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Honour Roll - E Company, 2/4 Machine Gun Battalion
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Overview
Hand drawn and painted Honour Roll of E Company, 2/4th Machine Gun Battalion
Historical information
The 2/4th Machine Gun Battalion was raised in Western Australia at the end of 1940 as part of the 8th Division. Formed with men from across the state, they all came together at Northam military camp, east of Perth, where they carried out their initial training. In July 1941 the 2/4th moved to Adelaide. By October it was in Darwin with the 23rd Brigade. The division's other two brigades were in Malaya and Singapore and the 2/4th was to follow.
The battalion left Darwin on 30 December, sailing via Port Moresby. Following a Japanese attack on Rabaul, New Britain, the convey turned around and sailed to Sydney and then Fremantle. Sailing under escort the convoy finally reached Singapore at the end of January 1942.
After days of air raids, the Japanese attacked Singapore on 8 February Deployed to different units, the 2/4th's companies were quickly in action but by 10 February the Japanese had captured the island's west coast. On 15 February Lieutenant-General Arthur Percival surrendered Singapore.
Between 8 and 15 February the 2/4th had 137 men killed or missing and 106 men wounded constituting almost one-third of the battalion. Following the surrender, the 2/4th was concentrated in Changi gaol. From Changi the Japanese took drafts of men to work throughout their Greater South East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere. Some of the battalion were sent to Borneo, while others worked on the Burma-Thai Railway or in Japan. By the war's end, another 263 men from the battalion had died as prisoners.
Details
Details
Registration number
cwa-org-32-55-915
Contextual Information
The stories of the 2/4th Machine Gun Battalion may be found in the Malaya/Singapore section of the World War 2 Gallery and in the Prisoner of War Gallery. This Honour Roll is displayed in the Malaya/Singapore exhibit in the Vickers machine gun display.
Australian Army Museum of Western Australia
Australian Army Museum of Western Australia
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