The text of the entry was: Did you know ... that George Cross recipient Bill Madden died as result of malnutrition and ill-treatment by his Chinese captors while a prisoner of war?
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@Peacemaker67: I suspect that the statement that "After the war ended, his unit was then posted to Japan as part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force" is incorrect, or at least a bit irrelevant. My understanding is that the Australian contingent in the BCOF was volunteer-only, with members of the AIF needing to volunteer again for service in Japan (as this obviously delayed their demobilisation). If you can find a copy, James Wood's book The forgotten force: the Australian military contribution to the occupation of Japan 1945–1952 includes an order of battle of the Australian contingent of BCOF. Unfortunately (and oddly?) his NAA file is closed which makes it a bit tricky to confirm that he volunteered for Japan. Nick-D (talk) 09:57, 4 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]
It was a bit of both. Interim Army people (who signed on as regulars instead of seeking discharge from the AIF) were transferred from the AIF to the Interim Army, then posted to BCOF. There was also direct recruiting among AIF and Militia personnel overseas and in Australia and of civilians in Australia. As you say, hard to tell without his NAA file, which would tell us what unit he was with. It could well have been part of 34th Infantry Brigade, in which case the source would be correct. Peacemaker67 (click to talk to me) 12:12, 4 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for this. I'd suggest checking Wood's book to confirm whether Madden's unit was assigned to the BCOF (I thought that it was made up of specially-raised units, but might be mistaken) as that element at least can probably be confirmed without access to his NAA files. Nick-D (talk) 10:26, 6 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]
G'day Nick-D. I will, but for the moment I have just tweaked it so it states that he was posted to Japan. FWIW, there is an oral history interview with another soldier on the UNSW website here that says that 253rd Supply Depot Platoon was earmarked for Japan. Peacemaker67 (click to talk to me) 00:19, 8 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]
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