PROSSER, Alexander Ian Frederick
| Service Numbers: | VX20502, VX20502 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 31 May 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | Not yet discovered |
| Born: | Coburg, Victoria, Australia, 1 October 1918 |
| Home Town: | Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Truck Driver |
| Died: | Clayton, Victoria, Australia, 22 July 1992, aged 73 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Springvale Botanical Cemetery, Melbourne The Victorian Garden of Remembrance |
| Memorials: | Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial |
World War 2 Service
| 31 May 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, VX20502 | |
|---|---|---|
| 27 Dec 1940: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, VX20502 , embarked Melbourne for Port Tewfik via Columbia on board SS Mauretania | |
| 1 Mar 1942: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, VX20502, embarked Egypt for Batavia on board SS Orcades | |
| 8 Sep 1943: | Imprisoned confirmed PoW captured by Japanese; interned Thailand – Burma Railroad | |
| 6 Oct 1945: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, VX20502, embarked Singapore for Melbourne on board HT Manunda | |
| 4 Jan 1946: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, VX20502 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Younger of the two brothers (Charles and Alexander) who served in WWII, Private Alexander Ian Frederick Prosser (Service No:VX20502) served three years in the Militia (AASC) before enlisting in the AIF on 31 May 1940 - graded Driver Motor Transport - attached to 1st Australian Corps Petrol Park, and on 27 December 1940 embarked from Melbourne for Port Tewfik via Columbia on board SS Mauretania. Private Prosser - graded Driver Mechanic - was marched out to 105 Australian General Transport Coy on 28 January 1942, and embarked from the Middle East for Batavia on 1 March 1942 on board SS Orcades. Reported Missing in Java in 1942, Private Prosser was confirmed a PoW held by the Japanese on 8 September 1943 - interned in Thailand and working on the Burma Railroad. Recovered from the Japanese in mid 1945, Private Prosser embarked on 6 October 1945 from Singapore for Melbourne on board HT Manaunda, and was attached to 105 Australian General Transport Coy at Discharge on 4 January 1946.
Youngest of six children, Alex was born in Melbourne, Victoria in 1918 to Charles Robert Prosser Snr (b1871 in Kilmore, Victoria) and Selina Cordelia Dennis (b1877 in Eaglehawk, Bendigo, Victoria). Charles served in the Boer War (Farrier Sergeant; Service No:761) with 5th Victorian Mounted Rifles, and he and Selina married in 1903 in Bendigo. The couple settled in Melbourne, where they raised their family and Charles worked as a Blacksmith and Foreman with the Municipal Council.
Alex was a Truck Driver in Melbourne in 1940 when he enlisted in the Army, and following his Discharge in January 1946, returned to Melbourne where he worked as a Clerk. In 1953 in Melbourne he married Marie Jeanette Grainger (b1930 in Sydney, New South Wales), and the couple settled in Melbourne, where Alex was a Fish Merchant. Alex died in 1992 and Marie died in 1997.
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