Why was he with this regiment? Any information would be appreciated. Need assistance on Who/Where/What/How for this man who is on the Australian Commemorative Roll which is for those "Australians" who died in other Allied Services. If proved not to be "Australian" their names will not be removed from the Commemorative Roll however their details will be updated accordingly. I have researched the Air Force members but there are many more Land and Sea deaths in a myriad of different forces. There is not a lot of information on these people that can be accessed easily and I ask your assistance to fill in at least some of the gaps. Hopefully some relatives may see this thread and add more. I will make a different thread for each along the way as they may tend to get lost if clumped together. In Memory of Rifleman PETER BERNARD LALOR 6846408, King's Royal Rifle Corps attd. 4th Parachute Bde., Army Air Corps who died age 28 on 11 September 1943 Son of Capt. Joseph Peter Lalor, A.I.F., killed at Gallipoli, 25th April, 1915, and of Hester Lalor (nee Loughrey), of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. M.A., LL.B. (University of Melbourne). Remembered with honour BARI WAR CEMETERY To set the scene, this Peter Bernard Lalor is: From: RootsWeb: WORLDWAR2-L [WORLD WAR II] Paras, Italy, 1943 He was the only son of Captain Joseph Peter Lalor, of the 12th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force, who was killed in action on Baby 700, Gallipoli, on 25th April 1915, and the great-grandson of Peter Lalor, who led the only major insurrection against British rule in Australian history, at the Eureka Stcokade, Victoria, in 1854. From Special Forces Roll of Honour: born Australia resided London son of Hester (nee Loughrey) and late Joseph Peter Lalor,Melbourne,Victoria,Australia father died 25.4.1915 at Gallipoli as Captain A.I.F. graduated University of Melbourne (M.A.,LL.B.) died Italy His Law Degree was conferred at Wilson Hall, Melbourne University on Monday 23rd December 1935.
Getting nowhere with this one, having the same first name as that bloke from Ballarat doesn't help the search at all. I would presume that he took his brand-new law degree to the UK to get a well-paying job (like 1000s of Aussie graduates today). The main question is: how did he end up as a Rifleman with his qualifications? I suppose the British Army didn't really have a great need for lawyers......
Getting nowhere with this one, having the same first name as that bloke from Ballarat doesn't help the search at all. I would presume that he took his brand-new law degree to the UK to get a well-paying job (like 1000s of Aussie graduates today). The main question is: how did he end up as a Rifleman with his qualifications? I suppose the British Army didn't really have a great need for lawyers...... Hi Dave, This was on the Special Forces website: HQ 4 Parachute Brigade (King's Royal Rifle Corps,attached) I wonder! Cheers Geoff
Hi Geoff, Thats one to add the the Airborne list for this cemetery.. Cheers Tom Hi Tom, Thought you might have picked up on that heading. I need 39 RAAF lads from Bari so he now makes 40. Cheers Geoff
Here is his enlistment form into the Militia in Australia. Thanks Simon, He is listed as a student and enlisted on his 18th birthday. His unit is MU Rifles. Would that be the Melbourne University Rifles? Still more to dig up. Cheers Geoff
Thanks Simon, He is listed as a student and enlisted on his 18th birthday. His unit is MU Rifles. Would that be the Melbourne University Rifles? Still more to dig up. Cheers Geoff Geoff, It would be the Melbourne University Rifles, which, when I was at Uni was called the Melbourne University Regiment. Mark
Some background to the events that more than likely saw him killed. "On the 9th September, the 2nd and 4th Para Brigade's, less the 11th Battalion, captured the Italian port of Taranto, having landed from the sea. After the town had been secured and handed over to the care of the 1st Para Brigade, the two vanguard brigades began to push northwards. The 4th Para Brigade captured the town of Massafra and then advanced on the village known as Mottala. It was during these initial stages that the commander of the 1st Airborne Division, Major-General Hopkinson, was killed while watching the 10th Battalion in action against German troops of the 1st Fallschirmjaeger Division. On the 13th September, both the 10th and 156th Battalions attacked the strategically important town of Goia del Colle, 20 miles outside of Taranto. A series of very determined patrols by both battalions and also a night attack on behalf of the 10th Battalion succeeded in evicting the enemy by the 16th September". 4th Parachute Brigade
Thanks for the info everyone. Hopefully we will find not only what he was doing there but how he died. Cheers Geoff
Peter Lalor was an alumnus of Merton College, Oxford, and is commemorated on the college war memorial. He was at Merton in 1936-7 and 1938-9, reading for the BCL. The College Register has his year of birth as 1913, which would mean he was aged 30 when he was killed. If anyone has any further information, or a photograph of Peter Lalor, we would be very interested.
Hi Geoff There is a note here about the place where he died: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.781243401904066.1073741838.109068972454849&type=3 Lance Corporal Frederick Herbert, Private’s James Benson, Fred Coupe, Peter Lalor, Horace Robinson and Graham Waddell of the 4th Parachute Brigade Headquarters Defence Platoon were all killed near the bridge south of Castellaneta on the 11th September 1943 and do not have correct identification on their headstones in Bari War Cemetery. Hope it helps TD
Lance Corporal Frederick Herbert, Private’s James Benson, Fred Coupe, Peter Lalor, Horace Robinson and Graham Waddell of the 4th Parachute Brigade Headquarters Defence Platoon were all killed near the bridge south of Castellaneta on the 11th September 1943 and do not have correct identification on their headstones in Bari War Cemetery. Photos of their graves
Article about the Lalors at Trove. At the end it says Peter signed up originally to the Queens Own Rifles http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/206102448?searchTerm="Peter%20Bernard%20lalor"%20&searchLimits=q-field0|||q-type0=phrase|||q-term0=Peter+Bernard+lalor|||q-field1=title%3A|||q-type1=all|||q-term1|||q-field2=creator%3A|||q-type2=all|||q-term2|||q-field3=subject%3A|||q-type3=all|||q-term3|||q-year1-date|||q-year2-date And his graduation in 1935 http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/11867568?searchTerm="Peter%20Bernard%20lalor"%20&searchLimits=q-field0|||q-type0=phrase|||q-term0=Peter+Bernard+lalor|||q-field1=title%3A|||q-type1=all|||q-term1|||q-field2=creator%3A|||q-type2=all|||q-term2|||q-field3=subject%3A|||q-type3=all|||q-term3|||q-year1-date|||q-year2-date Edit: another link but this article states he signed up to the Kings Royal Rifle Corp http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/206356563?searchTerm="Rifleman%20lalor"&searchLimits=exactPhrase=Rifleman+lalor|||anyWords|||notWords|||requestHandler|||dateFrom|||dateTo|||sortby