Brownwood in Brown County, Texas — The American South (West South Central)
The Lost Battalion (Java)
Photographed by James Hulse, May 30, 2024
1. The Lost Battalion (Java) Marker
Inscription.
The 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery, 36th Infantry Division, "Texas Division", along with the rest of the 36th Infantry Division, Texas National Guard, was mobilized for Federal service on 25 November 1940. It was soon sent to Camp Bowie, Brownwood, Texas. Selected as part of the reinforcements for US Army troops in the Philippines, the 2nd Battalion was detached from the 36th Infantry Division and sailed on the USS Republic on 21 November 1941. They landed on Java on 11 January 1942 (35 days into the war). They were to be the only United States ground combat unit to reach the Dutch East Indies before the Dutch capitulated to the Japanese. Heavy fighting was experienced prior to the surrender of the island by the Dutch to the invading Japanese on 8 March 1942. The Japanese terms of surrender were unconditional and any further resistance would be followed by instant reprisals of the 558 men and officers who landed on Java on 11 January 1942. 534 became prisoners of war of the Japanese. The 2nd battalion, 131st Field Artillery and survivors of the USS Houston, 368 men (902 men total), seemingly disappeared from the face
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of the earth. The US Goverment had no information on the fate of the Second Battalion after the Dutch surrender, thus the name, "Lost Battalion". Of the 902 men taken prisoner, 668 were sent to Burma and Thailand to work as slave laborers on the Burma-Siam Death Railway of the Bridge on the River Kwai fame. Of the 163 men who died in prisoner of war camps, 133 died working on the railroad. The others were sent to work as slave laborers in Japan. Both groups of POWs suffered through 42 months of humiliation, degradation, physical and mental torture, starvation, and horrible tropical diseases. A significant number of men were killed by American submarines and American bombers while chained in the bottom of Japanese ships. On 16 September 1944, by debriefing the survivors from Japanese ships carrying American prisoners of war who had been rescued by US submarines, the US government first found out that members of the 2nd Battalion as well as the crew of the USS Houston had survived. In August 1945, the 448 survivors of the 2nd Battallion were repatriated to Texas.
Topics. This memorial is listed in this topic list: War, World II. A significant day of the year for for this entry is May 31.
Location. 31° 40.665′ N,
Photographed by James Hulse, May 30, 2024
2. The Lost Battalion (Java) Marker
The marker is located on the far right side of the markers
98° 59.503′ W. Memorial is in Brownwood, Texas, in Brown County. It is at the intersection of Crockett Drive and Memorial Park Drive, on the right when traveling north on Crockett Drive. The marker is located at the northwest section of the Camp Bowie Memorial Park. Touch for map. Memorial is at or near this postal address: 2710 Crockett Dr, Brownwood TX 76801, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this memorial is in Big Country. Globally, it is in North America, a Gulf of Mexico state, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain, the Comancherνa, the Republic of Texas, and one of the Confederate States of America.
The Lost Battalion was the 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery, 36th Infantry Division (Texas National Guard) of the U.S. Army. The men of the battalion, plus the survivors of the sunken cruiser USS Houston, were captured by the Japanese on the island of Java in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) in March 1942. It is called the lost battalion because the fate of the men was unknown to the United States until September 1944. They were prisoners of war for 42 months until the end of World War II. 534 soldiers from the battalion and 368 survivors of Houston were taken prisoner. Most of the men were sent to Thailand to work on the Burma Railway, the building of which is portrayed in the film The Bridge on the River Kwai. Of the 902 soldiers and sailors taken captive, 163 died in captivity. Most of the prisoners of war were from western Texas.
(Submitted on August 15, 2024, by James Hulse of Medina, Texas.)
Credits. This page was last revised on August 15, 2024. It was originally submitted on August 15, 2024, by James Hulse of Medina, Texas. This page has been viewed 356 times since then and 54 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on August 15, 2024, by James Hulse of Medina, Texas.
