The Panzer Grenadier universe, as with most wargames, has little recognition of POWs and missing soldiers. With few exceptions, these individuals are worthy of the same respect and honor afforded to those on Memorial Day and Veterans Day. In 1979, President Jimmy Carter designated September 21st as a remembrance day for those who did not come home and may never be found. Since POW-MIA Remembrance Day is not a Federal holiday, it must be redesignated by the president every year. For the 3rd Friday in September, every president has done so, every year since 1979. For 2021, this day falls on September 17th.
In our cardboard battles, some players may have noticed that portions of the 7th & 9th Armored Divisions and 106th Infantry Division were forced to surrender at St. Vith, after having been cut-off for about a week. There is 1st Battalion, 308th Infantry Regiment of cinematic fame, who suffered in the Argonne Forest in October of 1918. Almost exactly 26 years later the 1st Battalion 141st Infantry Regiment was "lost" in Vosges Mountains.
There is another battalion, nearly forgotten amongst gamers, who almost makes an appearance in the Panzer Grenadier games. This is the 2nd Battalion of 131st Field Artillery Regiment. Of all the references to a "Lost Battalion" in Panzer Grenadier, this one was truly lost, and its passing was not noted.
 |
| Bridging work across the Tjianten River during the Battle of Leuwiliang |
The 2/131st Field Artillery Battalion shipped off to the Philippines in late November 1941. When Pearl Harbor was attacked and the Japanese southward push began, they were hastily rerouted to Australia in support of the ABDA command. From there, they were deployed to the island of Java. The 2/131st was the only American formation which reached Java before the Japanese assault.
Batteries ‘D’ and ‘F’ of the 2/131st we assigned to the Australian battlegroup dubbed Blackforce, for its commander Brigadier Arthur S. Blackburn. They and the Australians battled the Japanese for 2 days at Leuwiliang. They gave a good account of themselves. Battery ‘D’ was notable for having destroyed several Japanese tanks. It was all for naught when Batavia (modern day Jakarta) fell to the Japanese 2nd Division. Blackforce was forced to withdraw to Buitenzorg, then to Sukabumi, and ultimately into the hills south of Bandung. They surrendered on March 9th, 1942.
Battery ‘E’ was sent to East Java to join the 3rd KNIL Infantry Division in the defense of Surabaya. There they fought with the 8th and 13th KNIL Infantry battalions at Porong. The native troops faltered before the Japanese assault. The Americans put up fierce resistance but were forced to withdraw as remaining Dutch forces were being overwhelmed. The Surabaya garrison retreated to the island of Madoera after destroying the city’s infrastructure. There they surrendered to the Japanese with the Dutch capitulation.
After several months in prison camps on Java, most of the 2/131st and survivors from the USS Houston were shipped to South Asia to work on the infamous Burma railway. With them were 66,000 other Allied POWs and 4x that number of South Asian forced laborers. After a year of working under brutal conditions, most were shipped to work in Thailand and Vietnam, while some were sent to Japan to work in the coal mines.
Battery ‘E’ had a slightly different fate. They were shipped to Changi Prison in Singapore. In November 1942 they were sent by transport to Fukuoka, Japan to work in the shipyards there. In 1945 they were moved to the coal mines on Kyushu.
The fate of the 2/131st FA Regiment was unknown until September of 1944. Australian and British POW survivors from Japanese freighters, sunk by an American submarine, related the information regarding the battalion. The battalion began its deployment to Java with 534 personnel, 86 did not survive their ordeal.
File Downloads:
Designer Note: This project began as a misunderstanding on a forum on Panzer Grenadier Headquarters. It was a brief discussion about a “Lost Battalion”. Being reasonably good with counter graphics, I made a quick counterset. Over the next few months I pondered the story of the 2/131st FA Regiment and wondered if there could be more than a novelty counterset. With my personal discovery of POW-MIA Day (it isn’t well-advertised), a tribute project was born. I hope all, both my countrymen and former adversaries can appreciate how we got where we are. The path is not usually pretty.