Niel Patrick RICHARDSON

Niel Patrick RICHARDSON Update Details

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RICHARDSON, Niel Patrick

Service Numbers:	V9564, VX50631
Enlisted:	9 December 1940
Last Rank:	Private
Last Unit:	2nd/29th Infantry Battalion
Born:	Morwell, Victoria, Australia, 22 January 1920
Home Town:	Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria
Schooling:	Not yet discovered
Occupation:	Horse Driver
Died:	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 1 July 1984, aged 64 years, cause of death not yet discovered
Cemetery:	Altona Memorial Park, Victoria The Victorian Garden of Remembrance
Memorials:	Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial

World War 2 Service

9 Dec 1940:	Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, V9564, Auxiliary Horse Transport Company/ies
3 Feb 1941:	Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, VX50631, 2nd/29th Infantry Battalion
30 Jul 1941:	Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, VX50631, 2nd/29th Infantry Battalion, embarked Melbourne for Singapore on board Troopship ‘EE’ – SS Marnix van Sint Aldegonde
2 Feb 1942:	Imprisoned Malaya/Singapore
8 Oct 1945:	Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, VX50631, 2nd/29th Infantry Battalion, embarked Malaya for Sydney on board Esperance Bay
11 Dec 1945:	Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, VX50631, 2nd/29th Infantry Battalion

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Biography contributed by Chris Buckley

Private Niel (Neil) Patrick Richardson (Service No:VX50631) initially served in the Militia (Service No:V452375) and ACMF (Private; Service No:V9564), and was attached to 7th Auxiliary Horse Transport Coy when he enlisted in the AIF on 13 March 1941. Private Richardson served with 2/29th Infantry Battalion and embarked from Melbourne for Singapore with his Unit on 30 July 1941 on board Troopship 'EE' (code name for SS Marnix van Sint Aldegonde). Private Richardson served with 2/29th Battalion at the Battle of Maur and was reported Missing on 2 February 1942 - confirmed PoW of the Japanese (PoW Nos:17335/111/9333) on 8 February 1943. Recovered from the Japanese in 1945, Private Richardson embarked from Malaya for Sydney on board the Esperance Bay on 8 October 1945. He was attached to 2/29th Infantry Battalion at Discharge on 11 December 1945.

Neil was born in Morwell, Victoria in 1920, eldest of seven children of Alfred James Richardson (b1898 in Aberfeldy, Victoria) and Ivy Catherine Burkett (b1901 in Melbourne, Victoria). Alfred served in WWI (Private; Service No:2057) and was a Miner in 1922 when he and Ivy married in Morwell, where they settled and raised their family. Alfred worked as a Miner at Brown Coal Mine until the mid 1930s when the family moved to Melbourne, where Alfred worked as a Labourer, Iron Worker and Horse Driver. Alfred served in WWII with the ACMF (Service Nos:V6854/V17601) - discharged as medically unfit.

Neil worked as a Wool Spinner and Horse Driver in Melbourne prior to his enlistment in the Army. Following his Discharge, Neil returned to Melbourne, where in 1947 he married Veronica Mary Taylor (b1925 in Sale, Victoria). Neil and Veronica settled in Melbourne where they raised their family and Neil worked as a Carpenter and Peace Officer/Guard and Night Watchman. Neil died in 1984 and Veronica in 1999.

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