ARNOLD, Wason Herbert Watsford
| Service Number: | TX3042 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 4 June 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/3rd Machine Gun Battalion |
| Born: | Kindred, Tasmania, 29 July 1910 |
| Home Town: | Ulverstone, Tasmania |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Excavator (Hydro Electric) |
| Died: | Died at sea whilst a POW (Tamahoko Maru), At sea (South West Pacific Area), East China Sea, Pacific Ocean, 24 June 1944, aged 33 years |
| Cemetery: |
Kranji War Cemetery No known grave; Column 133., Singapore Memorial, Singapore |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, Singapore Memorial Kranji War Cemetery |
World War 2 Service
| 4 Jun 1940: | Enlisted Private, TX3042, Launceston, Tasmania | |
|---|---|---|
| 4 Jun 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Sergeant, TX3042 | |
| 24 Jun 1944: | Involvement Sergeant, TX3042, 2nd/3rd Machine Gun Battalion, Prisoners of War |
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Wason Herbert ARNOLD was born on 29th July, 1910 in Kindred, Tasmania
His parents were Henry James ARNOLD and Alice HANDSFORD
In 1935 while working as an excavator in the Hydro electric works in Tarraleah in Tasmania he had a serious accident when his jack hammer hit some unexploded gelignite left in a rock and he spent 8 months recovering in Hobart General Hospital
He enlisted on 4th June 1940 with the 2/3 Machine Gun Battalion - Service No. TX3042
He died on 24th June 1944 while a prisoner of war
STORY about him on the ship TAMAHOKO that sunk (www.australian-pow-ww2.com)
GROUP PHOTO with more information about the soldiers (www.awm.gov.au)
SINGAPORE MEMORIAL (www.twgpp.org)
COMMONWEALTH WAR GRAVES (www.cwgc.org)
"DIED WHILE PRISONER OF WAR
Mrs. O .Wilson of Wellington St, South Burnie has ben advised by the Minister for the Army that her brother Corporal Wason Arnold died in June 1944 while a prisoner of war as the result of the torpedoing of a Japanese transport near Nagasaki. Corporal Arnold enlisted at Ulverstone and served in the Middle East. He was taken a prisoner in Java. A member of the 2/3 machine Gun Battalion, Corporal Arnold was a son of the late Mr. & Mrs. H J Arnold, late of Kindred and West Ulverstone." - from the Burnie Advocate 10 Nov 1945 (nla.gov.au)
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