Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Harry was captured during the fall of Singapore. Japanese POW no. 3088
Harry sailed with ‘A’ Force from Singapore on two ships on 14 May 1942 to Burma. Green Force disembarked at Victoria Point, Burma on 21 may where they would remain several months repairing and extending the airfield, before heading north to Tavoy then onto northern Burma to work on the railway, which would link up with the Thai link. Green Force arrived at Thanbyuzayat via Lamaign by end of October 1942 and soon after working at Kendau Camp on the railway.
Harry appears to have been fortunate in that his health was such that he was not hospitalised – that is not to say he did not suffer with the usual tropical diseases and from the lack of food.
When the railway link was completed, Green Force was sent south to Tamarkan, Thailand.
He was deemed ‘fit’ by the Japanese whilst at Tamarkan, which was a large camp and was selected to work in Japan.
The work party for Japan was then sent by train via Bangkok to French Indo-China (today known as Vietnam) where it was planned to ship the POWs to Japan from Riviere de Saigon at Cape St Jacques. These plans soon dissolved as the Japanese command realised the Allied blockade of the nearby seas made their plans impossible.
The POWs worked in Saigon on docks, go-downs and other jobs at an airfield just north of Saigon. The Rakuyo Maru party finally began their journey back to Bangkok and onto Singapore between 24-28th June arriving about 4th July 1944, most of the party was accommodated at the River Valley Road Transit Camp for several months before sailing on the Rakuyo Maru, he tragically drowned on this ship in the South China Sea. At 5.22 am on 12 September, the Rakuyo Maru was being watched through the periscope of the USS Sealion II. As the image of the ship’s bow met the cross hairs of the periscope, the submarine’s captain calmly fired three torpedoes. Each of the deadly missile’s warheads carried 668 pounds (300 kg) of high explosive. The Rakuyo Maru was doomed. There were 700 Australian & 600 British soldiers on the ship, some were luck enough to survive bust so many perished.