War's End

"As the ode says, they don't grow old. You remember them all as 18. They haven't got old like we have..."

For the hundreds of men of the original 2/3rd Machine Gun Battalion who had spent three and half years as prisoners of war in Java, Singapore, Thailand, Sumatra, Japan, Formosa (Taiwan) and Manchuria, Japan's unconditional surrender in August 1945 brought an end to their imprisonment.

Many found their way back to Singapore, where they were met by the 6th Division Recovery Group. One of the Recovery Group officers wrote, "The most impressive thing is the morale of the PW [POW] troops. Even those who are sick are amazingly cheerful."

For the first time in years, these men experienced hot showers, clean clothes, and proper food and medical treatment. While most travelled home by sea with time to prepare for re-entry back into 'normal' civilian life in Australia, some flew home and had to readjust suddenly.

Back in Australia, the POWs began to meet up with their comrades from the reinforced Battalion back from New Guinea. One New Guinea veteran recalls,

"They'd look at my colour patch and say 'Who's he? Where was he?' Most of them didn't know that the Battalion had been reinforced."

For the young men of 18 or so who couldn't wait to see action overseas, the grand adventure was over:

"Many of us were sick with malaria and ringworm by the end of the campaign and by the time of amistice in August I had had the war, New Guinea and my earlier love of army life...It took me a long time to get over the loss of so many mates on the Burma Railway and other Jap POW camps. I think I was pretty hard to get on with in my married life for several years but at last saw the light and settled down. I had many bouts of malaria before that too settled down and disappeared."

(Joseph Morris, Syria and New Guinea veteran)

In the years after 1945, the Battalion's ex-members formed associations in every State except Queensland. Today, most of the 2/3rd Machine Gun Battalion veterans are aged in their 70s and 80s.

For later generations of Australians, the experiences of the young men and women who were involved in World War II seem truly extraordinary. This web site is a small tribute to the men of the 2/3rd Machine Gun Battalion who sacrificed their youth, their health and for some, their lives, for what they believed to be a greater good. The site is also dedicated to the wives of these men, especially to the women who endured an anxious three and a half year wait, not knowing the fate of husbands or sweethearts 'lost' as prisoners of war.

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