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| Keywords: Ben Hackney.jpg c 1946 Studio portrait of Lieutenant Lt B C Ben Hackney 2/29th Battalion one of only two men to survive the Japanese massacre of wounded at Parit Sulong during the fighting on the Malay Peninsula in 1942 The force commanded by Lieutenant Colonel C G W Anderson attempting to withdraw along the Bakri to Parit Sulong road was stopped at the bridge over the river at Parit Sulong Unable to withdraw on the road Anderson's men were forced to disperse through the jungle and swamps They left behind 163 wounded who could not travel including Lt Hackney After they were captured by the Japanese the wounded prisoners were brutally herded together; many of the prisoners were forced into a shed from where on the evening of the 22 January 1942 they were tied together in small groups and taken away to be killed Lt Hackney feigning death was left behind He crawled away and eventually found another member of his battalion Sergeant Ron Croft who had also escaped and they were also joined by an English soldier The three eventually reached a Malay house where they were given assistance Hackney who could not stand convinced the others to leave him The Malays fearing reprisals by the Japanese carried him off some distance from the house and left him He managed to crawl from place to place but was generally refused assistance by Malays who appreared to fear reprisals but was given assistance by Chinese On the 27 February 1942 thirty-six days after he escaped the massacre he was caught by a party of Malays one dressed as a policeman taken back to Parit Sulong and handed over to the Japanese He was again subjected to brutal treatment by the Japanese but after a series of moves on 20 March 1942 he arrived at the Pudu gaol at Kuala Lumpur He was later taken with other POWs to Changi gaol He survived the war and returned to Australia AWM Collections Database ~ 1946 Donor I Sheridan P02839 001 PD-Australia Battle of Muar Black and white photographs | ||||
