How did Australia lose a unit of almost
    600 soldiers in Java in World War II?...

The story begins in January 1942, when almost 600 men from the 2/3rd Machine Gun Battalion boarded a P&O liner, the SS Orcades (converted into a troopship) near Suez after taking part in the Allied campaign against the Vichy French in the Middle East.

    The machine gunners sailed without their Vickers machine guns, vehicles, kitbags, medical supplies and stores. These were sent to Australia on separate ships - an oversight that proved disastrous. Most of the 2000 or so Australian troops on board the Orcades believed they were on their way home.

    In February 1942 - two months after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, and with Singapore and Burma falling to the Japanese - English Prime Minister Winston Churchill had the Orcades diverted to Sumatra and Batavia (on Java). The aim was to support the planned Dutch defence of the Dutch East Indies against a large Japanese invasion force on its way to the islands. (The Australian Government had advised Churchill against the landing of troops.)

    After a brief battle on Java - the only one fought against the Japanese on Java in WW2 - the 2/3rd MG Bn and all other Allied soldiers on the island were ordered to surrender by the Dutch Commander in Chief of Allied forces.

    Many of these reluctant prisoners of war (POWs) ended up on the Burma-Thailand Railway, and came under the care of 'Weary' Dunlop and Allied medical officers. Other POWs remained in camps in Java, where they set up and administered their own 'prisoner-of-war school'.

    This web site will introduce you to the history of the 2/3rd Australian Machine Gun Battalion. It includes stories from POWs, from survivors of the Burma-Thailand Railway, and from the later reinforcement troops who fought in New Guinea.

    Please e-mail any comments or information to: mconsidi@ozemail.com.au


Battalion Formation and Training | Middle East | Java | POWS
POW School | Burma-Thai Railway | Weary Dunlop | New Guinea
War's End