DENNETT, Robert Alfred
| Service Number: | VX38210 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 5 August 1940, Royal Park, Victoria |
| Last Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/29th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Beechworth, Victoria, Australia, 1 September 1904 |
| Home Town: | Black Rock, Bayside, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Horse Driver |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Malaya, 22 January 1942, aged 37 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Singapore Memorial Column 129 |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, Beechworth Shire WW1 Honour Roll, Beechworth War Memorial, Singapore Memorial Kranji War Cemetery |
World War 2 Service
| 5 Aug 1940: | Enlisted Private, VX38210, Royal Park, Victoria | |
|---|---|---|
| 5 Aug 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Lance Corporal, VX38210, 2nd/29th Infantry Battalion | |
| 30 Jul 1941: | Embarked Lance Corporal, VX38210, 2nd/29th Infantry Battalion, Embarked from Melbourne for Singapore via Sydney | |
| 22 Jan 1942: | Involvement Lance Corporal, VX38210, 2nd/29th Infantry Battalion, Malaya/Singapore |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Carol Foster
Son of Robert Alfred and Polly Dennett of Beechworth, Victoria; husband of May Dennett of Black Rock, Victoria
"...VX38210 Lance Corporal Robert Alfred Dennett, 2/29 Battalion. He was one of 145 men who were massacred by the Japanese at Parit Sulong on 22 January 1942 during the Malaya Campaign when wounded Australian and Indian soldiers were left behind by withdrawing troops after the Battle of Muar. They were rounded up by the Japanese and forced to surrender all of their belongings including their clothes, which were later returned. The men, now Prisoners of War (POWs) were beaten, tormented and denied food, water and medical attention. At sunset on the night of 22 January 1942, the men were roped or wired together in groups and led into the jungle where they were shot with machine guns, doused with petrol and set alight. Only Lieutenant Ben Charles Hackney and VX52333 Reginald Arthur Wharton survived, feigning death despite repeated brutalities by the Japanese. Lance Corporal Dennett, aged 36, was the husband of May Dennett of Black Rock, Vic..." - SOURCE (www.awm.gov.au)
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