GREAVES, Leonard
| Service Numbers: | WX8373, WX8373 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 3 September 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/4th Machine Gun Battalion |
| Born: | Toodyay, Western Australia , 1 April 1915 |
| Home Town: | Duranillin, West Arthur, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Timber Worker |
| Died: | Katanning, Western Australia , 18 May 1974, aged 59 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Kojonup Cemetery, Kojonup Shire, Western Australia |
| Memorials: | Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial |
World War 2 Service
| 3 Sep 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX8373 | |
|---|---|---|
| 15 Feb 1942: | Wounded Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX8373, 2nd/4th Machine Gun Battalion, Buona Vista, Singapore - shrapnel wound | |
| 8 Apr 1942: | Imprisoned PoW No: 2919 Tamarkan Camp Thailand Reptu 30km Camp, Burma | |
| 11 Oct 1945: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX8373 , 2nd/4th Machine Gun Battalion, ex Singapore to Sydney per Highland Chieftan | |
| 11 Jan 1946: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX8373, 2nd/4th Machine Gun Battalion |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Len was the third of five children of Richard (Dick) Brogden Greaves (b1887 in Lancashire, England) and Mary Alice Cross (b1879 in Lancashire, England). Dick was a Labourer in 1910 when he immigrated - he arrived in Fremantle WA on board the Orontes in February 1911. Mary - a Cotton Winder - arrived in Fremantle WA on board the Belgic on 9 Novemebr 1911 and she and Dick married on the 11 November 1911. The couple settled at Toodyay where Dick was a Farmer, before becoming a Railways Worker in 1915. By 1930 the family had moved to Duranillan and Bowelling WA where Dick was a Ganger on the Railways until he retired in 1948.
Len was a Timber Worker in Duranillan WA in November 1940 when he married Emily Irene Hughes (b1914 in Pingelly, WA) in Duranillan. Len had enlisted in the Australian Army in September and was a Private (Service No:8373) attached to 2/4 Machine Gun Battalion. He was captured by the Japanese in Singapore in April 1942 (PoW Number 2919). Len was at Reptu 30km Camp in Burma and Selarang Camp, Changi in Singapore. He was selected to work in Japan with the Awa Maru Party ' ... however on reaching Saigon, was too ill to travel and remained in Saigon' (2nd 4th Machine Gun Battalion). Len was retrieved from the Japanese at Saigon in October 1945 and returned to Australia that year. He was Discharged in January 1946.
Len returned to Danillan WA where he and Emily settled, and he worked as a Log Hauler. Len died in 1974 and Emily in 1995.
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