PATERSON, Robert
| Service Number: | VX55956 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 16 May 1941, Royal Park, Victoria |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/29th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Carlton, Victoria, Australia, 1921 |
| Home Town: | Carlton, Melbourne, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Died: | Murdered by Japanese captors, Parit Sulong, Malaya, 22 January 1942 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" (CWGC) Offiicial Commemoration - Memorial Location: Column 131, Singapore Memorial (within Kranji War Cemetery)., Singapore Memorial, Singapore |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Singapore Memorial Kranji War Cemetery |
World War 2 Service
| 16 May 1941: | Enlisted Private, VX55956, Royal Park, Victoria | |
|---|---|---|
| 16 May 1941: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, VX55956, 2nd/29th Infantry Battalion | |
| 22 Jan 1942: | Involvement Private, VX55956, 2nd/29th Infantry Battalion, Malaya/Singapore |
Help us honour Robert Paterson's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Ellie Venning
"...VX55956 Private Robert Paterson, 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. Private Paterson, aged 22, was the son of George and Eileen Paterson of Carlton, Vic." - SOURCE (www.awm.gov.au)
Click images to start slideshow.