South Australian Rex Butler's time as a hard-riding buffalo shooter in the Northern Territory's crocodile swamps stood him in good stead when he went to war, fell into the hands of the Japanese and made an incredible escape.
The Kongorong-born farmer was "deadly accurate" with a rifle and enlisted as a private in the AIF, 4th Military District, in 1940.
After Singapore capitulated to Japan's forces in February, 1942, Butler, an adventurer and experienced bushman, "could not be cooped up behind barbed wire", said Kevin Kenny, who was a prisoner of war (POW) with him in Changi.
