I can’t open the site from my computer. They probably don’t have much to help in your specific quest for family info anyway…. (the following probably doesn’t help much for your query either, but it seemed interesting so I’m running with it……….) I thought I would have a look for the least common surnames first, so I started with PREISER There is a group photo of his unit on the AWM website “Probably VIC, 1940. GROUP PORTRAIT OF MEMBERS OF 2/3RD LIGHT ANTI-AIRCRAFT REGIMENT (LAA), ROYAL AUSTRALIAN ARTILLERY (RAA), 1ST AUSTRALIAN CORPS ……. E.B. PREISER” Notification of his POW status list his home address as Balwyn (Melbourne) Victoria. I had a quick look at the phone book online (whitepages) with no hits for the surname. Which is somewhat odd as according to the WW2 nominal roll five men with that surname all came from the same town. (I presume all were brothers going off the dates of birth) One of them (Mervyn) enlisted in Queensland so I checked the whitepages for that state but still no hits. Even though he enlisted in Queensland he apparently ended up in the same unit as Ernest Preiser and is listed with a Melbourne address in the casualty notices and was repatriated to Victoria. Mervyn & Ernest must have been become POWs around the same time in Greece / Crete but Ernest was only posted as “missing” for 1 month before being confirmed as a POW. In contrast Mervyn was not confirmed as a POW until 12 months after originally being posted as “missing”. They both ended up in Switzerland at different times and were then repatriated home. The attached newspapers extracts give a lot of info on Mervyn but not much on Ernest.
BARNDON, Albert Vernon (Mick) Pte WX15376 2/28th BATT Might have a bit more luck with this one - there are 5 hits for the surname in Western Australia, most of them in the same postcode as the town he enlisted from. In fact, there is a funeral company in the town which has the family name in the title.
I got pretty well nowhere with this one: LAUDER, Stuart John Pte QX9995 2/2 MG AIF From Wyandra Married December 1940 to Marion Hall (in Brisbane) POW 1942 Released 1944 Daughter (Robyn Lorraine) born December 1950 (in Brisbane)
WALLER, William Francis Gnr VX47958 3rd Light A/A BTY Returned A.I.F. P.O.W.s From left to right: Cpl. D. Roberson, Cpl. T. Norton, Lt. J. L. Mair, Pte. E. Matulick [?] and Gnr. W. Waller.
Hi Dave, Very precious help. Thank you so much! I can't open AIF POW, too - maybe they're having a server backup or something like that. Very interesting picture. Thanks! Marco
E.A Hayes, VX34562 was my great great uncle, he came from Rutherglen, Inlisted at Wangaratta, was taken POW, and finally returned back to australia, after escaping from the pow camp, Uncle Ern died, when i was about 2 years of age, ( late 1970's) my grandmother, and great uncle are still alive, (his neice and nephew) uncle ern, never married or had any kids. my nan and uncle talk about him alot, but uncle ern, never spoke much of the war,,,, hope this has helped a bit
E.A Hayes, VX34562 was my great great uncle, he came from Rutherglen, Inlisted at Wangaratta, was taken POW, and finally returned back to australia, after escaping from the pow camp, Uncle Ern died, when i was about 2 years of age, ( late 1970's) my grandmother, and great uncle are still alive, (his neice and nephew) uncle ern, never married or had any kids. my nan and uncle talk about him alot, but uncle ern, never spoke much of the war,,,, hope this has helped a bit Hello!, Thanks for your kind reply. I am going to write you via PM. Very pleased to meet you!
