MINCHIN, Alec Randolph
| Service Number: | WX7662 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 10 August 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 4th Machine Gun Company |
| Born: | Dangin Western Australia , 4 April 1914 |
| Home Town: | Dangin, Quairading, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Died: | Died at sea (POW Rakuyo Maru), South China Sea, 15 September 1944, aged 30 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Labuan Memorial Panel 18 |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, Quairading Memorial Pool, Quairading Memorial Wall, Quairading War Memorial |
World War 2 Service
| 3 Sep 1939: | Involvement Corporal, WX7662 | |
|---|---|---|
| 10 Aug 1940: | Enlisted Private, WX7662, 4th Machine Gun Company | |
| 10 Aug 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Corporal, WX7662, 2nd/4th Machine Gun Battalion | |
| 27 Nov 1940: | Involvement Corporal, WX7662, 4th Machine Gun Company, Malaya/Singapore | |
| 16 Feb 1942: | Imprisoned Malaya/Singapore, POW Changi Singapore | |
| 11 May 1943: | Imprisoned Malaya/Singapore, POW Burma Railway |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Graham Padget
Corporal Alec Minchin was the son of Frederick and Lily May Minchin, of Dangin, Western Australia; husband of Mabel Alice Minchin, of Dangin.
As a POW of the Japanese in Changi Alec was selected with the first work force to leave Singapore to sail to Burma. ‘A’ Force Burma Green Force No. 3 Battalion.
At the end of 1943 when the railway line was completed, the Japanese began to evacuate all the POWs in Burma and move them south into Thailand into one of about 4-6 large camps.
During 1944, Alec was considered ‘fit’ to work in Japan by the Japanese. He finally departed Singapore in Sept 1944 on ‘Rakuyo’ Maru bound for Moji, Japan.
Folllowing an American Submarine attack, the ‘Rakuyo’ Maru sank. Alec perished in the South China Sea on 15 Sept, 1944 aged 30 years.
(Part detail courtesy of 2/4 Machine Gun Battalion 2nd4thmgb.com.au/soldier/wx7662/)
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