Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Francis Arthur Fitzpatrick, known as Frank, was born on 17th January 1918 at Waterloo NSW, the 4th child of Frederick and Catherine Fitzpatrick.  He had 2 older brothers Frederick and Michael and an older sister Mary.  Frank’s occupation was a baker and prior to WW2 Frank served with the 41st Battalion. 

On 17th September 1941 Frank enlisted for WW2 in the Australian Military Forces at Paddington NSW aged 23.  He’s descried as being 5ft 6ins tall with a fair complexion, blue eyes and dark hair.  His service number was NX44970, his rank Private and he was assigned to the 1st Armoured Training Regiment at Greta Camp NSW.  A month later he proceeded to the 7th Armoured Regiment also at Greta Camp NSW.  His service record states that he returned to the 1st Armoured Training Regiment briefly before embarking from Sydney on 10th January 1942 on RMS Aquitania as the single ship MS.2 convoy bound for Singapore.  This carried the 2/4th Machine Gun Battalion, part of the 8th Division, as well as 650 reinforcements for the 2/19th Infantry Battalion of which Frank was one.  The ship reached Ratai Bay at the Sunda Strait on 20th January where 3,456 personnel were transhipped under a covering naval force to seven smaller vessels that would continue to Singapore as convoy MS.2A.  Frank disembarked at Singapore on 24th January 1942 and joined his unit on 26th January 1942 at Jahore Bahru.  It crossed onto Singapore Island on 31st January and took up defensive positions on the island's west coast.  The wide frontage it was required to cover, however, meant its platoons and sections had to be widely dispersed.  When the Japanese launched their invasion on the night of 8th February the 2/19th's position was readily infiltrated and the battle degenerated into vicious scattered engagements in the dark.  Like most Australian units involved, it fell into a desperate retreat that ended surrender to the Japanese on the outskirts of Singapore city on 15th February 1942 making 15,000 Australians prisoners of war.  Frank was one of them.

On 17th February 1942 the prisoners were marched 18 miles to Changi Prison where they would suffer deprivation and malnutrition.  Within weeks work parties left Changi to work on the Thai/Burma railway while others were sent to prison camps in Borneo, Japan, Taiwan, Java, Sumatra and Malaya.  The conditions were appalling with overcrowding, food and medicine being scarce, and dysentery and vitamin deficiencies were common.  In September 1942 the Japanese administration insisted that the Allied prisoners sign an oath not to escape.  When the prisoners refused to do so - on the grounds that this violated their honour and was inconsistent with international law - the Japanese herded over 15,000 prisoners into the barracks parade ground.  They kept them there for four days until the Allied leadership, faced with a potential health crisis, agreed to sign the oath under duress.

On 28th November 1942 Frank left Changi and embarked on the hellship Kamakura Maru from Singapore with 562 other Australians of “C” Force bound for Japan.  They disembarked at Nagasaki on 7th December and the group was divided into two.  Frank was with the group of 250 who were transported to Kobe Kawasaki Camp, also known as Osaka POW Camp 5-D, where they worked at the Kawasaki shipyard.  The camp consisted of 100ft long fibrolite and wooden nuts with tarred canvas roofs.  Food was poor and in short supply and consisted of a basic diet of rice and vegetable stew.  Water was carried from a stream half a mile away.  In the first 5 months, 17 prisoners died, and in total, 51 Allied prisoners died, including 18 Australians.   Captain John Paterson, Commanding Officer of the Australians at this camp, wrote the following “The needless waste of young life is appalling, and our inability to do anything for these men is terrible”. 

After Kobe Kawasaki Camp was destroyed by American bombing raids in March 1945 the group of now 200 Australians were transported by train to Keisen Branch Camp No. 26-B at Fukuoka on 10th May 1945 and were the first inmates of this camp.  This camp itself was a mile from the railway station situated on a rise and was surrounded by a 20ft high electrified fence.  There were 10 huts connected by a covered passage.  Each hut was made up of 7 rooms each of which contained 8 men.  The rooms measured 18ft x 12ft.  Most prisoners were sent to work in the coal mines which were anywhere from 500ft to 2,800ft underground.  It was hot below and the worked only in shorts or a loin cloth and rubber boots.  However they were provided with a hot bath each night on return from work.  The food was poor and insufficient. 

After almost 3 years as a POW Frank became a free man when the camp was liberated on 17th September 1945.  He was evacuated to the holding station at Manila on 25th September 1945 and embarked from there for Australia on 4th October on HMS Speaker.  He disembarked at Sydney on 15th October 1945 and admitted to the 103 Australian General Hospital (AGH) at Baulkham Hills NSW.  He was transferred to the 2/11 AGH at Warwick QLD on 4th December and then to 101st Convalescent Depot at Coorparoo QLD on 7th December.  He was discharged from the service on 21st December 1945. 

It is noted that the 2/19th Infantry Battalion suffered the highest casualties of any Australian Army unit during war, sustaining 620 dead and 197 wounded from the 1,500 who served in the unit. 

Frank married Patricia Lorna Jones in 1948 and they welcomed 2 children…Wayne born in 1950 and Kay in 1951. 

Frank passed away on 29th May 1977 at Liverpool NSW aged 59 and was buried at Liverpool Cemetery.  Frank is commemorated on the Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial. 

Francis Arthur Fitzpatrick was awarded for service in WW2 the 1939-1945 Star, Defence Medal, War Medal 1939-1945, Australia Service Medal.

Respectfully submitted by Sue Smith 1st March 2023.

Sources

https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/U56062

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Aquitania

https://2nd4thmgb.com.au/camp/kawasaki-maruyama-park-japan/

https://2nd4thmgb.com.au/camp/usui-fukuoka-26-japan/

http://honesthistory.net.au/wp/alexander-kristen-readable-account-of-australian-pows-in-japan-though-it-lacks-a-bit-of-context/