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2/20th Battalion
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21.01.2022 Today’s full service on the AWM webpage
20.01.2022 Sandakan Remembrance Service today - This year, we commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the Sandakan Death Marches. #VJ75 #LestWeForget #NeverForgotten
18.01.2022 Job Done ! Wreath laid on behalf of the 2/20th
17.01.2022 In the early hours of the 15 August 1945 news was spreading around the globe that the Second World War was over following Victory over Japan. The day would beco...me better known as VJ Day. The war in the Far East had seen thousands of Commonwealth service personnel make the ultimate sacrifice all of whom are commemorated in perpetuity by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Join us in remembering those who never got to see the celebrations 75 years ago today. #VJDay #VJDay75 #WW2
06.01.2022 #Onthisday in 1944 two Japanese ships transporting prisoners of war from Singapore to Japan were sunk, resulting in the loss of over 1,500 Australian and Britis...h lives. The Rakuy Maru (carrying 1,318 Australian and British prisoners of war) and the Kachidoki Maru (carrying 900 British prisoners) were part of a convoy carrying mostly raw materials from Singapore to Japan on 6 September 1944. The prisoners were all survivors of the Burma-Thailand Railway who had only recently returned to Singapore. In the morning of 12 September 1944 in the South China Sea the convoy was attacked by American submarines. Rakuy Maru was hit by USS Sealion II and Kachidoki Maru was sunk by USS Pampantio. Prisoners able to evacuate the ships spent the following days in life rafts or clinging to wreckage in open water. About 150 prisoners were rescued by American submarines. Over 500 were picked up by Japanese destroyers and continued the journey to Japan. Those not rescued perished at sea. A total of 1,559 Australian and British prisoners of war were killed in the incident, all missing at sea (1,159 from Rakuy Maru, 400 from Kachidoki Maru). The total number of Australians killed was 543 (503 AIF, 33 RAN, 7 RAAF). Read more: http://ow.ly/B5G350Bgycn Image: Oil soaked British and Australian prisoners of war who survived the sinking of the Rakuy Maru being picked up three days later by USS Sealion. China Sea. 305634
