PIPER, Reginald
| Service Number: | VX45904 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 10 July 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Captain |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/3rd Machine Gun Battalion |
| Born: | Rochester, Victoria, Australia, 27 August 1908 |
| Home Town: | Bamawm Extension, Campaspe, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Geelong College plus Gordon Institute, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Grazier |
| Died: | Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, 31 July 2000, aged 91 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: | Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial |
World War 2 Service
| 10 Jul 1940: | Enlisted VX45904, 2nd/3rd Machine Gun Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 10 Jul 1940: | Transferred Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Captain, 2nd/3rd Machine Gun Battalion | |
| 10 Apr 1941: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Captain, VX45904, 2nd/3rd Machine Gun Battalion, Embarked from Sydney on HMT "MM" for M.E. Disembarked 14 May 1941. | |
| 14 May 1941: | Involvement Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Captain, VX45904, 2nd/3rd Machine Gun Battalion, Middle East / Mediterranean Theatre | |
| 1 Feb 1942: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Captain, VX45904, 2nd/3rd Machine Gun Battalion, Recalled from M.E. to defend Australia. HMT "Orcades" was diverted at sea by Churchill in an attempt to shore up the situation in Java. His unit was disembarked on 18 Feb 1942. | |
| 18 Feb 1942: | Involvement Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Captain, VX45904, 2nd/3rd Machine Gun Battalion, Australia's Northern Periphery | |
| 7 Mar 1942: | Imprisoned Australia's Northern Periphery, M.I.A. confirmed P.O.W. | |
| 20 Aug 1945: | Transferred Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Captain, 2nd/3rd Machine Gun Battalion, Liberated from Japanese P.O.W Camp. | |
| 26 Nov 1945: | Discharged VX45904, 2nd/3rd Machine Gun Battalion |
Help us honour Reginald Piper's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Maurice Kissane
Reginald Charles Piper was born at Rochester in rural Victoria in 1908. Reg as he would have been known aspired to be a Grazier. He was first educated at the Geelong College then the Gordon Institute. The later was named after Gordon of Khartoum when it was founded in 1887.
Reg had been in the Cadets and volunteered for part time miltia service. His goal was to compliment his career as a Grazier with part time militia service. Reg was commisoned as a Lieutenant in 1929 as per his file.
In 1932, during the Great Depression, he married his beloved Ada. He continued his part time militia service reaching the rank of Captain in early 1939. Following the outbreak of war with Germany, for the second time in a generation, Reg volunteered for overseas service.
In 1940, he was seconded to the 2nd/3rd Machine Gun Battalion. His appointment was then confirmed as a 2nd A.I.F Captain. Reg saw Active service in Syria before his unit was recalled following Japan's entry into the war. PM John Curtin wanted our troops back to defend Australia. However Winston Churchill diverted HMT "Orcades" with Reg on board to help shore up the situation in Java. Australia was now a distant memory.
For Reg and his men were ordered to lay down their arms when the Dutch Governor General surrendered all Allied Forces in Java. Two weeks after his unit disembarked.
This condemed Reg and his men to more than three years of slave labour in POW Camps. That included the infamous Thai-Burma Railway. Reg survived but not all his brave men lived to be liberated.
Reg was hopitalized before being fit enough to return to Ada. He predeceased Ada in the year 2000 after being married to his beloved wife since 1932.
Lest We Forget.
Click images to start slideshow.