[Mike Kelly]

My mother had mentioned to me over the years, she knew a chap who was killed in New Guinea during WW2. I only just found out the chaps name this week because I found this photo taken in 1940 when my mother was 16 .

Turns out this young chap was in Lark Force at Rabaul , his rank was gunner . He died as a POW when the ship Montevideo Maru was sunk by a US submarine.

There is more. Going through the naa files I found this chaps records . Well, his brother was in the 2/2 Pioneer battalion , this unit initially served in Syria. The 2/2 was at sea heading back home , but the ship was diverted to Java . The brother was captured, survived the Thai death railway and then he was shipped to Japan where he died in Sept. 1944.