Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

"The 2/12th disembarked at Gourock in Scotland on 17 June and was subsequently based at Lopcombe Corner, near Salisbury, in England." "The 2/12th disembarked in Egypt on 31 December 1940." "The 2/12th participated in the defence of Tobruk until it was withdrawn on the night of 26 and 27 August. After Tobruk, the 2/12th initially trained in Palestine before joining the forces garrisoning Syria in late September. It returned to Palestine in early January and sailed for Australia from Suez on 12 February. The battalion disembarked at Adelaide on 28 March." "The 2/12th's next battleground was Milne Bay in Papua, where it arrived on 17 August 1942 and mounted a successful counter-attack against Japanese invasion forces between 31 August and 4 September. It occupied Goodenough Island between 22 October and 28 December and then returned to Papua for its most bitter and costly battles of the war - Buna and Sanananda. At Buna it delivered the coup de gras to the Japanese at Giropa Point on 1 January, but suffered 63 killed and 122 wounded in the process. The battalion's efforts, between 9 and 21 January to clear the Japanese from the torturous swamp country around Sanananda cost another 61 lives."

The family story passed down, was that the men (including Willie) were crossing a body of water and that when they crossed it, the Japanese opened fire. This is the reference: "The battalion's efforts, between 9 and 21 January to clear the Japanese from the torturous swamp country around Sanananda cost another 61 lives."