Sergeant Victor Earnest Ross Wainwright enlisted to the Second Australian Imperial Force on 24 June 1940. After undergoing a period of training, he joined 17 Anti-Tank Battery and served at Rabaul, New Guinea. In January 1942, Sergeant Wainwright became a prisoner of war when the Japanese captured Rabaul. He, alongside more than 1,000 other prisoners, was ordered to board the Japanese transport ship, Montevideo Maru, on 22 June 1942. On 1 July 1942, the ship was torpedoed by an American Submarine, and all of the prisoners of war, including Sergeant Wainwright, were killed. Sergeant Wainwright is commemorated at Rabaul Memorial, Papua New Guinea.