ATTENBOROUGH, Arthur Richard
| Service Number: | WX7444 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 6 July 1940, Recruitment Depot - Claremont, WA, Australia |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/4th Machine Gun Battalion |
| Born: | Warragul Victoria, Australia, 16 March 1917 |
| Home Town: | Perth, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Nilup Primary School West Australia |
| Occupation: | Truck Driver |
| Died: | Starvation - POW of Japanese, Sandakan, Borneo, 12 April 1945, aged 28 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, Boyup Brook Sandakan Prisoner of War Memorial, Labuan Memorial, Labuan Federal Territory, Malaysia |
World War 2 Service
| 3 Sep 1939: | Involvement Private, WX7444 | |
|---|---|---|
| 6 Jul 1940: | Enlisted Private, WX7444, 2nd/4th Machine Gun Battalion, Recruitment Depot - Claremont, WA, Australia | |
| 6 Aug 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Private, WX7444, 2nd/4th Machine Gun Battalion | |
| 15 Feb 1942: | Imprisoned Malaya/Singapore, POW-Prisoner of War - as per stated: 15/02/1942, presumed - Prisoner of War, 08/04/1942, believed missing - Malaya; upon and to - Date: 29/03/1943, captured POW of Borneo (Japanese Forces). Date of Surrender: 15/08/1945, officially recognized date of surrender by the Japanese Forces to the Allied Forces. Though his eventual death: 12/08/1945, from an illness while a captured (POW of Japanese) occurred 4mths before the date of Japanese Forces surrendered. | |
| 15 Feb 1942: | Involvement Private, WX7444, 2nd/4th Machine Gun Battalion, Malaya/Singapore, Involvement: 15/02/1942, captured (POW of Japan); eventual death: 12/04/1945, Prison Camp of Borneo. |
Help us honour Arthur Richard Attenborough's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Faithe Jones
Son of Rippon ATTENBOROUGH and Maude (Jean) Mary Jane nee BAILLEY, of East Perth, WA
His mother, Jean Attenborough, always carried Bill’s war medals in her handbag. At the aged care home she was residing at in Leederville, Jean was horrified to find somebody had taken everything of value from her handbag, including Bill’s medals.
She was devastated at the loss, her link to her only son. It could only have been one of the staff or visitors. Her family reported the loss, and details continue to be included on ‘Missing Medals’ but to this day (May 2020) the medals have never been recovered.
14 March 2021 – We are delighted to write Bill Attenborough’s medals have been located. Sold at auction in 1980’s the medals have sat in a family home until recently discovered by grown children who are clearing out before their parents move to high care.
Their parents regularly attended auctions. Many small items would be placed into cartons for auction – one never knew what would be discovered in the bottom! They were never military collectors and the medals were discovered below in this condition by their sons who agreed to generously return them to the Attenborough family.
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