LAKE, George
| Service Numbers: | WX17582, W25606 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 29 July 1941 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/4th Machine Gun Battalion |
| Born: | Collie, Western Australia, 13 April 1921 |
| Home Town: | Collie, Collie, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Wheeler (Coal Mining) |
| Died: | Illness, Borneo, 8 April 1945, aged 23 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Labuan Memorial, Labuan, Malaysia; Panel 18 |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, Boyup Brook Sandakan Prisoner of War Memorial, Kings Park Western Australia State War Memorial |
World War 2 Service
| 3 Sep 1939: | Involvement Private, WX17582 | |
|---|---|---|
| 29 Jul 1941: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, W25606 | |
| 6 Nov 1941: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX17582, 2nd/4th Machine Gun Battalion | |
| 15 Jan 1942: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX17582, 2nd/4th Machine Gun Battalion, embarked Fremantle for Singapore on board HMAT Aquitania | |
| 15 Apr 1942: | Imprisoned Malaya/Singapore, 19 May 1943: Confirmed PoW (No: 7182); held at Selarang Camp and Barracks Changi; ‘E’ Force Borneo – one of the few men to survive the Japanese ambush at Bukit Timah of ‘E’ Company | |
| 15 Apr 1942: | Wounded Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX17582, 2nd/4th Machine Gun Battalion, Malaya/Singapore, WiA Bukit Timah; shrapnel wound to thigh | |
| 28 Mar 1943: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX17582, 2nd/4th Machine Gun Battalion, embarked Singapore on board SS De Klerk before being taken by barge to Sandakan |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Private George Lake (Service Nos:W25606/WX17582) initially enlisted in the ACMF on 29 July 1941 and was 'in the field' at Northam on 6 November 1941 when he enlisted in the AIF. Private Lake was attached to 2/4th Machine Gun Battalion on 15 January 1942 when he embarked with his Unit from Fremantle for Singapore via Batavia on board HMAT Aquitania. On of the few men to survive the Battle of Bukit Timah, Private Lake was WiA on 15 April 1942 (GSW to thigh), and reported as Missing in Action. Not confirmed as a PoW of the Japanese until 19 May 1943, Private Lake (PoW No:1782) embarked from Singapore with E Force on 28 March 1943 on board the de Klerk, bound for Sandakan. Private Lake was interned at Selarang Camp and Barracks Changi, and died (Malaria) at Sandakan No 1 Camp on 8 April 1945.
George was born in Collie, Western Australia in 1921, the eldest of three children of George Lake Snr (b1894 in Newcastle, New South Wales) and Ann (Annie) Annandale (nee Anderson; b1885 in Dundee, Scotland) - Annie, a Widow with four children - immigrated in 1913, arriving in Fremantle on board the Australiand. Annie and her first husband - John Williamson Annadale - settled in Collie, where John was a Miner when he enlisted in the AIF in 1916, and was KiA in 1918 in France. George Snr served in the AIF in WWI (Private; Service No:4297), and was a Carter in Collie when he and Annie married in 1920. George Snr and Annie settled in Collie, where they raised their family and George Snr was a Carter.
George worked in Collie as a Wheeler (Coal Mining) before enlisting in the Army.
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