EVANS, Bruce
| Service Number: | VX23858 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 7 June 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/22nd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia , 25 June 1919 |
| Home Town: | South Yarra, Melbourne, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Weaver |
| Died: | Executed whilst a prisoner of the Japanese, Tol Plantation, Rabaul, New Britain, Bismarck Archipelago, New Guinea, 4 February 1942, aged 22 years |
| Cemetery: |
Rabaul (Bita Paka) War Cemetery, Papua New Guinea (CWGC) Burial Reference ~ Plot E, Row B, Grave 1. Personal Inscription ~ "GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN TO LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR HIS COUNTRY". |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial |
World War 2 Service
| 3 Sep 1939: | Involvement Private, VX23858 | |
|---|---|---|
| 7 Jun 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, VX23858, 2nd/22nd Infantry Battalion |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Bonald
Approximately 1,050 Australian soldiers from Lark Force were taken prisoner by the Japanese in the Rabaul/East New Britain area in January/February 1942. Many of these were murdered on or about 4 February in the vicinity of Tol and Waitavalo Plantations at the eastern end of Wide Bay on the south coast of New Britain. The soldiers had escaped down the east coast from Rabaul and were rounded up by the Japanese while waiting to cross flooded rivers to move further west.
After the war, 158 bodies were discovered in the vicinity of Tol and Waitavalo Plantations. The survivors later described how they were rounded up on the 3 February and in the early morning of the 4th February, tied up in small groups, lead into the jungle and bayoneted or shot by Japanese soldiers. There were four separate mass murders on that day. The Japanese officer responsible for these war crimes was Colonel Masao Kusunose who later committed suicide.
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