Service: Army – 2/2 Australian Pioneer Battalion
Service number: VX72233
Locality on Enlistment: Colac
Duration of Service: 15 Jan 1942 – 5 Dec 1945
Prisoner of War: No
Honours: None for display
Date and Place of Birth: 8 Dec 1914 Gellibrand
Parents: Frederick BAULCH and Sarah Anne WARRY
Spouse: Elizabeth Alice PAPPIN
School/s: Pirron Yallock, Gellibrand and Swan Marsh State Schools
Occupation: Labourer
Date and Place of Death: 13 May 1992 East Geelong
Place of Burial: Beech Forest
NOTES:
The 2/2nd (Blackforce) went into action at Leuwiliang near Buitenzorg, Java, on 4 March 1942. It fought against the Japanese for two days but was ordered to lay down arms the day after Dutch surrender on 8 March. Not all the battalion was captured. Days after the Blackforce surrender, ships carrying the battalion’s rear echelon troops, baggage, and stores returned to Australia. There were also a handful of troops, mainly drivers, who had remained in Australia. Initially the remaining troops were told the 2/2nd was not going to be reformed but the decision was reversed the following month. By June 1943 the new 2/2nd was ready for action and sailed to Port Moresby in Papua the following month. The Pioneers supported the 7th Division in New Guinea for the rest of the year. Its first action was near Nabzab, during the Ramu Valley campaign and then in the advance to Lae. The Pioneers served as both infantry and engineers.