Service: Army 2/2 Australian Pioneer Battalion
Service number: VX24465
Locality on Enlistment: Apollo Bay
Duration of Service: 17 Jun 1940 – 21 Jan 1946
Prisoner of War: Yes. Japanese POW camp Thailand
Honours: None for display
Date and Place of Birth: 14 Sep 1902 Mernda Victoria
Parents: William Henry Ewing BIRKETT-VIPONT and Annie COCKERELL
Spouse: Not married
School/s:
Occupation: Forestry employee
Date and Place of Death: 6 Dec 1973 Murrumbeena Vic
Place of Burial: Footscray Cemetery
NOTES: In 1942, following Japan’s entry into the war, the 2/2nd Pioneer battalion was ordered to return to Australia, embarking upon the troopship Orcades. En route, they were diverted, however, along with other elements of the 7th Division to defend Java against the Japanese, landing there in late February 1942 and joining “Blackforce”. The 2/2nd Pioneers took part in a brief, but bitter engagement before being ordered to surrender; a large number of the 2/2nd’s personnel were captured – over 800 men – of whom 258 later died in captivity. Dispatched across south-east Asia, the men were used as forced labour on the Burma–Thailand railway, and in camps on Java and Borneo.