Lark Force was an Australian Army formation established in March 1941 during World War II for service in New Britain and New Ireland. Under the command of Lieutenant Colonel John Scanlan,[1] it was raised in Australia and deployed to Rabaul and Kavieng, aboard SS Katoomba, MV Neptuna and HMAT Zealandia,[citation needed] to defend their strategically important harbours and airfields.[2]
The objective of the force, was to maintain a forward air observation line as long as possible and to make the enemy fight for this line rather than abandon it at the first threat as the force was considered too small to withstand any invasion.[1]
Most of Lark Force was captured by the Imperial Japanese Army after Rabaul and Kavieng were captured in January 1942. The officers of Lark Force were taken to Japan, but while the NCOs and men were being transported to the Chinese island of Hainan aboard the Montevideo Maru, the ship was torpedoed and sunk by the USS Sturgeon.[3] Only a handful of the Japanese crew were rescued but none of the between 1,050 and 1,053 prisoners survived, because they were still locked below deck.[4]
^ abKeogh 1965, p. 101.
^Keogh 1965, p. 100.
^Wigmore 1957, p. 674.
^"2/22nd Australian Infantry Battalion". Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
LarkForce was an Australian Army formation established in March 1941 during World War II for service in New Britain and New Ireland. Under the command...
Press. pp. 9–10. Bruce Gamble (2014). Invasion Rabaul: The Epic Story of LarkForce, the Forgotten Garrison, January - July 1942. Zenith Press. pp. 73–74...
'LarkForce', which comprised the 2/22nd Infantry Battalion reinforced with coastal artillery and a poorly equipped RAAF bomber squadron. While Lark Force...
Rabaul garrison has been described as a "sacrificial lamb" by David Day. LarkForce was left without reinforcements, and instructed not to withdraw, in accordance...
able to meet and interview most of the surviving nurses and officers of LarkForce. He was able to borrow and transcribe their diaries which added to the...
Australian force—known as Sparrow Force—arrived at Kupang on 12 December 1941. Meanwhile, two similar forces, known as Gull Force and LarkForce, were sent...
Kavieng (New Ireland) were defended by a small Australian detachment, LarkForce. During January 1942, the Japanese heavily bombed Rabaul. On 23 January...
landings in early 1942. NGVR personnel then helped rescue survivors of LarkForce from Rabaul in February and March 1942. Between March and May, the NGVR...
by "LarkForce", which comprised the 2/22nd Battalion reinforced with coastal artillery and a poorly equipped RAAF bomber squadron. While LarkForce was...
January, followed by Ambon on 3 February, and both Gull Force and LarkForce were destroyed. Sparrow Force was reinforced on 16 February 1942 with 189 British...
Studebaker Lark is a compact car that was produced by Studebaker from 1959 to 1966. From its introduction in early 1959 until 1962, the Lark was a product...
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during World War II. It was built in 1941 by Royal Australian Engineers of LarkForce, together with 'L' Coastal Defence Battery of the Royal Australian Artillery...
The cow hitch, also called the lark's head, is a hitch knot used to attach a rope to an object. The cow hitch comprises a pair of single hitches tied in...
Through Fire and Ice, by Austin Byrne Darkest Hour: The True Story of LarkForce at Rabaul – Australia's Worst Military Disaster of World War II, by Bruce...
March and April 1941, while additional units were added to the force. Designated LarkForce, it tasks included protecting the airfields at Lakunai and Vunakanau...
The Lark Farm (Italian: La masseria delle allodole) is a 2007 Italian drama film directed by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani about the Armenian genocide. The...
ISBN 1-883809-09-6. Gamble, Bruce (2006). Darkest Hour: The True Story of LarkForce at Rabaul. St. Paul, Minnesota: Zenith Imprint. ISBN 0-7603-2349-6. http://www...
ISBN 1-883809-09-6. Gamble, Bruce (2006). Darkest Hour: The True Story of LarkForce at Rabaul. St. Paul, Minnesota: Zenith Imprint. ISBN 0-7603-2349-6. http://www...
ISBN 1-883809-09-6. Gamble, Bruce (2006). Darkest Hour: The True Story of LarkForce at Rabaul. St. Paul, Minnesota: Zenith Imprint. ISBN 0-7603-2349-6. http://www...
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