My maternal great grandfather was a truck driver for the Australian army in Singapore when it fell. Survived the war despite taking part in the construction of the Burma railroad and was repatriated at the end of the war. Never got the chance to meet him unfortunately, died before I was born.
One of my wife's great grandfathers was an Aussie Colonel in WW2 commanding a garrison somewhere in the Pacific. Surrendered to the Japanese empire and was raked over the coals for it by those higher up the command chain than him.
Her grandfather fought in Europe against the Germans, I believe as a navigator for RAF bomber command.
*Edit. Lt Colonel John Scanlan, and a quick read up on him reveals that he was in command of the Australian forces at Rabaul when it fell to the Japanese. Bloody lucky to survive the war considering how most of the POWs were treated. He also served in WW1 during the Gallipoli campaign one of the first ashore too.
Oh and my paternal grandfather served in the RAAF band during his lifetime, can't recall the exact dates of his service but nobody else I know of have served time in the armed forces. I considered it but never managed to make the cut during fighter pilot officer testing and didn't want to serve as enlisted fp.
Last edited by Falkirion; 03-07-18 at 08:30 PM.
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