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Australia

James (Jim) was born on the 3rd September, 1912 in the southern Adelaide suburb of Goodwood, SA, to James and Edith (nee Giltrow). He was the oldest child with siblings; Victor, Arthur, Margery and Annie.
Post school, Jim worked as a nurseryman, which became a lifelong interest. He met Gwen Pocock who was an active member of her church and community at Port Noarlunga. As a young girl, Gwen had hung a good luck horse shoe on Elva Brown’s arm while young kindergarten girls strewed rose petals at her feet. Gwenneth Ivy Pocock was the third daughter in her family when she and Jim married on 15th July 1940 at North Adelaide. Just five days later, Jim enlisted to serve in WWII, aged 27, on the 20th July 1940. He became SX9239 Private Roberts with the 2/3 Machine Gun Battalion.

Initially Jim served in Syria, then Java where he was captured at the fall of Singapore and became a prisoner of the Japanese. In the information confusion that followed, Jim was initially listed as ‘missing’ in July ’42 before the Chronicle listed him as a casualty in ’43. He survived, with other Australians and captured personnel for three and a half years. In that time, and under inhumane, brutal conditions, he slaved on the infamous Burma Siam Railway Line. So many of his compatriots were to lose their lives under this regime.
Jim was officially listed as being a released POW in September ’45. In an incredibly raw letter published in the ‘Adelaide News’ on September, 45, Jim (Jas) wrote of the conditions under which he was interred and the unbroken Aussie spirit that spurred him to survive.
“Letter of the Day Word From A P.O.W. To the Editor Just on chance this letter may reach you, I thought you might like to hear from one of the boys who enlisted in Adelaide at North terrace, served in the Middle East, and in 1942, found themselves prisoners of war in Java. After six months in Java, we left for Singapore in one of the Nipponese hell ships. 500 packed like sheep in a hold about the size of a normal five-roomed house. On again to Burma, up the Irrawady to Rangoon, then in a smaller craft up the Selwyn, to Moulmein, from where we built the Death Railway to Bangkok. Every sleeper, they say represents an Allied life lost. Barefooted and ill-clad we toiled under conditions too vile to mention. Now it's all over. Glorious days are ahead, and, although a little impatient to get on the move back to our city of gardens, churches, and not forgetting the pubs, we are living in luxury after three and a half years' of starvation, fever, and ills. Believe me, the Nips never looked like breaking the Aussie spirit. No matter how serious the position, some wisecrack would have the crowd laughing. The Japs could not understand us at all. It had them baffled. Two South Australian doctors, Major Hobbs and Major Krantz, have been wonderful right throughout. With nothing, they toiled to save lives and limbs. When the full story is made known, the world will be astounded. Many of my South Australian cobbers died with us, every one of them bravely. It is needless to say how grateful and thankful all of us who got through are, and how we are looking forward to arriving back in a white man's country to live freely and decently in the best country in the world. Everyone must keep alive the utmost hatred for the Japanese scum and keep them down. They are not human, not even beasts really. They are worse than beasts. SX9239 PTE . JAS. ROBERTS P.O.W Camp, Siam”
The story of that time of imprisonment has since been told by, journalist, Rohan Rivett in his book ‘Behind Bamboo’. Despite initially escaping after the fall of Singapore, the author was captured and imprisoned, struggling with so many other Australians to simply survive, with a major factor of that survival being the Aussies ‘will to survive and their unassailable spirit in the face of the most callous inhumanity.’ Initially published in ’46, in an understated tribute to Jim, Rivett described him as ‘a true Australian’. High praise indeed. Jim was one of the last group to be discharged on the 3rd December, 1945. Probably the delay was in ensuring prisoners were in adequate health after their treatment in the Japanese Camps.
However, while Jim should have finally been looking forward to life as a free man, further tragedy struck the day he arrived back in Australia. When his ship berthed at Perth, he was informed that his wife, Gwen had died of diphtheria at the Northfield Infectious Diseases Hospital on 15th October 1945. She was just 26 years old. Back in Adelaide, Jim publicly announced her death and arranged her funeral. This was shared in the ‘News’ of October, ’45. ‘ROBERTS.-On October 15 (suddenly), at Infectious Diseases Hospital, North field, Gwenneth Ivy, loved wife of James Roberts, of 102 Portrush road, Linden Park (A.I.F., and P.O.W).; aged 26 years. At rest. ROBERTS.-The Friends of Private JAMES ROBERTS. A.I.F. and P.O.W., are respectfully informed that the Funeral of his late WIFE Gwenneth Ivy, will Leave his Residence, 102 Portrush road. Linden Park, on WEDNESDAY. at 2 p.m. for the Centennial Park Cemetery.’
Fortunately, for Jim, his future did hold some promise of happiness. He met Bernice Rogers. As a student in the country, Bernice shared an investigation based on the butter fat her cows produced in the ‘Chronicle’ of June ‘29. “I commenced my project on July 1. The breed of my cow is Ilawarra crossed with Jersey. I exchanged with the cow I had last year. I weigh the milk morning and night and take off the weight of the bucket. The amount of milk from the 1st July to the 14th December was'2933 lb. I tested the milk at the school with the Babcock milk tester, and it contained 3.8 per cent butter-fat, making an average of 4.46 1b. of butter-fat a week, or a -little over 5 1b. of butter. I sell my milk at 7d. per gallon.” She received further encouragement to enlarge her experiment with the note that “We would like to know how you feed your cow and how much of each kind of food she gets. We think that you should try to get a heavier producer. Is your cow a young one? Tell us these things in your next account, and we may be able to help you.”
Jim became engaged to Bernice Nash Rogers who by then was living in Malvern in March of ’46, marrying three month later on 27th July 1946 at St. Augustine's Church, Unley, South Australia. The Social paged of the ‘Mail’ included a photo of Bernice leaving St Augustine’s but unfortunately, probably to save space, cropped the image so Jim was not visible. He and Bernice had three children, Elizabeth, Carolyn and a son David. Jim continued to enjoy working outdoors, setting up his own business as a Rotary Hoe Specialists. His interest in lawns and green-keeping resulted in him becoming greenkeeper at the Parkside Bowling and Tennis Club and later at the Burnside RSL Bowling Club.
His local Unley RSL carries an amazing flag, photo and patriotic story of Jack’s release from prison and the Union Jack. It reads: “This very sacred Flag was used at hundreds of burial services of Prisoners of War, who perished while working on the BURMA-SIAM Railway during World War II. The Flag was confiscated by the Japanese when Australian troops were captured and was only lent to the Padre performing the service for the duration of the burial. It added some degree of dignity to these services when the Flag was obtainable, as most of the bodies were buried only in rice sacks. At the conclusion of the War in the Pacific, James Roberts SX9239, who was a Prisoner of War in these infamous camps, was closest to the Flag and brought it home wrapped around his torso for safe keeping.
“The late Canon Sorby Adams and other Prisoners of War, who survived the ordeal, considered that the rightful home for the Flag was at the Unley Sub-Branch of the Returned Services League, in Arthur Street, Unley, where it is now displayed in honoured remembrance of the courage and fortitude of all those who lived and died in inhuman conditions while in captivity.
“The autographs on the Flag are mainly of Prisoners of War who survived, as well as a few Red Cross workers who helped in the rescue from these infamous jungle camps.
“’I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the Earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, saith the Lord.’ (Zephaniah Chapter 3, Verse 20). Lest We Forget.”

Aged 89, Jim died on the 22nd February, 2002 at the Daws Road Repatriation Hospital and was cremated with his remains being interred at Centennial Park, Passadena.
Researched and written by Kaye Lee, daughter of Bryan Holmes SX8133, 2/48th Battalion.