Branch of Service

Army

Conflict

World War I (1914-1918)

Date of Enlistment

25/08/1915

Date of Discharge

12/09/1919

Place of Enlistment

Sydney NSW

Gender

Male

Date of Birth

24/12/1889

Place of Birth

Sydney NSW

Address (at enlistment)

131 Bondi Road, Bondi NSW (previously Acton ACT)

Occupation

Clerk

Next of Kin

Frances Louisa Ayrton (mother), 48 Woodstock Rd, Waverley NSW

Service Number

3231

Final Rank

Corporal

Final Unit

56 Battalion AIF

Ainslie Cricket Club Honor Roll (refer Queanbeyan Age 28 January 1916)

Originally from Sydney, by late 1913 Ayrton was living at Acton and working as a clerk in the Department of Home Affairs in Canberra. He helped organise the transport arrangements for VIPs at the Canberra naming ceremony on 12 March 1913. He played cricket for the Ainslie club and was described as "an exceptionally fast bowler and seldom if ever had an 'off' day". Ayrton was also a member of the Canberra Soccer team in 1914. He has the distinction of being the first patient at Canberra Hospital, after it opened in 1914, when he was treated for a badly grazed hand.

Ayrton embarked for overseas with reinforcements for the 4th Battalion in October 1915 but transferred to the 56th Battalion in February 1916. He was appointed a Lance Corporal in April 1916 and arrived in France at the end of June. The following month the 56th Battalion participated in the Battle of Fromelles in northern France. From December 1916 Ayrton had several stints in the 5th Division Postal Unit and finished the war as a Corporal with the Australian Postal Corps before being discharged in Sydney in September 1919. He married Clarice Crowhurst in 1921 and by the 1930s they were living in Reid. He served in World War 2 (as did his son Roy) and was awarded the Imperial Service Medal in 1955. Ayrton died at the Repatriation General Hospital, Concord on 27 April 1978.

Description - height 5 feet 5 inches, weight 120 pounds, chest 32-35 inches, fresh complexion, blue eyes, brown hair, Church of England. Previous experience 3½ years with the Naval Brigade.

National Library of Australia : Country Women's Association of NSW (Canberra Branch) History, 1959 (manuscript call no. NLA MS 734)
Stories from the ACT Memorial, 'Ainslie Challenges the Kultur Club', ACT Heritage Library www.library.act.gov.au/find/history/stories_from_the_act_memorial
Queanbeyan Age - 9 December 1913, 3 March 1914, 17 October 1914, 20 October 1914, 25 January 1916, 28 January 1916, 2 June 1916, 9 October 1916
The Canberra Times - 15 December 1954
National Archives (A206) Volume 9 [Federal Capital (Yass-Canberra district). Copies of correspondence, reports etc subsequent to passing of 'Seat of Government Surrender Act 1909 (NSW)' and 'Seat of Government Acceptance Act 1909 (Commonwealth)'] - folio 95, 1913 FCT Census
NAA RecordSearch - Series B2455 (First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920)
Arthur Ide, 'Royal Canberra Hospital: The First 40 Years', 1994
P.J. McKeown (ed.), 'Deo, Ecclesiae, Patriae - Fifty Years of Canberra Grammar School', ANU Press Canberra, 1979 (p.109)
Canberra & District Historical Society, Canberra Soccer Team, 1914 (photograph 2534)
Canberra & District Historical Society Newsletter, February 2010 (ed.427)