Private Stanley Walter Ashton, 47th Battalion, Second Australian Imperial Force
Australian War MemorialStanley Ashton was born on 15 June 1909 in Yerra, Queensland, to Annie and Christopher Ashton, a dairy and cane labourer. Stanley grew up alongside three younger sisters, Eunice, Iris, and Daphne, and attended school at Myrtle Creek.
Stanley’s mother died when he was 15, and he took up work with his father in the cane industry. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church and well-known and popular in the Tiaro and Bauple districts.
On 18 February 1939 Ashton enlisted in the Australian Military Forces, joining the 47th Battalion. He was called up for full time duty on the 21st of December 1941, and joined the Second Australian Imperial Force.
On 19 March 1943 Ashton embarked with his unit to New Guinea aboard the transport ship Tarooma, and arrived in Milne Bay. That year, Allied forces in New Guinea began a major campaign to take the Japanese-occupied port of Lae. Australian forces were directed towards Salamaua in order to divert Japanese forces from the main target. On 23 August the 5th Division, to which the 47th Battalion belonged, took over the advance on Salamaua, and successfully took the objective after three weeks of heavy fighting.
The Salamaua campaign cost the Allies 343 dead, including Private Ashton, who was killed in action near Lake Salus on 14 August 1943. He was among men of the 47th Battalion ordered on an operation near the lake, where they were attacked by a strong Japanese force. Ashton was one of seven killed in the attack. He was 34 years old.
Private Ashton was buried at Lake Salus, but was later reinterred at the Lae War Cemetery. His headstone bears the inscription “Resurgam”, which in Latin means “I shall rise again”.
The Bauple district people extended their sympathy to the Ashton family, and the Tiaro councillor noted that Ashton was one of the first three young men of the district to fall in the war.
- AWM Honour Roll https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1711870
