Frederick Lindsay DREYER

Frederick Lindsay DREYER Update Details

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DREYER, Frederick Lindsay

Service Number:	SX8130
Enlisted:	6 July 1940
Last Rank:	Corporal
Last Unit:	Not yet discovered
Born:	Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, 1 December 1918
Home Town:	Manningham, South Australia
Schooling:	Not yet discovered
Occupation:	Not yet discovered
Memorials:	Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial

World War 2 Service

6 Jul 1940:	Involvement Corporal, SX8130
6 Jul 1940:	Enlisted Wayville, SA
6 Jul 1940:	Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Corporal, SX8130
26 Feb 1946:	Discharged
26 Feb 1946:	Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Corporal, SX8130

Help us honour Frederick Lindsay Dreyer's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.

Biography contributed

Completed by St Ignatius College

Frederick Lindsay Dreyer, my great poppy, was born on the 1/12/1921 (Maguire, E, 2012). He was born in Newcastle NSW (Naa.gov.au, 2024), but his family moved to Aldgate SA when he was young, where he grew up on a farm. His parents were Ethel May Holman (1888-1943), and Henrey Bernard Dreyer (1866-1961). He had four siblings: Wendey Dreyer who was the eldest, followed by May Dreyer, Elizabeth (Bet) Dreyer, and Frank Dreyer, who were all younger than Fred (Dreyer, C, 2024). Fred was 6 foot tall with blonde hair and brown eyes (Naa.gov.au, 2024).

After altering his birth certificate to be 3 years older, Fred enlisted to fight in the 2nd/3rd machine gun battalion at the Wayville showgrounds in Adelaide on 17/06/1940 (Naa.gov.au, 2024) with neighbour and friend, Ken Jenkins (Maguire, E, 2012). Fred was aged only eighteen at the time of enlistment when the age requirements were for men between the ages of 20-35 (The civilians who joined up, 1939-45 - Dr Mark Johnston Awm.gov.au, 2020). Ken and Fred remained together throughout their service in the middle east and then as prisoners of war working on the Burma-Thailand railway (Surviving Hell and Fire – A. Maguire, The Advertiser, 2005). Fred was assigned the army number SX8130 and spent time training at the Woodside in the Adelaide Hills (Naa.gov.au, 2024) and then Warradale, South Australia prior to his first deployment to Palestine (From Snow to Jungle: A History of the 2/3rd Australian Machine Gun Battalion - John Bellair, 1987).

The 2nd/3rd Machine Gun Battalion was raised in Adelaide June 1940. Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Seaforth Blackburn, VC was its Commanding Officer, known as ‘Blackie’ (The Lost Legion – Rod Allanson, 1990) by the soldiers under his command. The battalion first fought in the Syria-Lebanon campaign, otherwise known as ‘Operation Exporter’, followed by the Battle of Java where much of the battalion was captured by the Japanese and taken as Prisoners of War (PoW). The battalion’s unit colour patch was a black and gold triangular shape with a grey border (From Snow to Jungle: A History of the 2/3rd Australian Machine Gun Battalion - John Bellair, 1987).

In April 1941, the battalion travelled from Sydney to the Middle East on the SS IIe de France (The Lost Legion – Rod Allanson, 1990). Upon arrival in Palestine, they were assigned to the 7th Infantry Division, the 2nd AIF’s second division, and worked to establish a camp at Hill 95 a few kilometres north of Gaza. There they undertook training and prepared for the invasion of Syria (2/3rd Machine Gun Battalion - Awm.gov.au, 2024). Fred was in Palestine for under a month when he was promoted to the rank of corporal (Naa.gov.au, 2024).

In early June the 2/3 battalion moved into Syria where they were engaged in heavy fighting against the Vichy French. This included covering the attack on Fort Metula, defending Jezzine and the attacks on Quoneitra, Merdjayoun and Damascus. In mid-July the campaign was over with the Vichy French surrendering and a cease fire taking place as of midnight 11 July (Awm.gov.au, 2024). The 2/3 battalion remained in Lebanon until December 1941, were they had to endure the harsh Lebanese winter (The Lost Legion – Rod Allanson, 1990).

In February 1942, the battalion received the order to come home back to Australia. They bordered the SS Orcades; however, their guns, vehicles, ammunitions, and supplies were loaded onto different ships which were destined for Australia. Although it was planned for the battalion to return to Australia, when Singapore was invaded by the Japanese, the SS Orcades changed its course, and headed for Java where his battalion disembarked on the 18/2/1942. In Java, the 2/3 M.G. Bn was deployed to defend the Kimorajan Airport, a short distance from Batavia (now known as Jakarta). Although they had limited amounts of guns and ammunition, they were fortunate to gain supplies from a British ship which had also been diverted to Java. The battalion came under heavy Japanese attack suffering casualties. The battalion was forced southward to a port on the south coast of Java where they hoped there would be ships available to bring them back home to Australia, but no ships arrived. On the 12/3/1942, Lieutenant Blackburn was ordered to surrender to the Japanese (The Lost Legion – Rod Allanson, 1990).

On the 27/4/42, Fred was reported missing in action by the Australian Government (Naa.gov.au, 2024). Shortly after, his sister Wendy, had received letter that he’d been taken POW by the Japanese (Dreyer, J - 2012). After being transferred and spending short time in Changi prison, Fred was sent to work on the Burma-Thailand Railway (Surviving Hell and Fire – Maguire, A, The Advertiser, 2005).

The Burma-Thailand Railway started construction in October of 1942 and ended in October of the next year, using around 60,000 allied prisoners of war, 13,000 of those being Australian, and 200,000 civilians. Extending from Ban Pong in Thailand to Thanbyuzyat in Burma, the Burma Railway was one of the toughest Prisoner of War locations in World War Two. Spanning 415 kilometres through thick jungle, over 2,800 Australians dies during the construction of the railway. During Thailand’s monsoon season the POW camps had the highest recorded mortality rate. The conditions in the camp were horrific, working 12–14-hour shifts, with only a cup of rice for rations (Burma–Thailand Railway – National Australian Museum, 2024). To get more nutrients, Fred and his fellow POWs ate anything from lizards, to cats, and dogs to stay alive, an example of ingenuity and endurance, a will to live (Schmitt, W, 2012). Without care from the Japanese and little medical supplies, the tropical weather conditions, starvation, and exhaustion meant that diseases were common, including beriberi, cholera, malaria, dysentery, and tropical ulcers. Fred suffered from tropical ulcers, malaria, dysentery, and gangrene. The Japanese also used Korean guards, who were ordered to beat anyone who they thought was not working hard enough, even the extremely ill. In a show of mate-ship, soldiers would take beatings of others who couldn’t (Burma–Thailand Railway – National Australian Museum, 2024).

Fred was ordered to work in the blacksmiths shop on the Hintock Cutting otherwise known as “Hellfire Pass” (Surviving Hell and Fire – Maguire, A, The Advertiser, 2005). Hellfire Pass earnt its nickname due to the harsh conditions and great loss of life that occurred on this section of the railway. Prisoners were forced to work throughout the night, cutting through the mountain, largely by hand, for up to 18 hours per day. They used oil lamps and bamboo fires to light the way, the vision of emaciated prisoners working by flickering light conjured the very image of hell. This period was known as the ‘Speedo’ period as the Japanese had fallen behind schedule. Throughout the ‘Speedo’ period hundreds of men died from starvation, disease and the elements (Hellfire Pass. - DVA Anzac Portal, 2024). The most confronting of these statistics are the 68 men who were beaten to death by Japanese guards (Stolen Years: Australian prisoners of war - The Burma–Thailand Railway - Awm.gov.au, 2019).

While working on the Burma Railway Fred faced the loss of his friend Ken Jenkins. One day, Fred was returning to base camp after another long shift when he heard a groan from a nearby jungle. He discovered Ken, collapsed from pain and weakness, suffering from cholera. When he found him, Fred threw him over his shoulder and brought him back to get some medical attention, but the revered war doctor Edward “Weary” Dunlop had already relocated to another camp (Dreyer, J, 2012). The next day on the 13/7/1943 Ken died (Vwma.org.au, 2024). Fred held his hand, which was the typical way to farewell a POW, by holding hand of their mate even though he risked contracting the disease. This is another example of true mate ship. Fred and his mates worked in groups of about four people to help keep each other alive. When one got sick, they looked after you and when they got sick you looked after them. When someone dies, somebody else filled in (Surviving Hell and Fire – Maguire, A, The Advertiser, 2005). Ken is buried at the Kanchanaburi War Cemetery in Thailand (Vwma.org.au, 2024).

In late August 1945 Fred had received news that the war had ended, and he was a free man (Naa.gov.au, 2024), he was the last man repatriated from his camp, he was carried by Japanese soldiers in a sugar sack (Maguire, E, 2012). Months later in early 1946 Fred jumped ship in Fremantle, going AWOL (Naa.gov.au, 2024), and made his way to Melbourne, he was lucky to have survived being a POW and just wanted to live life to its fullest (Surviving Hell and Fire – Maguire, A, The Advertiser, 2005). For this Fred was reprimanded and docked four days’ pay (Naa.gov.au, 2024). Fred travelled home to Adelaide to find his home empty and family gone (Surviving Hell and Fire – Maguire, A, The Advertiser, 2005), and he learnt his mother had passed away whilst he was on the railway (Dreyer, J, 2005). After being discharged from the army on the 26/2/1946 (Naa.gov.au, 2024), Fred went on to be married and have five children, four boys and one girl (Dreyer, K, 2024). Fred was a POW for three and a half years, his time in the camp severely affected his health, he arrived home and had lost about half of his original bodyweight and was 2 inches shorter (Dreyer, J, 2012).

For his service in the war Fred was awarded the following medals: The 1939-1945 star, the Pacific Star, the Australian Service Medal, the War Medal, and the Defence Medal (Naa.gov.au, 2024). Frederick Lindsay Dreyer passed away on the 22/8/1995 (Dreyer, K, 2024).

Bibliography

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Maguire, E (2012), “So… what did Grandpa do during the War?” [Accessed 5 Sep. 2024].

Dreyer, J, (2012) The life of Fred Dreyer, Interviewed by Maguire, E [Over the phone], Adelaide 08/05/2012

Allanson, R. (1990). The Lost Legion An account of an Australian Prisoner of War in Thailand and Japan and his subsequent involvement in Australian Intelligence. Melbourne Australia: New Century Schoolbook by Donlevy Associates.

Surviving Hell and Fire – Maguire, A, The Advertiser, 2005

Maguire, A. (2005). Surviving Hell and Fire The Advertiser

Bellair, J. (1987). From Snow to Jungle. Allen & Unwin.

Lamprill, J & Schmitt, W. (2012) Experiences as a Prisoner of War. Interviewed by Maguire, E [in person] Adelaide, 10/03/2012

Dreyer, K. (2024) pers. Comm., 5/09/2024

Dreyer, C. (2024) pers. Comm., 17/08/2024

Dreyer, F (1995) pers. Comm. With family member

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