Private William Gordon BAIN SUDA BAY Cemetery, Crete
Dennis Kerins writes: “It was from a request from an elderly woman for a picture of Bill’s grave that the concept of the New Zealand War Graves Project was born. Joyce Crane was engaged to my Uncle Bill and, although happily married, 'thought of him every day since his death.' It took a few years actually to get the photograph, via a friend Diane Snow, but Joyce had her wish fulfilled before she died.
“Bill was born in Wellington on 1 August, 1917 the son of Athol Douglas Bain and Millicent Bain (nee Frew). He attended Petone Primary School but later shifted schools when placed in a Wellington boys’ orphanage following the death of his mother. His two sisters were also placed in an orphanage. In the late 1930s he shifted to Auckland with his father and was employed as a timber worker with the Kauri Timber Company, Papatoetoe. He enlisted on 3 October, 1939 and embarked for Egypt on 5 January, 1940, arriving on 13 February, 1940. He served with the 18th Battalion in Greece and was evacuated to Crete (reported safe in Crete 18 May, 1941).
“According to information received by my mother (Bill’s sister) he was killed by a mortar bomb at Galatas on 25 May, 1941 and 'was buried by his mates on the spot.' His official date of death is 2 June, 1941—the day he was reported missing.”
Sources – Service Record and nephew, Dennis Kerins.