Branch of Service

Army

Conflict

World War II (1939-1945)

Date of Enlistment

04/02/1942

Place of Enlistment

Paddington NSW

Gender

Male

Date of Birth

26/01/1923

Place of Birth

Brisbane, Queensland

Address (at enlistment)

Braddon ACT

School(s) Attended

Ainslie Primary School, Telopea Park Intermediate High School [original Canberra High School], Canberra High School.

Occupation

Commonwealth public servant, Attorney-General's Department, Canberra ACT.

Next of Kin

Only son of Captain William Wade and Ida Annie Wade, of Burwood NSW.

Burial Place

Lae War Cemetery, Papua-New Guinea: grave B.C.5.

Service Number

NX87497

Final Rank

Private

Final Unit

2/33 Infantry Battalion AIF

Died 14 September 1943 age 19 years in action against the Japanese at Heath Plantation, New Guinea.

AWM Roll of Honour, Canberra ACT: Panel 61.
Canberra High School Memorial Tablet
St John the Baptist Anglican Church, Reid, Book of Remembrance of Canberra parishioners who died in the war of 1939-45, in recess in south wall of nave.

Wade was one of the first intake of pupils to transfer from Telopea Park to the new Canberra High School. He lived in Braddon and played Australian Rules football with the Ainslie Football Club and cricket and tennis with the Northbourne clubs. After leaving school he joined the Public Service before enlisting in February 1942. He trained with the 9th Pioneer Training Battalion before joining the 2/14 Battalion in May 1943. He arrived in Port Moresby in August 1943 and was transferred to the 2/33 Battalion. On 7 September 1943, while the 2/33 Battalion were waiting in trucks at Jackson Field near Port Moresby to be transported to Nadzab for the assault on Lae in New Guinea, an American Liberator bomber crashed on take-off nearby killing or wounding more than 150 men from the battalion. However, there was a war on and the remainder of the battalion arrived in Nadzab the following day. On 14 September 1943 Wade's unit attacked a Japanese strongpoint at Heath Plantation near Lae. Wade was killed during the fighting aged 19 years. He is buried at Lae War Cemetery, Papua-New Guinea: grave B.C.5. A few days later Lae was captured.

Australia. Department of Veterans' Affairs. World War 2 nominal roll. <http://www.ww2roll.gov.au/>
Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Debt of Honour Register. <http://www.cwgc.org/cwgcinternet/search/>
AWM Roll of Honour and Roll of Honour Circulars <http://www.awm.gov.au/database/roh.asp>
Gibbney, Jim. Canberra 1913-1953. Canberra, Australian Government Publishing Service, 1988 (p.216)
Canberra High School. Roll of Honour 1939-1945. [Plaque in school]
Canberra High School. Albums compiled for student project researching names on School Roll of Honour, 1985.
Canberra High School. Unveiling of Memorial Tablet. Friday, 25th April 1947. [Programme]
Stanley J. L. Ray. Ainslie Football Club: souvenir record and club history 1927-1952. Canberra, Ainslie Football Club, n.d. [?1954]. Players honour roll.
Don Mountain ed. Monumental inscriptions: Australian Capital Territory, including Jervis Bay. Canberra, Heraldry & Genealogy Society of Canberra, 2001 (p.41)
The Canberra Times - 14 September 1944