BEADMAN, Walter Stanley Randwick
| Service Number: | NX31607 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 11 June 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/15th Field Regiment |
| Born: | Blackheath, New South Wales, Australia, 15 August 1907 |
| Home Town: | Blackheath, Blue Mountains Municipality, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Died: | 9 December 1953, aged 46 years, cause of death not yet discovered, place of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Penrith General Cemetery, New South Wales, Australia Anglican Section 2 - Row K - Plot #01 |
| Memorials: | Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial |
World War 2 Service
| 11 Jun 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, NX31607, 2nd/15th Field Regiment | |
|---|---|---|
| 29 Jul 1941: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , NX31607, 2nd/15th Field Regiment, Abroad | |
| 16 Feb 1942: | Imprisoned Malaya | |
| 24 Sep 1945: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Gunner, NX31607, Disembarked Sydney 11/10/1945 | |
| 29 Jan 1946: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, NX31607, 2nd/15th Field Regiment |
Help us honour Walter Stanley Randwick Beadman's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Shari-Lei McLean
The following information is taken from the war record of Walter Stanley Renwick BEADMAN on naa.gov.au
Special Immediate Awards - P.W. Recommended by C.A Callaghan, Maj-Gen GOC S Aust Div. 13 Mar 1946 Honour or Award: BEM. SPEC. PW.
Gunner Beadman was a Prisoner of War in Japanese hands from Feb 43 to Aug 45. In 1943 he was a member of the AIF Prisoner of War parties building the Burma-Thailand railway. During this period he was outstanding in his endeavours to assist his fellow prisoners. He suffered corporal punishment by the Japanese, on many occasions in these efforts. He exchanged quinine for emetine with Siamese shopkeepers for the CO of an Allied Hospital. This required ingenuity, initiative and courage as the Hospital was suspect and under the very close surveillance of the Japense Military Police. This action alone was responsible for saving of lives.
In Changi Singapore during 1944 and 1945 he assisted in the operation of some secret wireless receivers which were invaluable in maintaining morale. He also assisted in obtaining essential spare parts, te acquisition of which was vital for the continuance of wireless activities. This necessitated leaving a well guarded camp by night and proceeding to heavily guarded Japanese stores about three miles away and returning with the parts. Had Gunner Beadman's activities been discovered he would have been executed or subjected to a long period of imprisonment. Gunner Beadman's record of service and conjuct as a Prisoner of War have been exemplary.
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