The Australian War Memorial Collection. Test site
John Ramsbottom [WX14836 Private Jack Kenneth Ramsbottom, later known as John Kenneth Lane and John Lane], 2/4 Machine Gun Battalion, cutting mangrove saplings to use for beds at Winellie Camp. When the unit arrived at the camp, galvanised huts had been erected, but many were without concrete flooring and windows, requiring the first weeks at the camp to be spent finishing the accommodation off. Private Ramsbottom was later made prisoner of the war (POW) of the Japanese. He later changed his name to John Kenneth Lane and wrote several books, including “Sayonara Australia” and “Summer will come again”, detailing his experiences as a POW including at Kobe, Japan. His POW diaries are held at the Australian War Memorial (PR88/084) along with his collection of photographs taken before and after captivity (P02597.001 – P02597.039).
WX8707 Private (Pte) Frank Nazzari (rear) and John Ramsbottom [WX14836 Private (Pte) Jack Kenneth Ramsbottom, later known as John Kenneth Lane], both of 5 Platoon, A Company, 2/4th Machine Gun Battali
John Ramsbottom (left) [WX14836 Private (Pte) Jack Kenneth Ramsbottom, later known as John Kenneth Lane], and WX9226 Pte Harry ‘Sparrow’ Tysoe, both of 2/4 Machine Gun Battalion cutting bamboo to use
Australian prisoners of war (POWs) with a retrieved drum of supplies dropped by parachute from United States Army Air Force B29 bomber aircraft into the Wakinohama POW camp following the Japanese surr
Former prisoners of war (POWs) of the Japanese, previously held at Wakinohama POW camp, stand outside a tent beside an improvised Australian flag. From left to right: Wally Hutchinson [WX7332 Private
Private (Pte) Charlie R Bird [WX9017 Pte Charles Roland Bird], 5 Platoon, A Company, 2/4 Machine Gun Battalion on an A frame design bed which the unit constructed for Winellie Camp. A lateral strip of
Darwin, NT. c. October 1941. Five members of 5 Platoon, A Company, 2/4th Machine Gun Battalion constructing bush beds, cutting bamboo to use with the palliasses at Winellie Camp. When the unit arrived
