DUNCAN, Victor Ross
| Service Number: | 21589 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 12 July 1937 |
| Last Rank: | Petty Officer |
| Last Unit: | HMAS Cerberus (Shore) |
| Born: | Lochee, Scotland, 12 May 1915 |
| Home Town: | Marrickville, Marrickville, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Professional Sailor, School teacher |
| Memorials: | Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, East Fremantle HMAS Perth (I) Memorial |
Non Warlike Service
| 12 Jul 1937: | Enlisted Royal Australian Navy, Petty Officer, 21589, HMAS Cerberus (Shore) |
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World War 2 Service
| 12 Jul 1937: | Enlisted Royal Australian Navy, Chief Petty Officer, 21589 | |
|---|---|---|
| 28 Feb 1942: | Involvement Royal Australian Navy, Petty Officer, 21589, HMAS Perth (I) D29 WW2, Australia's Northern Periphery, Battle of Sunda Straits 28 Feb - 1 Mar 1942 Electrical Artificer III | |
| 2 Mar 1942: | Imprisoned Prisoners of War, Captured after the loss of HMAS Perth Transferred to Changi Prison Later transferred to Japan aboard the Rakuyo Maru. which was itself lost on 12 Sep 1944 Survived the sinking and leading a party headed for China in abandoned life boats when intercepted by the Japanese Navy re-captured and taken to Japan for forced labour in coal mines. |
Non Warlike Service
| 30 Jun 1949: | Discharged Royal Australian Navy, Petty Officer, 21589, HMAS Cerberus (Shore) |
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World War 2 Service
| 30 Jun 1949: | Discharged Royal Australian Navy, Chief Petty Officer, 21589 |
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Victor Ross Duncan, BEM (1915-unknown)
21589 Electrical Artificer II Victor Ross Duncan BEM enlisted in the RAN on 12 July 1937.
Assigned to HMAS Perth, he was a survivor of the sinking of HMAS Perth in the Battle of Sunda Strait in February 1942. Vic is mentioned in a book about the incident for his endeavours to free men trapped below decks as the ship sank.
Captured as a prisoner of war, he also subsequently survived the sinking of the Rakuyo Maru when large number of PoW were being transported to Japan to work in coal mines.
US submarines got among the convoy his ship was in, and as they were not marked in anyway as carrying PoW, they were 'fair game' for the submarines. Rakuyo Maru was torpedoed and the Japanese crew took to lifeboats leaving the PoWs to fend for themselves. They were picked up and the PoW that could scrambled into the now abandoned lifeboats.
Vic Duncan had once again distinguished himself for extracting men trapped below decks through a hatch
The lifeboats inadvertently split into two groups, one of which, it was surmised, was intercepted by a Japanese warship which machine gunned the men in their life boat.
Vic was leading a lifeboat full of survivors in a quest to get to the coast of China (he had been maintaining a log of where he thought the ship was) when they were picked up by the Japanese, serving the balance of the war working in Japanese coal mines. Discharged 30 June 1949. This link tells the story in more detail. 'The Death Ships (/collections/home-page-stories/the-pow-death-ships?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR1qnp5mIalhCotIRdg2qG1fKq275veB8NmIEtoygRnN3Cw0AY04XXzLk0E_aem_ZmFrZWR1bW15MTZieXRlcw)'.
He later became a teacher and served at Heathcote High School in Sydney's south in the 1960s, where he taught technical drawing.
Compiled by Steve Larkins 2014
Click images to start slideshow.