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Training |
Recruitment |
Training in Australia
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Voyage
to Singapore |
Training in Malaya
Departed Sydney 10/1/1942
Arrived Fremantle 15/1/1942 (0830 hours)
Departed Fremantle, 16/1/1942
Arrived Ratai
Bay, Sumatra 20/1/1942
Departed Ratai Bay, Sumatra 21/1/1942
Arrived Singapore
24/1/1942
Troopship to Batavia
Extra troops and reinforcements were
needed in Singapore following the invasion of Malaya by the Japanese. A
series of convoys departed from various Australian ports in the early
part of 1942.
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Sydney, NSW. May, 1941. The
troopship Aquitania sailing through Sydney Heads carrying
troops returning home from the Middle East.
Australian War Memorial - ID No. 007214 |
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Sydney, NSW. May, 1941. The
troopship Aquitania docks in Sydney Harbour after returning
from the Middle East carrying troops who had served overseas.
Australian War Memorial - ID No. 007217 |
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Aquitania
sailed from Sydney on
10/1/1942 carrying nearly 3500 troops, and was the only ship in Convoy
MS2. She passed Wilson's Promontory on 11/1/1942 and arrived off Fremantle on 15/1/1942, but the troops on board
were not allowed shore leave. Soldiers that had been absent without
leave (AWL) in Fremantle, from previous convoys, were taken on board the
ship.
The next morning, Aquitania set
sail, escorted by HMAS Canberra. It was considered too dangerous
for such a large ship to proceed to Singapore, so the convoy was
directed to Ratai Bay in the Sunda Strait.
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The
Dutch cargo vessel Reijnst, which as part of convoy MS2A
ferried Australian troops from Ratai Bay, Java, after they had been
brought there by the Aquitania. Australian War Memorial - ID No. 007214 |
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The
Dutch cargo vessel Van Swoll which was also part of convoy
MS2A.
Australian War Memorial -
ID No. 007214 |
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While in Ratai Bay, on 20 & 21/1/1942, the troops were
transferred to smaller ships for the remainder of the trip to Singapore.
Convoy MS2A, comprising the Dutch ships Both, Real, Reijnst, Sloet
van de Beele, Van der Lijn, Van Swoll, and Taishan, together
with Naval escorts, arrived in Singapore at 1030hrs on 24/1/1942.
At 1500hrs, the troops were then
transferred to G.B.D. (General Base Depot) in Johore Bahru
In several
Service Records, this trip is recorded as:
(Source: Across the
Sea to War; NAA: B883 Service Records; 2/30 Bn AIF Association archive;
NAA: MP729/7, 42/421/462)
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