DENNEY, Raynor Robert
| Service Number: | VX29344 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 4 July 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/2nd Casualty Clearing Station |
| Born: | Ulverstone, Tasmania, Australia, 5 April 1919 |
| Home Town: | Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Theological Student |
| Died: | Launceston, Tasmania, Australia, 5 February 2005, aged 85 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Scottsdale and Ellesmere General Cemetery, Tasmania Row P |
| Memorials: | Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, Tasmania (Launceston) Garden of Remembrance |
World War 2 Service
| 4 Jul 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, VX29344 | |
|---|---|---|
| 3 Feb 1941: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, VX29344, 7th Australian General Hospital | |
| 21 Jan 1942: | Transferred Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, 2nd/2nd Casualty Clearing Station | |
| 1 Feb 1942: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, VX29344, 2nd/2nd Casualty Clearing Station, per SS Orcades for Batavia | |
| 6 May 1942: | Imprisoned PoW No:46968 Interred Java Camp, then in Thailand to work on Burma-Thai Railway and then interred in Japan to work in Shikoku copper mine | |
| 8 Oct 1945: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, VX29344, 2nd/2nd Casualty Clearing Station, emplaned ex Manila en route to Sydney before being hospitalised in Melbourne and then Hobart | |
| 25 Jan 1946: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, VX29344, 2nd/2nd Casualty Clearing Station | |
| 6 Mar 1947: | Honoured British Empire Medal, Recommendation noted that 'this soldier worked continuously in the jungle in Thailand in 1943/1944 with detached working parties. For a period of two months during a cholera epidemic he was in charge of sick personnel in a camp without the services of any medical officer. During this period he not only treated, nursed and cared for PW's suffering from cholera but frequently made exhausting excursions by night through the jungle and along jungle tracks carrying cholera patients into camp. By his devoted services to his fellow prisoners of war he undoubtedly saved many lives. His courage and unselfishness throughout the whole period he was a PW was an inspiration to all with whom he came into contact' (AWM) |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Private Raynor Robert Denney (Service No:VX29334) enlisted in the Australian Army on 18 June 1940 in the Medical Corps (AAMC) and in July was transferred to 11 AIF Depot. Private Denney was attached to 7th Australian General Hospital on 3 February 1941 when he embarked for Palestine. On 21 January 1942 he was transferred to 2nd/2nd Casualty Clearing Station and embarked for Batavia on 1 February 1942 on board the SS Orcades. On 6 May 1942 Private Denney was reported Missing in Java - the Batavia Radio indicated he was a PoW of the Japanese in a broadcast on 15 August 1942, and on 16 June 1943 Tokyo Cables stated he was interred at Java Camp. On 28 July 1943 Private Denney was conformed a PoW (PoW No:46968) and was interred in Singapore before being sent to Thailand to work on the Burma/Thai Railway, and from there to Japan where he worked in a Shikoku copper mine. Private Denney was recovered from the Japanese on 12 September 1945 and emplaned from Manila on 8 October 1945 en route for Sydney NSW. Back in Australia, Private Denney was hospitalised initially in Melbourne (Heidelberg) and then in Hobart before being Discharged on 25 January 1946. On 6 March 1947 Private Denney was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) 'for valuable service and devotion as a PoW in Thailand' (AWM).
Born in 1919 in Ulverstone Tasmania, Ray was the second of five children of Robert (Bert) William Denney (b1894 at Melrose, Tasmania) and Amy Florence Heazlewood (b1897 in Forth, Tasmania). Bert (a Farmer) and Amy married in 1916 at Upper Castra, Tasmania, and lived there and in Ulverstone and St Mary's.
Ray was a Theological Student in Melbourne, Victoria in 1940 when he enlisted in the AIF. In 1945 in Bracknell Tasmania, Ray married Gwen Evelyn Richardson (b1914 at Hagley in the Meander Valley) - at their wedding, Gwen's niece, who was cushion bearer, carried a white cushion made from some of the silk from the parachutes which dropped food to Ray while he was a PoW (Trove). Ray completed a Bachelor of Arts with Honors at The University of Tasmania in Hobart in 1950 and he and Gwen lived in Moonah, Scottsdale, Mole Creek and Launceston where Ray was a Teacher. Gwen died in 2002 and Ray in 2005.
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