Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Bob Twiss was born at Walcha NSW, the younger son of Richard and Mary Twiss, and was living with his mother in Birchgrove and working as a grocer when he applied for enlistment in the Second Australian Imperial Force on 23 July 1940, aged not quite 21. It wasn’t until 13 January 1941 that he took the oath and joined the Army. He was allocated to the 2/12th Field Company, Royal Australian Engineers, then based at Bathurst, with the rank of sapper.

In August 1941 his unit sailed for Singapore and disembarked on the 15th. He was captured in Singapore on 15 February 1942 and posted as missing. On 8 July he was allocated to B Force, a group of 8th Division troops which was transported to Sandakan on the eastern coast of Japanese-occupied British North Borneo on the tramp steamer Ubi Maru, and arrived at Sandakan on 18 July. Over 2,000 Allied POWs were held at Sandakan camp, and they were employed in airfield construction. On 9 April 1943 Bob was reported as a prisoner of war in Borneo. He died of illness while in Japanese custody on 15 October 1944, aged 23. His mother was only advised of his death in December 1945. His remains were presumably buried at Sandakan, but the camp records were destroyed by the Japanese, and he has no known grave and his service and sacrifice is commemorated on the Labuan Memorial at the Labuan War Cemetery, Malaysia.