View source for Macalister Adair Blain

{{infobox soldier
| image           = [[File:Blain_Mcalister_Adair.jpg|border|400px]]
| caption         = Internet
| image2          =
| caption2        =
| dateofbirth	  = 
| placeofbirth	  = Inverell, New South Wales
| death	          = 28 Apr 1983
| placeofdeath	  = unknown
| enlistmentage	  = 21 years old
| description	  = none found
| height          = 
| weight          = 
| complexion      = 
| eyes            = 
| hair            = 
| descriptionnote = 
| occupation	  = Chainman
| religion	  = Methodist
| address	  = NOK Maidenwell Post Office, Queensland
| relation	  = Mother 
| nextofkin       = Mrs Katurah Anne Blain
| regnumber	  = [https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=3089071 2126]
| regnumber2      = [https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=4616685&S=1&R=0 NX56669]
| enlistmentdate  = 13 Feb 1916
| rank	          = Corporal
| unit     	  = 51st Battalion, 4th Reinforcement, transferred to 32nd Battalion / 13th Brigade, 4th Division
| embarkationdatefrom = 9 Aug 1916 
| embarkationdateto = 25 Sep 1916
| shipembarked	  = [[HMAT A28 Miltiades]]
| embarkedshipnote =
| embarkationdatefrom2 = 
| embarkationdateto2 = 
| shipembarked2	  = 
| embarkedshipnote2 =
| dateofreturnfrom = 6 Oct 1919 
| dateofreturnto  = 16 Nov 1919
| shipreturned    = [[HMNZT Pakeha]]
| shipreturnednote =
| dateofreturnfrom2 = 
| dateofreturnto2  = 
| shipreturned2    = 
| shipreturnednote2 =
| fate1	          = Returned to Australia
| fate2           = 
| fate3           = 
| fate4           =
| monument1	  = [[Kelmscott War Memorial]] 
| monumentnote1   = (West panel)
| monument2	  = [[Perth Modern School Honour Roll]]
| monumentnote2   =
| monument3	  = 
| monumentnote3   =
| monument4	  = 
| monumentnote4   =
| monument5	  = 
| monumentnote5   =
| monument6	  = 
| monumentnote6   =
| monumentawm     =
| monumentawmnote =
| monumentother   =
| monumentothernote =
| medal1	  = [[British War Medal]]
| medal2          = [[Victory Medal]]
| medal3          = [[1939-45 Star]]
| medal4          = [[Pacific Star]]
| medal5          = [[War Medal 1939-45]]
| medal6          = [[Australian Service Medal 1939-45]]
}}



==Pre War==
It is probable that he was living in Kelmscott while attending Perth Technical College. and before that Perth Modern School.

==WW1 War Service==

WW1 records are filed with his WW2 records (NX56669) so no detail is yet available of his WW 1 war service.

''389th Casualty List'' has Blain listed as ill.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article37449266 |title=THE ROLL OF HONOUR. 389TH CASUALTY LIST. |newspaper=[[Western Mail]] |volume=XXXIII, |issue=1,688 |location=Western Australia |date=3 May 1918 |accessdate=25 May 2017 |page=35 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>  
Macalister is reported as returning on the "SS Pakeha".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article81923387 |title=COMING HOME |newspaper=[[The Daily News]] |volume=XXXVIII, |issue=13,940 |location=Western Australia |date=7 November 1919 |accessdate=25 May 2017 |page=5 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>  


==Post WW1==
Returning from Europe, Blain worked as a surveyor in Northern Queensland before moving to the Northern Territory in 1929 to become the Darwin area surveyor.  Blain's work took him throughout northern Australia, giving him the opportunity to gain a high profile, which he used at the 1934 Federal election, standing as an independent for the Division of Northern Territory.
  
==WW2 War Service==
After changing his year of birth to 1897,<ref>Carment, D., Maynard, R. et al. (1990) Northern Territory Dictionary of Biography Vol. 1, Northern Territory University Press: Casuarina.</ref> Blain enrolled in the army during World War II and served as a Sergeant [NX56669] in the 2/12 Field Company, Royal Australian Engineers (8th Division) and was sent to Malaya.<ref>World War II Nominal Roll, Accessed 2 April 2017.</ref>
 
Captured by the Japanese following the fall of Singapore in 1942, Blain was a Prisoner of War, first in Singapore and later Borneo, until his release in September 1945.<ref>Lumb, M., Bennett, S. et al. (2007) Commonwealth Members of Parliament who have served in war, Research Brief, Australian Government Department of Parliamentary Services. 26 March 2007, no. 10, 2006–07</ref>

Blain remains the only serving member of the House of Representatives to have been a Prisoner of War.<ref>Carment, D., Maynard, R. et al. (1990) Northern Territory Dictionary of Biography Vol. 1, Northern Territory University Press: Casuarina.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1456406 |title=Australian Red Cross Wounded and Missing Files - Macalister Adair Blain |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= 2018|website=Australian War Memorial |access-date=2 May 2018}}</ref>.   Blain returned to Australia, and upon re-entering the House, wearing his uniform, was the subject of a standing ovation from his fellow members.<ref>Lumb, M., Bennett, S. et al. (2007) Commonwealth Members of Parliament who have served in war, Research Brief, Australian Government Department of Parliamentary Services. 26 March 2007, no. 10, 2006–07</ref>  He was then ordered to return to hospital where he spent the next two months recovering before returning to parliament.<ref>Kemp, R. & Stanton, M. (2004) Speaking for Australia: Parliamentary Speeches that Shaped Our Nation, Allen & Unwin: Sydney. ISBN 1-74114-430-2.</ref>
   
While serving as a POW, Blain had been re-elected unopposed to his Northern Territory seat at the 1943 election,<ref>4. Lumb, M., Bennett, S. et al. (2007) Commonwealth Members of Parliament who have served in war, Research Brief, Australian Government Department of Parliamentary Services. 26 March 2007, no. 10, 2006–07</ref> and elected again in 1946 before losing his seat at the 1949 election.

==References==
<references />

==External Links==
*[https://aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=24437 AIF Project]
*[https://rslvirtualwarmemorial.org.au/explore/people/74464 RSL Memorial]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blain , Macalister Adair}}

[[Category:Soldier]]
[[Category:Born Australia]]
[[Category:Born NSW]]
[[Category:32nd Battalion]]
[[Category:POW ww2]]
[[Category:1942 POW ww2|*]]
[[Category:Returned to Australia]]
[[Category:Surveyor's assistant]]
[[Category:Methodist]]
[[Category:Armadale-Kelmscott]]