Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Contributed by Great Great nephew of Stone who attends St Ignatius College, South Australia

On the 14th of January 1923, Ronald Leslie Stone was born in Essendon, Victoria. Known affectionately as 'Rocky', he lived on Robinson Street, Moonee Ponds, and attended Moonee Ponds Primary School. He was one of five siblings, with an older sister (Gladys), two older brothers {Frank and Gordon) and a younger sister (Edina). Rocky left school young to help support his family, as his mother Ruby, was a young widow (5. Armstrong, 2022). Before enlisting, Rocky worked in a flour mill, presumably in manual labour. In the army he was posted to the field workshop, indicating that he had some level of trade training/experience prior to enlistment. (Service Record, Australian Archives WWII).

On the 12th of December 1941, Rocky enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force. Enlistment documentation records his year of birth as 1922 rather than the actual 1923 shown in other official certification including his death certificate (5. Armstrong 2022}. As can be seen in figure 2, the date has clearly been crossed out, indicating that his age was changed to better suit a potential requirement. 

Just four days before Rocky enlisted the Japanese had invaded Malaya, so this news likely motivated him to enlist and join the defence against Japan's increasing invasion of the Pacific. On the 24th of December 1941Rocky completed a trade test and was transferred to the Army Ordnance Corps in Bendigo three days later. He was then posted to the 2/10 field workshop, on January 2nd• Early in January 1942 he embarked from Bendigo to Sydney. He completed further training for his workshop before arriving in Singapore via plane on January 26, 1942. (Service Record, Australian Archives, WWII)

Since the early 1930s the Japanese imperial forces had been committed to invading parts of the Southeast Pacific. Firstly, this involved the invasion of Manchuria (Northeast of China) in 1931-32. In 1940 when Japan joined the Axis powers, they gained a foothold in a number of other terdtories. Then, the Japanese attacked Malaya (present day Malaysia) and the Philippines in December 1941. (Columbia University, 2022)

In 1942 the Japanese Imperial Army invaded Singapore, an island under British control. For a number of years prior to Rocky's deployment, Australian soldiers had been in Singapore, in anticipation of a Japanese attack. The allies were prepared for the Japanese to enter from the North along a track from Malaya. However, the Japanese sent the majority of the forces from the South, attacking the Singapore Harbour (National Museum Australia).

Rocky was posted to the 2/10th Field Workshop, presumably following the 2/10th Field Regiment, working on artillery and maintenance of weapons and vehicles. The regiment was engaged in action from January 21 (AVWM, 2/10field regiment), and so Rocky was likely sent as a response to growing need for maintenance of their equipment.

However, the Battle of Singapore quickly led to the infamous Fall of Singapore. By 15 February 1942, the allied forces, including the 2/lOth, had surrendered, many being taken as Japanese prisoners of war (POWs). Rocky was one of 15 000 Australians taken as a prisoner (Australian War Memorial}. In London, Winston Churchill announced the Fall of Singapore as the 'worst disaster and largest capitulation in British history". From Singapore, Rocky was moved to Malaya where he was kept at the notorious Changi prison. Approximately 3 000 soldiers were detained in Changi, however the camp was built for only 600 (Monument Australia org, WW2). Hundreds of personal recounts speak to the horrendous nature of the camp. The overcrowding resulted in the rapid spreading of diseases such as malaria, ysentery, and dermatitis (History Learning Site UK}. Prisoners were only fed on the requirement that they worked, with no regard to illness or injury. As well as this, food rations decreased significantly throughout the war; the poor diet, when combined with the hard labour the prisoners were expected to undertake, resulted in their being permanently hungry and constantly at risk of nutritional deficiency disease and starvation (Beyond Surrender, 2015). Family of Rocky describe him as a gaunt man, likely the result of the malnutrition he experienced as a prisoner.

In 1942, Japan controlled significant portion of Southeast Asia, and planned to expand their empire into India, a British territory. The Japanese therefore planned to build a 415-kilometre railway from South Burma to Thailand to supply and service their troops. The Japanese had more than 100 000 POWs at various camps in Singapore and used these POWs to work on the railway. In October 1942, 13 000 of the 15 000 Australian prisoners taken in Singapore, were transferred as slaves to construct this ambitious railway (National Museum of Australia), one of whom was Ronald Stone. The work was notoriously harsh and the conditions deadly. Many of the prisoners experienced starvation, disease, torture, and heatstroke. (Australian War Memorial).

Japanese guards were known to be particularly harsh in their treatment of all POWs. The Japanese military believed in fighting to death and never surrendering, regardless of the likelihood of victory or potential casualties. A death during battle was honourable, to be taken as a prisoner of war was cowardly. This caused them to consider POWs with contempt and resulted in the horrendous treatment of their POWs, such as Rocky. Of the 15 000 Australians captured by the Japanese at the fall of Singapore, 7 000 died as prisoners, 2815 on the Thai-Burma railway (Australian War Memorial), an indication of their treatment. After WWII, some 644 Japanese soldiers were convicted of war crimes in the Asia-Pacific. (Australian War Memorial).

Work on the railway was laborious and intensive. Several personal recounts detail stories of torture and violence on the Japanese behalf. Russel Brandon was prisoner on the Thai Burmese Railway, and he wrote of his experience in 'Fighting Words-Australian War Writing' (1986) as follows: '... Things would have gone very badly for me had it not been for the help of the men with me. They covered up for me so the guards did not realise how slowly I worked...When they finished their own quota of work, they would do mine too... And there was never any suggestion of condescension but only that inexhaustible readiness of the part of the ordinary man to lend a hand whenever it was needed'.

The optimism and commitment to survival during what can only be described as hellish circumstances, resemble the ANZAC spirit characteristics of perseverance and mateship. Personal antidotes speak of Australians standing up to Japanese soldiers regardless oftorturous punishment that followed. Mateship is clearly displayed in prisoners' willingness to share 'impossibly small' rations, and prisoners completing work for their peers, to avoid beatings. A survivor, M. Fairclough, candidly explains the role mateship played in the survival of time spent on the railway:'I think if you didn't have a mate, you wouldn't have got through. (I survived with) a bit of help and encouragement... and a grim determination to not bloody well die in a place like that' (M. Fairclough 2016). This attitude was universal to the many survivors of the Japanese and demonstrates the overall ANZAC spirit that was essential to survival. Rocky also shared these characteristics. Although he did not speak much of his experience, his daughter recalls Rocky testifying to this unspoken commitment to his fellow servicemen in regards to his own experience. The railway was completed in October 1943, (National Museum of Australia) during which time Rocky was sent back to Malayan prisoner camps. (5. Armstrong 2022)

In September 1945, the British recovered the Japanese POWs in Malaya. Later in life Rocky recounted an event symbolic of the Japanese guards. When it was made clear that the Japanese had surrendered, and the POWs would be released, a number of guards took groups of prisoners away from the camp. Rocky remembered feeling irritable as he believed that these prisoners were being released, and he had not yet been taken. However, eventually the British came and relieved the POWs in the camps. Much later, Rocky realised that these groups of prisoners had been executed by the Japanese, as they had knowledge of war crimes (5. Armstrong, 2022).

According to service forms Rocky was recovered on the 5th of September. He soon began his plane journey home which spanned over the course of eleven days due to the short distance that planes could travel at the time. He arrived in Australia on the 16th (Service Record, Australian Archives WWII).

After being discharged from the army in 1945 (Service record, Australian Archives WWII}, Rocky, like most veterans, returned to a seemingly regular lifestyle. In 1947 he married Jean Smith, after meeting her on holidays Apollo Bay. Rocky and Susan had two children, Susanne and Gregory (5. Armstrong 2022). Upon returning to Australia, Rocky was employed in manual labour including house painting and worked in a timber mill. However, his life was still very much still shaped by his experience as a prisoner of war. He had an ongoing need for medical attention and regular hospital admissions. A family member remembers a story of seeing Rocky at the beach. He recounts Rocky being very skinny and having scars on his torso and enquiring about them. Rocky spoke of how the guards used to put cigarettes out on his back, resulting in permanent scarring. (R. Smith 2022). Rocky eventually relocated to Mt. Gambier where he worked at Myer Stores for a number of years. Rocky was eventually promoted to department manager before retiring (5. Armstrong 2022). A member of Rocky's family reports that Rocky was proud to have achieved this position, which was considered a management role with some status.

Reference List:

Virtual War Memorial. 2018. STONE, RonaldLeslie. [ONLINE] Available at: https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/1361972. [Accessed 4 May 2022]

Australian War Memorial. 2020. Changi. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/encyclopedia/pow/changi. [Accessed 18 May 2022].

Monument Australia. 2010. Changi Prison- Singapore. [ONLINE] Available at: https://monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/conflict/ww2/display/I09273-changi-prison -singapore. [Accessed 17 May 2022].

Fuse Education Victoria. 2016. Life and death on the Thai-Burma railway. [ONLINE] Available at: https://fuse.education.vic.gov.au/Resource/LandingPage?Objectld=8b8796e4-fe40-4101-bf5f- 0dd9c65dc558&SearchScope=All. [Accessed 18 May 2022].

Astralian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). 2016. Life and death on the Thai-Burma railway. [ONLINE] Available  at: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-ll-1l/milton-snow-fairclough-life-and-death-on-thai-burma­ railway/6927656?nw=0&r=Htm1Fragment. [Accessed 13 May 2022].

Columbia University. 2022. Japan's Quest for Power and World War II in Asia. [ONLINE] Available at: http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/special/japan_1900_power.htm. [Accessed 21 April 2022].

National Museum of Australia. 2021. Fall of Singapore. [ONLINE] Available at: https://digital­ classroom.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/fall-singapore. [Accessed 29 April 2022].

Australian War Memorial. 2020. General information about Australian prisoners of the Japanese. [ONLINE]

Available:

at: https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/encyc1opedia/pow/general_info#:-:text=Singapore%20(Changi%20and%20Si ngapore%20Island,Railway%2C%20numbers%20rose%20again).. [Accessed 11 May 2022].

Australian Archives. 2016. Record Search- WWII. [ONLINE] Available at:     https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/lnterface/DetailsReports/lternDetail.aspx?Barcode=6077204&isAv=N. [Accessed 7 April 2022].

Virtual War Memorial. 2018. People. [ONLINE] Available at: https://vwma.org.au/explore/people. [Accessed 17 April 2022].

ANZAC Portal. 2002. A Bitter Fate-Australians In Malaya & Singapore. [ONLINE] Available at: https://anzacportal.dva.gov.au/resources/bitter-fate-australians-malaya-singapore. [Accessed 16 May 2022].

2/l0th Field Regiment. 2022. Australian War Memorial. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/U54400. [Accessed 16 May 2022].

Books: 

Beaumont, J., Grant, L. and Pegram, A., 2015. Beyond Surrender, Australian Prisoners of War in the Twentieth Century. 1st ed. Melbourne: Melbourne University Publishing Limited.

Bowden, T., 2019. Larrikins in Khaki. Tales of irreverence and courage from World War II Diggers. 1st ed. NSW: Griffin Press.

Rivett, R. and Dunlop, W., 2015. Behind Bamboo. Hell on the Burma Railway. 3rd ed. Victoria: Griffin Press.

Ebury, S., 1994. Weary; The Life of Sir Edward Dunlop. 1st ed. Victoria: Penguin Books Ltd. Gatefield, J., 2018. Great Australian World War II Stories. 1st ed. NSW: Harper Collins Publishers.

People:

R Smith 2022, personal communication (interview), 10 March - 22 May

S Armstrong 2022, personal communication (phone call), 14 April