MCLAREN, Robert Thomas
| Service Number: | SX6865 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 29 June 1940, Wayville, SA |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/48th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Prospect, SA, 2 June 1912 |
| Home Town: | Barmera, Berri and Barmera, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Unley High School |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Tarakan, Borneo, 6 May 1945, aged 32 years |
| Cemetery: |
Labuan War Cemetery |
| Memorials: | Adelaide WW2 Wall of Remembrance, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Waikerie War Memorial |
World War 2 Service
| 29 Jun 1940: | Involvement Private, SX6865 | |
|---|---|---|
| 29 Jun 1940: | Enlisted Wayville, SA | |
| 29 Jun 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, SX6865, 2nd/48th Infantry Battalion |
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Robert Thomas McLAREN was born 2nd June, 1912 to Mr. Robert and Mrs Suzanna McLAREN at Prospect. An only child, Bob was educated at the Unley High school, and when he enlisted in the 2nd Australia Infantry Force in 1940 he had been working at Barmera and Waikerie.
Bob joined the 2/48th infantry Battalion (which was raised in Adelaide in August 1940, about the time he enlisted). The battalion formed part of the 9th Division in 1941 when it was deployed to the Middle East. While there, Bob saw action throughout the siege of Tobruk, making him one of the famous “RATS OF TOBRUK”.
He also saw action in the Second Battle of El Alamein, where he was wounded. All this before 3 ½ years later, the 2/48th returned to Australia to take part in the intense fighting in New Guinea then an Australian territory. During the campaign in New Guinea, the battalion took part in the famous advances on Lae and the fighting around Finschhafen and Sattelberg (where at this time Tom ‘Diver’ Derrick won his VC). In May 1945, the 2/48th Battalion took part in the extremely dangerous landings and invasion on Tarakan, a small island in Borneo
On the 6th May 1945, Bob was involved in the heavy jungle fighting action on TARAKAN. On this day, only months before the war ended, he was killed in action.
The 2/48th is considered to be Australia's most highly decorated unit of the war, with four members receiving the Victoria Cross, the nation's highest decoration for gallantry, while over 80 other decorations were also made to its members. This was in part due to the heavy and sustained actions that the unit was involved in throughout the war.
Bob fought in both desert and tropical jungle theatres, fighting in North Africa 1941–42, Defence of Tobruk, El Adem Road, The Salient 1941, Defence of Alamein Line, Tell el Eisa, El Alamein, South-West Pacific 1943–45, Lae–Nadzab, Finschhafen, Defence of Scarlet Beach, Sattelberg, Borneo, and Tarakan.
Private Robert McLaren is interred in the Labuan War Cemetery and is commemorated on the Australian War Memorial on the Roll of Honour.
Bob is also commemorated with a tree and plaque in the WAIKERIE War Memorial Gardens.
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