WILLIAMS, George David
| Service Number: | WX8672 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 23 October 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/4th Machine Gun Battalion |
| Born: | Perth, Western Australia, 12 September 1915 |
| Home Town: | Perth, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Mount Pleasant, Perth, Western Australia, 28 July 2005, aged 89 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" |
| Memorials: | Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial |
World War 2 Service
| 23 Oct 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX8672, 2nd/4th Machine Gun Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 30 Dec 1941: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX8672, 2nd/4th Machine Gun Battalion | |
| 15 Feb 1942: | Imprisoned Malaya/Singapore, Changi and F Force - Burma Thailand railway PoW No: 8672 | |
| 10 Oct 1945: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX8672, 2nd/4th Machine Gun Battalion, ex Singapore per HMT Arawa | |
| 4 Mar 1946: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX8672, 2nd/4th Machine Gun Battalion |
Help us honour George David Williams's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Private George David Williams (Service No:WX8672) enlisted in the Australian Army on 23 October 1940 and embarked with 2/4th Machine Gun Battalion for Singapore on 30 December 1941. On 15 February 1942 Private Williams was reported as Missing, and on 20 September 1943 confirmed as a PoW (No:8672) of the Japanese at Changi. On 20 April 1943, Private Williams was one of forty nine men (30 of whom returned) of 2/4th Machine Gun Battalion who entrained ex Singapore Railway Station as part of F Force to work on the Burma Thailand Railway. On 5 September 1945 Private Williams was recovered from the Japanese and embarked ex Singapore on board HMT Arawa on 10 October 1945. He was Discharged on 4 March 1946.
The youngest of eight children, George was born in 1915 in Perth WA to Richard Walters Williams (b1870 at Pleasant Creek in Stawell, Victoria) and May Emma Maria Gilham (b1877 at Pleasant Creek in Stawell, Victoria). Richard (a Coach Proprietor) and May married in 1901 in Coolgardie, where they lived before moving to Wagin, then Perth and later Jindong nr Busselton and Richard worked as a Labourer, Settler/Farmer and Miner.
George worked as a Miner in Coolgardie and Labourer in Perth before his enlistment in the Army. Following his Discharge, George returned to Perth where he participated in the Commonwealth Reconstruction Training Scheme (CRTS) as a Chemist/Scientist. In 1953 in Perth, George married Olive Janice Payne (b1916 in Collie, WA) - Olive worked as a Librarian in Perth. George and Olive settled in Perth where George worked as a Scientist and Olive as a Librarian. George died in 2005 and Olive in 2009.