John Mackinnon Dunn (1917 - 1944)

Ancestors

Biography

John Mackinnon Dunn was born on 6th February 1917 in Charleston, South Australia, Australia. He was the son of Victor Dunn and Kathleen Disher. ^[1]

On 2nd June 1940 at Charleston, just weeks after the miraculous Allied evacuation at Dunkirk, John enlisted in the Second Australian Imperial Force, his nation's overseas expeditionary force for the Second World War. ^[2] He was posted to the 2/3rd Australian Machine Gun Battalion and attained the junior non-commissioned rank of Lance Corporal. In April-May 1941 the battalion travelled by troopship to the Middle East, where it supported the 25th Brigade, 7th Division in the Syria-Lebanon Campaign. In January-February 1942 units of 7th Division, including the 2/3rd Machine Gun Battalion, began to return to Australia but were diverted to Oosthaven, Sumatra, Netherlands East Indies (Indonesia) to defend against a fast-advancing and seemingly invincible Japanese onslaught. Indeed, the 2/3rd moved on to Batavia, Java just two days after Singapore fell. Here, the unit became a key element of Blackforce, commanded by their commanding officer, Brigadier Arthur Blackburn VC. The Japanese landed on Java on 28th February and Blackforce went into action at Leuwiliang, near Buitenzorg, on 4th March. They fought the Japanese but on 8th March the Dutch forces surrendered, leaving Blackforce no option but to lay down its arms the following day.

On 9th March 1942, John became a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese. Together with many other POWs, he was transported to Japan to be used like a slave at manual labour. Aged 27 years, John died of illness brought on by malnutrition and exhaustion on 14th September 1944 and is buried in Yokohama War Cemetery. John Mackinnon Dunn's name is located at panel 74 in the Commemorative Area at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra ^[3] and on the POW Memorial, Ballarat, Victoria. ^[4] His South Australia death certificate records his place of death as "abroad". ^[5]

Following the war, John's family was issued his campaign and service medals: 1939-1945 Star, Pacific Star, War Medal 1939-1945 and Australia Service Medal 1939-1945.

Sources

1. ↑ Genealogy South Australia. Online database entry: John Mackinnon Dunn, birth, 06-Feb-1917 at Charleston. Registration number: 994/576
2. ↑ Department of Veterans' Affairs nominal roll: SX7619 Lance Corporal John Mackinnon Dunn; accessed 28 May 2022
3. ↑ Australian War Memorial roll of honour: SX7619 Lance Corporal John Mackinnon Dunn; accessed 28 May 2022
4. ↑ POW Memorial, Ballarat; accessed 28 May 2022
5. ↑ Genealogy South Australia. Online database entry: John Mackinnon Dunn, death, 14-Sep-1944 at Abroad. Registration number: 698/1032N

• Tucker, L., & Rossiter, L. (1976). The history of Charles & Mary, William & Elizabeth Dunn and their descendants, 1796-1976
• John Mackinnon Dunn (Virtual War Memorial Australia, https://vwma.org.au : accessed 3 Apr 2024)