Autographed good luck flag carried by Japanese soldier Yamada Koichi : Sergeant M W Leaver, 2/19th Battalion

Japanese soldier's autographed national flag featuring numerous Japanese signatures in black ink and the traditional wish for long-lasting good fortune in war. The upper right corner has a 'Holy Lotus Sutra' with a quotation from the sutra written by priest named Gensho. The name of the soldier to whom the flag was presented was Yamada Koichi.

This autographed Japanese good luck flag relates to the service of Marcus Wilfred Leaver as a member of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) during the Second World War. Known to his friends as family as 'Marc' he was born in Sydney NSW on 9 October 1915. Upon joining the AIF from Yenda NSW (near Griffith) he was given the enlistment number of NX52564 and eventually placed into the country NSW raised 2/19th Battalion. Prior to the war Leaver had served in the 56 Militia Battalion.

He was an original member of the 2/19th and he was put into their Headquarters Company Carrier Platoon (equipped with the small tracked armoured personnel Universal 'Bren' gun carrier) and he was deployed overseas to Malaya and Singapore along with the majority of the Australian 8th Division in mid to late 1941. The Pacific War began on 8 December 1941 with the Imperial Japanese launching a sudden massive attack on several strategic points in the Asia-Pacific region. These areas included Malaya, Hong Kong, Borneo and Thailand. Leaver's unit was involved in heavy fighting against invading Japanese forces in southern Malaya, most notably at the Battle of Parit Sulong and subsequent fighting withdrawal there where their unit commander, Lieutenant Colonel Anderson was later decorated with the Victoria Cross. Whilst crewing his carrier Leaver was badly wounded at Parit Sulong by the Japanese and he was able to be moved off the battlefield by his colleagues thereby saving his life from the infamous massacre of Australian and Indian wounded by the Japanese Imperial Guards Division.

For his actions at Muar Anderson VC recommended Leaver for a Mentioned In Dispatches (MID), the citation reading:
'Commanded a section of carriers at Bakri and Parit Sulong with great determination, engaging many enemy machine guns and positions at close quarters with considerable success and continuously moving into advantageous positions to cover advancing infantry'.
This MID was not confirmed and Leaver was never awarded it after the war. Leaver was captured in a wounded condition by the Japanese in late January 1942 and placed into the notorious Pudu Gaol in Kuala Lumpur.
Further heavy fighting in Singapore continued for the 2/19th Battalion in the initial Japanese landings in the first week of February and for the key point of Bukit Timah (tin hill in English) in early February. On 15 February all British Commonwealth forces were ordered to surrender, Sergeant Leaver then joined approximately 15,000 other Australians who surrendered to the Imperial Japanese forces.

In late 1942 the Japanese moved all of their captured British, Indian and Australian POWs from Pudu to Singapore, with Leaver re-joined his surviving mates in the 2/19th Battalion in Selarang Barracks POW camp in Singapore on 3 October 1942. He was placed into H Force for work on the Burma-Thailand death railway, leaving on board an overcrowded train on 8 May 1943. Upon the completion of the railway he was returned by train to Singapore in October 1943. Until his liberation from Changi POW camp on 4 September 1945 he had been involved in several POW related work parties around Singapore.

After he had been liberated as a POW in early September 1945 he souvineered this signed Japanese good luck flag from a small pack that he found in a Japanese store in Singapore. The store apparently contained the kits of deceased Japanese soldiers.

Leaver departed Singapore for a final time on board HMAT Duntroon on 19 September 1945, arriving safely in Sydney on 15 October 1945. After initial medical treatment and support upon his return he discharged from the AIF on 23 July 1946.

On 13 December 1991 Marc died at Griffith Base Hospital aged 76. He is commemorated at the Garden of Remembrance in Woden, ACT.