Forgotten For Too Long: The Gippslanders in Lark Force 1941-42 By Lyn Skillern (Second Hand Book)

SECOND HAND BOOK

This book tells the story of the 79 men from Gippsland who served in the 2/22ndBattalion-Lark Force in Rabaul on the island of New Britain in New Guinea in 1941-42. Rabaul fell to the Japanese on 23 January 1942.

It is early 1942 and Australia’s military forces are in turmoil.  Malaya, Singapore and the Netherland’s East Indies (Indonesia) have fallen to the Japanese leaving thousands of Australian servicemen and women as prisoners of war.  The Navy has lost the HMAS Sydney in the Indian Ocean, the HMAS Perth in the Sunda Strait and the HMAS Yarra near Java.  the garrison forces sent to the islands immediately north of Australia known as Lark Force, Sparrow Force and gulf Force have also been overrun.  The Japanese are heading rapidly south.

Lark Force, sent to Rabaul on the New Guinea Island of New Britain, had been no match for the Japanese force with the enemy taking over the area on 23 January 1942.  This event set in motion the sequence of events told in this book.  There were 79 men associated with Gippsland in Lark Force most being part of the 2/22nd Infantry Battalion.  Some of these soldiers escaped and made it home.

The story of their remarkable strength and bravery is told in this book.  Others became prisoners of war, thirty being lost when the Japanese transport vessel, the Montevideo Maru was sunk on 1st July 1942.  Others died while escaping and in the massacres of prisoners at Tol and Gasmata.  These incredibly brave men from Gippsland need to be remembered as individuals and their stories are told here in the pages of Forgotten for too long.

Specifications:

Condition: very good, some very minor dog earring of the covers corners.

Publisher: Leongatha and District Historical society

Year: 2022

Format: Paperback

Pages:160

ISBN: 978 0 9593231 6 0

$14.00

1 in stock