Home » Themes » Conflict » World War Two
2nd / 4th Machine Gun BattalionPrint Page 
The plaque commemorates those who served with the 2nd / 4th Machine Gun Battalion during World War Two.
Western Australia’s 2/4th Machine Gun Battalion was raised at the end of 1940 as one of the support units. The machine-gunners suffered heavily during the fall of Singapore in 1942. Between 8 and 15 February the 2/4th had 137 men killed or missing, 106 men wounded, and 24 described as having “shell shock”. These casualties constituted almost one-third of the battalion. Worse was to follow, with the battalion held in Japanese prisoner of war camps for the next three and a half years.
Following the surrender, the 2/4th was concentrated in Changi goal. From Changi the Japanese took drafts of men to work throughout their Greater South East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere. Some of the battalion were sent to Borneo, while others worked on the Burma-Thai Railway or in Japan. By the war’s end, another 263 men from the battalion had died as prisoners. for the ill-fated 8th Division.
Location
| Address: | May Drive & Saw Avenue, Prisoners of War Memorial, Kings Park & Botanic Garden, Kings Park , 6005 |
|---|---|
| State: | WA |
| Area: | AUS |
| GPS Coordinates: | Lat: -31.96216 Long: 115.825261 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate. |
Details
| Monument Type: | Plaque |
|---|---|
| Monument Theme: | Conflict |
| Sub-Theme: | WW2 |
| Link: | www.2nd4thmgb.com.au |
Dedication
| Approx. Monument Dedication Date: | 2010 |
|---|
2 / 4th Australian Machine Gun Battalion
8th Division, AIF
1940 - 1945
Dedicated to the memory of all members of the 2 / 4th Machine Gun Battalion and to those who paid the supreme sacrifice.
Malay Singapore
Members of the unit also suffered and died as prisoners of war.
Singapore Burma-Thailand Railway
Japan Borneo South-East Asia
Lest We Forget
