Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Son of Frank James Owen and Ethel Maude Lindon; husband of Annette Maude Owen nee Robinson;  all of Elliston, SA. Brother of Gwendoline Alice Owen and Kathleen May Owen(twins), Dorothy Mary Owen, David Sydney Owen, Leonard, Archibald Lucas Owen and Frank James Henry Owen.

Robert and Annette married on the 16 October 1934 in St Andrews Church, Elliston

Died while a Prisoner of War

Sergeant Robert George Owen was born in Elliston SA on the 3rd of June 1910 four years prior to the start of World War One. Elliston is a town on the west coast of the Eyre Peninsula, and it is known for its beaches. Robert Owen was the second son of Mrs. E. M. Owen and Mr. F. J. Owen. Robert Owen was into cricket as many Australians are and sport in general too. His schooling consisted of Elliston Primary School and Adelaide High School.
Sergeant Robert George Owen trained with the 8th Division Ammunition Sub Park, who were stationed at Woodside from the 28th of October 1940 to 23rd of April 1941. The Woodside barracks was first established in 1927 on 162 hectares of land. In the First World War the Woodside barracks were used for Light Horse and Infantry units, but for World War Two they were used for Infantry and AIF units. The 8th Division Ammunition Sub Park provided transport and supplies. From the 24th of April 1941 to 23rd of September 1941 they were stationed in Alice Springs before being shipped out.

The 8th Division Sub Park fought in Singapore Malaya; they were defending the peninsula from Japanese attack. They inevitably surrendered due to the invasion of Japanese forces allowing the capture of Singapore. It only took two months for the Japanese to fight through 700 kilometres to capture Singapore. They surrendered on the 15th of February of 1942 and were there for the next three years, facing life draining work or death. The 8th Division were split up with many going to Borneo, Burma, or Thailand. Sergeant Robert George Owen was imprisoned at the Thailand camp.

Sergeant Robert George Owen would have worked on building the Thai-Burma Railway from the Thailand end. He along with eight thousand Australian died there as POWs. They were building the railway to allow transport of goods and information to be more easily accessed and protected. In 1943 the POWs working hours increased from ten to fifteen hours, then to 18 hour a day. One in three Australians lost their lives as POWs.
The Thai- Burma railway was known for its exhausting work and brutal callous treatment from the Japanese, along with long hours. This treatment created the perfect conditions for diseases like cholera which took the life of Sergeant Robert George Owen on the 1st of June 1943, two days before his 33rd birthday. According to the World Health Organization Cholera is caused by “ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae”. Cholera causes severe acute watery diarrhoea and takes 12 hours to 5 days for symptoms the show and if it is untreated it will kill.

Sergeant Robert George Owen is now buried at the Thanbyuzayat war cemetery in Myanmar plot A1, row c, Grave 5. The cemetery holds 2,150 commonwealth and 620 Buch burials from POWs in the second world war. Robert Owen had a family including a daughter Annetta Owen who is next of kin, a second daughter and a widow left to mourn his loss.