2nd4thmgb

WX5123 PTE JOHN STANLEY PASS, 2/4th Machine Gun Battalion 8th Division WW2 b.1899 England enlisted AIF Jul 1940, Joined 2/4th MGB as Driver 11th Platoon.
WIA Ulu Pandan, Singapore 11 Feb 1942 receiving shrapnel wound to heel of right foot. Oct 1942 he was awarded ‘E’ Medical Certificate by Japanese.
He remained in Singapore throughout the war.

Prior to departing England about 1926 for Western Australia, John Pass served with Royal Marine Artillery from 1916-1923 and served onboard HMS HOOD – the largest battleship in the world.

HMS Hood was England’s pride and joy! Built too late for WW1 Hood cruised the world showing the British flag and Britain’s Might on the seas until WW2.

HMS Hood had Royal Marine Artillery (RMA) personnel on board who served as gunners for Hood’s anti-aircraft guns. RMA and Royal Marine Light Infantry were separate corps until 1923 when they amalgamated into a single Royal Marines Force.

Members of RMA served on HMS Hood as a component of the ship’s overall crew operating specific weaponry as part of their duties.

HMS Hood became part of Britain’s fleet in WW2.
On 24 May 1941, battlecruiser HMS Hood was sunk by German battleship Bismarck during the battle of the Denmark Strait.
A shell from Bismarck hit Hood near its ammunition magazines causing a catastrophic explosion breaking the ship apart. Hood sank in 3 minutes. Only three of her 1,418 crew members survived.

The British population and most parts of the world were stunned and shocked – as was the British Admiralty. They could not let Bismarck now the largest ship, roam the seas and threaten their supply lines, especially across the Atlantic .

The British Navy was ordered to sink the Bismarck.

Please read further about Hood & Bismarck
https://2nd4thmgb.com.au/story/the-story-of-hms-hood-german-bismarck-1941/

80 YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF ATOMIC BOMBS ON HIROSHIMA 6 AUG & NAGASAKI 9 AUG 1945

‘The first report in Japan was broadcast on radio in evening 6th August at 6pm. Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) reported:

"At 8:20 a.m. on August 6, B-29 bombers attacked Hiroshima with incendiary bombs and fled. The damage is now under investigation."

The following information from USA’s The Manhattan Project (Home of Atomic Bomb):

‘In the early morning hours of August 6, 1945, a B-29 bomber named Enola Gay carrying atomic bomb nicknamed ‘Fat Boy’ took off from the island of Tinian and headed north by northwest toward Japan. The bomber's primary target was the city of Hiroshima, located on the deltas of southwestern Honshu Island facing the Inland Sea. Hiroshima with a civilian population of almost 300,000 and was an important military centre, containing about 43,000 soldiers.’

The devastation was horrific, resulting in between 70,000- 140,000 deaths and unimaginable human suffering.
On 9th August 1945 the second Atomic Bomb nicknamed ‘Little Boy’ was dropped on Nagasaki. It is estimated up to 74,000 persons were killed.
Many survivors suffered from severe burns, injuries, and radiation poisoning, with long-term health consequences like cancer developing later.
Please read further details about August 1945.
https://2nd4thmgb.com.au/story/80th-anniversary-of-hiroshimas-atomic-bomb/

The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki marked the end of World War II, the misery of tens of thousands of emaciated & ill POWs of Japan – incarcerated throughout Japan and many South East Asia & the misery of millions of civilians in Korea, Formosa, China, and throughout many occupied south east countries and islands.

KALGOORLIE & BOULDER WAR MEMORIALS STAND JUST 5.3KM APART.

Please read the interesting WW1 story of Boulder War Memorial which was unveiled in 1920. The Boulder War Memorial statue is 7 feet tall. The granite pedestal it stands on is 13 feet tall (about 6 metres)

https://2nd4thmgb.com.au/story/donaldson-coolgardie-war-memorial/

The Kalgoorlie War Memorial's main bronze statue, mounted on a granite pedestal, is 13 feet tall was unveiled in 1923.The pedestal is of Mahogany Creek granite, bringing the total height of the memorial to over six metres.
Also read about the sculptor who crafted both memorials – and the model he used.

https://2nd4thmgb.com.au/story/kalgoorlie-boulder-war-memorials/

There are no names inscribed on either memorial for WW1 or WW2 – there were simply too many enlistments with no known family. Large numbers of single men arrived to work in the Goldfields from interstate and overseas.

SUNDAY 16TH FEBRUARY, 2025
2/4TH MACHINE GUN BATTALION, AIF, 8TH DIVISION WW2
WILL HOST OUR FINAL SERVICE
COMMEMORATING THE FALL OF SINGAPORE 83 YEARS AGO
POW MEMORIAL, MAY DRIVE, KINGS PARK
COMMENCING 11.00 AM

Please bring chairs and after please join us on the nearby lawns with your picnic lunch.

This is the time to remember thousands of young Australian men, in the prime of their lives ordered to lay down their arms. , Japan had won – their team had surrendered!
2/4th men in particular, were not happy! They could not understand the surrender – they wanted to keep fighting. But for those who had fought against the Japanese all their way down the Malay Peninsula then in Singapore – they knew. Their numbers were badly depleted, their mates had died or were left behind and, their officers knew of the military bungles which had taken place.
What now?
What would happen to them?
The English, Australians and Indians?
They hadn’t then considered the local population and what would happen to them?
What lay ahead of our men?
They would learn who had survived and who had not. What of their mates who didn't survive – their sacrifice for nothing.
They would also learn their Australian military leader, Major-General Gordon Bennett, General Officer Commanding AIF Malaya was also missing. Bennett should have accompanied Lt. General Percival to the Surrender negotiations, had left Singapore!

What about their families at home?
Who would take care of them?
Would Japan advance on Australian.
The married men worried about their wives and children. Others thought of their elderly parents and Girlfriends.

When would those left at home learn of the men’s fate?

Please read further

https://2nd4thmgb.com.au/story/fall-of-singapore-16-feb-2025-83rd-commemorative-service/