NX52468 Private Roy Cotton and NX36763 Private Arthur Cotton, 2/19th Australian Infantry Battalion - Part 1
Australian War MemorialRoy Cotton was born on 18 June 1918 in Narrandera, in the Riverina region of southern New South Wales. Just over a year later, on 1 July 1919, his brother Arthur was born. The two were part of the large family of Robert and Frances Cotton.
After attending Narrandera Intermediate High School, both Roy and Arthur were employed on Kooba Station at nearby Darlington Point.
Following the announcement of Australia’s involvement in the Second World War, Roy was the first of the brothers to volunteer for service. He had spent a couple of months with the Australian Military Forces, serving as a private in the 56th Battalion before enlisting at Paddington in late June 1940.
Initially posted to 9th Battalion, he transferred to the 2/19th Battalion during his first month of service.
Arthur enlisted around a fortnight after his brother at Wagga Wagga. He was initially allotted to the 8th Battalion, but soon joined his brother in the 2/19th Battalion.
During their initial training, the brothers returned home for Christmas on pre-embarkation leave. Their father had enlisted with the Volunteer Defence Corps and would be involved in guard duty at the internment camps at Hay.
After returning to training, on 2 February 1941, Roy and Arthur Cotton left Sydney, bound for Singapore.
Arriving in Singapore in mid-February, the battalion moved north to Seremban in southern Malaya, where it trained for service under tropical conditions. Arthur was detached for ordnance guard duty for around a month, and rejoined his unit as it rotated between Seremban and Port Dickson on the coast.
As the unit moved to the airfield at Kluang and then moved to prepare defensive positions at Jemaluang on the east coast, the brothers learnt that their mother, Frances, had died at home in Narrandera.
Around this time Arthur was admitted to hospital before spending the following month in convalescent hospital. As he returned to duty in October, Japan’s involvement in the Second World War was becoming increasingly likely.
The 2/19th stood to arms on the night that it learnt about the attack on Pearl Harbor, but another month would pass before the Cotton brothers were in action.
In early January, D Company was detached to form half of a special force deployed to delay the Japanese approach to Endau, a town further north along the east coast. One of its platoons was involved in a clash with the Japanese on 14 January, then returned to the battalion for its redeployment to the west coast.
On 17 January, the battalion was rushed forward to reinforce the beleaguered 2/29th Battalion at Bakri. It held the vital crossroad there long enough to allow for the withdrawal of the remnants of the 2/29th and the 45th Indian Brigade from the direction of Muar.
