Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Contributed by the great, great granddaughter of Hodson who attends Loxton High School

George Hodson endured life as a Japanese Prisoner of War, along with thousands of Australian men in 1942. Spending two years as a Prisoner, pushing his ANZAC Spirit to the limit, he didn’t think circumstances could get worse until he was torpedoed by an American submarine in 1944.

At the Ladysmith Barracks, Ashton-Under-Lyne, England on February 13th, 1907, George Hodson was born. His parents, James and Caroline Hodson were married in Capetown, South Africa, 1904. James was a soldier in the Manchester Regiment, part of the British Army. James and Caroline had four children, William Thomas Hodson (1905), George Hodson (1907), James Charles Hodson (1908), and Walter Richard Hodson (1913). The family lived in Walthamstow, London. George immigrated to Australia on the “Ballarat” vessel and arrived at Port Adelaide on July 20th, 1923; he was sixteen. This prepared him for the journey around Asia during World War ll and throughout his time as a Prisoner Of War, demonstrating resilience, mateship, good humour, and courage, encapsulating the ANZAC Spirit.

George (27), married Agnes Jean Hood (24), on November 27th, 1935, at the public hall in Collie, South Australia (see figure 4). Agnes was born in Streaky Bay (1911). They had two children, Thelma Jean Hodson (1939), and Maureen Anne Hodson (1940). On March 19th, 1939, George’s father, James Hodson passed away aged 69. George was a truck driver and was well- known around Port Kenny and Port Lincoln. His skills of truck driving and lifting heavy materials came into use while a POW, demonstrating the ANZAC Spirit through ingenuity and perseverance.

In 1939 and 1940, James and Walter enlisted in the Australian Army. George enlisted on July 20th, 1940, in Port Lincoln, determined to protect his family and the country from conflict. He went on to become a Private in Unit 8 Division Ammunition Sub Park. George began training in Adelaide, then in September 1940, left for Alice Springs. In October 1941, George was allocated 16 days to spend with his family before leaving for war. Nobody knew if he was going to return home, so each goodbye was filled with heavy hearts and sorrow. He got one last photo with his wife and daughters, all unaware of what was to come as they parted ways. While George, James, and Walter were in the war, William was in Darwin as a civilian and worked with the support teams of the armed services.

After the allocated time away, George, among thousands of Australian men embarked the H.M.A.T. Zealandia, headed for Singapore. His unit fought to protect the Malaysian Peninsula from the Japanese who were aiming to invade. The unit surrendered alongside “8 Division Salvage Unit” and “2/2 Reserve Motor Transport Company” on February 15th, 1942. George became a Prisoner Of War for two years, between Singapore, Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, and Japan. George alongside other POWs built the Burma Railway and were kept in camps. The POWs were starved and in total, 16,000+ died of diseases, malnutrition, or were killed. George showed the ANZAC Spirit throughout these events with his bravery and strength.

After two years of forced labour, on September 4th, 1944, 718 Australian and 600 British soldiers were placed on the ship “Rakuyo Maru” in Singapore. They were being transferred to Japan, taking a 7-day-voyage. The men were all survivors of the Burma-Thailand Railway. The ship wasn’t convenient for all the men as it had a total of 1,318 POW, and the two decks created did not have a ceiling more than four feet high. Each man was allocated two square feet and if they didn’t follow orders they would be thrown overboard. They had a blanket made of poor cotton material along with their clothing. The men were allowed on the top deck if they demanded to seek medical attention from the two Australian doctors on board. There were more than 100 people sick at a time. There was a shortage of drinking water, so they were given a ration of rice with salt water three times a day. They had a small tin of watery fish stew at night and would be freezing if they slept on the main deck. George showed ANZAC Spirit by persevering and being resilient when life was difficult. He obeyed the Japanese because he knew that if he did not do as he was instructed, he would not make it home to his family and would not have protected Australia. Some POWs stuck a fight, begging to go home and were faced with the disgusting consequences.

On September 12th, 1944, at roughly 5.30 am, the Rakuyo Maru was torpedoed. The sea was calm, and everyone panicked. The Japanese soldiers jumped overboard or left on lifeboats, leaving the prisoners to fend for themselves. The Americans had seen the Japanese vessel, not knowing their allies were onboard. In the darkness, the POWs evacuated the ship. 75% of the men had lifebelts or a block of crude rubber, which all malfunctioned. The men were in the sea for a short time before a Japanese destroyer dropped depth chargers in counterattack on the American submarine. The explosion of depth chargers affected the men heavily, reducing their chances of survival. The Japanese sent ships to rescue their soldiers but refused to save the POWs, killing them if they were close by. Rescued soldiers said it was clear the Japanese were going to leave them to drown. Some of the men sang “Rule Britannia” together, praying they would survive the accident.

Sometime that day, George, and the other men were floating into the void of water, holding onto the sides of lifeboats. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out his pipe that he kept tucked away. As he was smoking, the weather worsened and he let go of the boat. The distance between George and his chances of going home seemed to get larger by the second. As much as he tried, he was too far behind. In the Autumn sun on that September Tuesday, George Hodson sadly drowned, passing away in the South China Sea. One of his closest friends, Alfred Thomas Daniels was on the lifeboat, witnessing George’s death, and survived the tragedy. In total, 92 Australians and 60 British men who showed great mateship survived the horrific incident.

George Hodson showed the ANZAC Spirit by making the painful decision to leave his family and enlist in the Second World War. He fought for Australia, putting himself at risk for three years. When the vessel was torpedoed, he sang and helped others evacuate, while on the verge of death himself. He put his life on the line to protect his country and keep his family safe from conflict. Although he did not make it home to his family, he served the country and made his family proud. The way George’s family see him is that he was a kind-hearted person, with clever attributes such as ambition, persistence, generosity, courage, perseverance, comradeship, and devotion.

The letter announcing his death was sent to Agnes later in 1944. Agnes was 34, Thelma 6, and Maureen 5. George was 37 when he died along with thousands of other Prisoners Of War. The remaining survivors of the attack were sent home a month later with minimal injuries. The ones who hadn’t already been rescued were stranded for roughly three days before the American submarines returned.

Agnes went on to remarry John Ives, and moved to Port Lincoln, having another child, Glenys Ives. She lost all contact with George’s family and did not like to mention him. His younger brother James was discharged from the war in 1945. He passed away in 1952 while walking his dog after dark and was hit by a drunk driver. His mother Caroline later passed away in 1954. George’s eldest brother William had four children with his wife Ruby, he passed away from cancer in 1964. Walter died in 1987, he was in his seventies and never married. George’s mother wished she could have kept in contact with Agnes and the children after the war, but because of the circumstances it was too difficult, emotionally. In April 1991, Agnes Jean Hood died from breast cancer which had spread to her bladder. Her daughters, Maureen, and Glenys went on to get married and have children. Thelma had a companion but never married, her surname continues to be Hodson. Maureen is now 82 with four children and great grandchildren. George Hodson’s story is passed down to each generation of his family. Agnes wrote in “The West Coast Sentinel” newspaper in September 1966, “We think of you in silence, we often speak of your name, but all we have to answer is your photo in a frame.” Despite George’s passing being nearly 80 years ago, his legacy will live on forever. A love lasting for an eternity.

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