Collection relating to the service of NX34734 Reginald William James Newton

Informal portrait of NX34742 Lieutenant (Lt) Frederick Gerard Ernest Neild, 2/19 Infantry Battalion, of Orange, NSW; formerly of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Lt Neild enlisted on 15 June 1940. The 2/19 Battalion arrived in Singapore in February 1941 and undertook further training in tropical warfare in southern Malaya. After September 1941 they prepared defensive positions against the likelihood of a Japanese invasion. During January 1941 the unit was involved in a number of terrible clashes and suffered heavy casualties culminating in the desperate withdrawal to Yong Peng. They were reinforced and reorganised and, on 31 January 1942, the 2/19 Battalion returned to Singapore and began preparing for the invasion which would begin on 8 February 1942. Lt Neild was promoted to Captain in the field and was later killed in action on 12 February 1942. He He was 31 years of age.