RANDALL, Ernest Edward
| Service Number: | WX16356 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 3 September 1941 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | Not yet discovered |
| Born: | Northampton, Western Australia, 2 May 1908 |
| Home Town: | Ajana, Northampton, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Station Hand |
| Died: | Died at sea (Rakuyo Maru), South China Sea, 12 September 1944, aged 36 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Commemorated: - Panel 19, Labuan Memorial Labuan, Federal Territory of Labuan, Malaysia. |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, Northampton Ajana District WW2 Roll of Honour, Northampton WW2 Roll of Honour, Northampton War Memorial |
World War 2 Service
| 3 Sep 1939: | Involvement Private, WX16356 | |
|---|---|---|
| 3 Sep 1941: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX16356 | |
| 15 Feb 1942: | Imprisoned Malaya/Singapore, Died at sea when Japanese Prisoner of War transport vessel Rakuyo Maru was sunk. |
Help us honour Ernest Edward Randall's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Dianne Black
Parents: - Edward Harrison Randall and Martha Maude Rodgers married 28th October 1907 in Northampton, Western Australia.
Wife: - Jessie Oxenham (married 1940 Northampton, Western Australia), of Ajana, Western Australia.
The Sinking of the Rakuyō Maru
The Japanese transport vessel Rakuyō Maru with 1,318 Australian and British prisoners of war aboard and Kachidoki Maru carrying 900 British prisoners of war were part of a convoy carrying mostly raw materials that left Singapore for Japan on 6th September 1944. The prisoners were all survivors of the Burma-Thailand Railway who had only recently returned to Singapore.
On the morning of 12th September 1944, the convoy was attacked by American submarines in the South China Sea. Rakuyō Maru was sunk by USS Sealion II and Kachidoki Maru by USS Pampanito. The surviving prisoners who were able to evacuate the ships spent the following days in life rafts or clinging to wreckage in the open sea. Approximately 150 Australian and British survivors were rescued by American submarines. A further 500 were picked up by Japanese destroyers and continued their journey to Japan. Those not rescued perished at sea. A total of 1,559 Australian and British prisoners of war were killed. All were presumed lost at sea with 1,159 from Rakuyō Maru and 400 from Kachidoki Maru. The total number of Australian Military personnel presumed dead were 543, 503 from the Australian Imperial Force(AIF), 33 from Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and 7 from Royal Australian Air Force, (RAAF). Private Ernest Randall WX16356 was one of those presumed dead.