Jim Ayliffe (1918 - 1943)

Ancestors

Biography

Jim Ayliffe was born on 14th September 1918 in Kingscote, South Australia, Australia. He was the second son of William Ayliffe and Catherine Page. ^[1]

On 4th December 1939 in Kingscote, Jim enlisted in the Second Australian Imperial Force, his nation's overseas expeditionary force for the Second World War. He was allocated to the 2/10th Australian Infantry Battalion. ^[2]

The 2/10th Battalion trained first at Woodside in the Adelaide Hills, and then at Greta and Ingleburn in New South Wales. The battalion embarked for the Middle East on 5th May 1940 as a unit of the 18th Brigade, 6th Australian Division. En route to the Middle East, the 18th Brigade was diverted to the United Kingdom to bolster its defences following the fall of France. The 2/10th disembarked at Gourock in Scotland on 18th June and was subsequently based at Lopcombe Corner, near Salisbury, in England. The battalion relocated to Colchester in October and left the United Kingdom on 17th November. ^[3]

The 2/10th arrived in Egypt on 31st December 1940, now part of the newly-formed 9th Australian Division, but in Egypt, in February 1941, it was transferred to the 7th Division. The battalion moved into Tobruk in the first week of April, taking part in the defence of Tobruk until withdrawn at the end of August – the renowned Rats of Tobruk. After Tobruk, the 2/10th trained in Palestine and between late September 1941 and early January 1942 formed part of the force garrisoning Syria. It sailed for Australia on 11 February, disembarking in Adelaide on 29th March. ^[3]

Papua was the 2/10th's next battleground and the battles it fought there were its most bitter and costly. It arrived at Milne Bay, on Papua's eastern-most tip, on 12th August and on the night of 27th August was overwhelmed by Japanese marines in a confused battle. The battalion fared even worse in its next engagement – Buna, on Papua's north coast. Between 23rd December and 2nd January the 2/10th lost 113 men killed and 205 wounded in often ill-conceived attacks against Japanese bunkers around the old airstrip. The 2/10th's final engagement in Papua was at nearby Sanananda between 9th and 24th January 1943. ^[3]

He died of illness on 20th January 1943 in Papua and is buried in Bomana War Cemetery, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. Jim Ayliffe's name is located at panel 34 in the Commemorative Area at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra. ^[4] Following the war his family was issued his campaign and service medals: 1939-1945 Star, Africa Star, Pacific Star, War Medal 1939-1945 and Australia Service Medal 1939-1945.

Sources

1. ↑ South Australia Birth Index #43A/164 1919; registered at Adelaide
2. ↑ Department of veterans' Affairs nominal roll: SX1572 Corporal Jim Ayliffe; accessed 19 Sep 2022
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} Australian War Memorial unit record: 2/10th Australian Infantry Battalion; accessed 19 Sep 2022
4. ↑ Australian War Memorial roll of honour: SX1572 Acting Corporal Jim Ayliffe; accessed 19 Sep 2022

See also:

• Jim Ayliffe (Virtual War Memorial Australia, https://vwma.org.au : accessed 22 Feb 2024)