NEWMAN, William Thomas
| Service Number: | SX8015 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 5 July 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/3rd Machine Gun Battalion |
| Born: | Unley, Adelaide, South Australia, 15 January 1902 |
| Home Town: | Walkerville, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Motor Driver and Switchboard Operator |
| Died: | Cholera, Thailand, 30 July 1943, aged 41 years |
| Cemetery: |
Kanchanaburi War Cemetery Coll. grave 1. Q. 2-78 |
| Memorials: | Adelaide WW2 Wall of Remembrance, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial |
World War 2 Service
| 5 Jul 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, SX8015 | |
|---|---|---|
| 5 Jul 1940: | Enlisted Adelaide, SA | |
| 5 Jul 1940: | Involvement Private, SX8015 | |
| 17 Apr 1941: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, SX8015, 2nd/3rd Machine Gun Battalion, embarked from Sydney for Middle East | |
| 22 Apr 1942: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, SX8015, 2nd/3rd Machine Gun Battalion, embarked Suez for Batavia on board SS Orcades | |
| 30 Apr 1942: | Imprisoned Java and Thai Camps | |
| Date unknown: | Involvement |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Private William Thomas Newman (Service No:SX8015) enlisted in the AIF on 5 July 1940 - classified Tech Storeman - and was attached to 2/3rd Machine Gun Battalion when he embarked with his Unit from Sydney for the Middle East on 17 April 1941. Private Newman then embarked from Suez for Batavia on 22 April 1942 on board SS Orcades, and was reported Missing in Action (MiA) in Java on 30 April 1942. Japanese Radio confirmed Private Newman was a PoW being held at Java Camp on 31 July 1942. Private Newman was in Thai Camp on 30 July 1943 when he died of Cholera.
The eldest of six children, William was born in Adelaide, South Australia in 1902 to John Charles Newman (b1848 in Adelaide, South Australia) and his second wife Gertrude Furber (b1867 in Staffordshire, England) - Gertrude immigrated in 1876, arriving in Adelaide on board the Clyde. John was a Widower (and father of ten children) in 1901 when he and Gertrude married in Adelaide. The family settled in Adelaide, where John and Gertude raised their family and John worked as a Cabinetmaker and Undertaker. Following Gertude's death in 1914 and John's in 1916, their youngest son Charlie was adotped by the Norris family.
William was a Motor Driver in Adelaide where, in 1932, he married Lillian May Gordon (b1901 in Petersborough, South Australia). The couple settled in Adelaide, and William was a Motor Driver and Switchboard Operator when he enlisted in the Army in 1940. Following William's death as a PoW in Thailand in 1943, Lillian lived in Adelaide, where she died in 1985.
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