Service: Army – 2/22 Australian Infantry Battalion
Service number: VX23907
Locality on Enlistment: Carlisle River
Duration of Service: 10 Jun 1940 – 4 Feb 1942
Prisoner of War: No
Honours: None for Display
Date and Place of Birth: 15 Feb 1918 Colac
Parents: William SILK and Emma Marion HAMS
Spouse:
School/s: Carlisle River State School
Occupation: Truck driver
Date and Place of Death: 4 Feb 1942 Tol Plantation, New Britain Island, PNG
Place of Burial: Rabaul Memorial, Panel 18, Papua New Guinea
NOTES: Lance Corporal Silk was a member of the 2/22 Battalion that was posted to Rabaul in New Guinea as part of “Lark Force”. In February 1942, a Japanese force of 5300 men attacked and invaded Rabaul, After a brief period of fighting, the 2/22 Battalion were forced to withdraw. Nearly 1000 troops were taken prisoner by the Japanese. 160 Australian soldiers laid down their arms in the Tol Plantation but the Japanese soldiers murdered them on the spot. Lance Corporal Silk aged 23, was amongst those massacred on the 04 Feb 1942. It was some four years after their son was posted as missing, that Mr and Mrs Silk were informed of his fate.