William Thomas Theodore CANT

William Thomas Theodore CANT Update Details

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CANT, William Thomas Theodore

Service Number:	NX45940
Enlisted:	28 June 1940, Newcastle, New South Wales
Last Rank:	Private
Last Unit:	2nd/29th Infantry Battalion
Born:	Branxton, New South Wales, Australia, 3 May 1908
Home Town:	Tanilba Bay, Port Stephens Shire, New South Wales
Schooling:	Not yet discovered
Occupation:	Farmer
Died:	Killed in Action, Malaya, 22 January 1942, aged 33 years
Cemetery:	No known grave - "Known Unto God" Singapore War Memorial Col 129
Memorials:	Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, Singapore Memorial Kranji War Cemetery

World War 2 Service

28 Jun 1940:	Enlisted Private, NX45940, Newcastle, New South Wales
28 Jun 1940:	Enlisted Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Private, NX45940, 2nd/29th Infantry Battalion
29 Jul 1941:	Embarked Private, NX45940, 2nd/29th Infantry Battalion, Embarked at Sydney for Singapore
22 Jan 1942:	Involvement Private, NX45940, 2nd/29th Infantry Battalion, Malaya/Singapore

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Biography contributed by Carol Foster

Son of William Thomas Theodore Cant and Amy Catherine Cant; husband of Priscilla Florence Cant of Tanilba Bay, NSW

"NX45940 Private William Thomas Theodore Cant, 2/29 Battalion. He was one of 145 men who were massacred by the Japanese at Parit Sulong on 22 January 1942 during the Malaya Campaign when wounded Australian and Indian soldiers were left behind by withdrawing troops after the Battle of Muar. They were rounded up by the Japanese and forced to surrender all of their belongings including their clothes, which were later returned. The men, now Prisoners of War (POWs) were beaten, tormented and denied food, water and medical attention. At sunset on the night of 22 January 1942, the men were roped or wired together in groups and led into the jungle where they were shot with machine guns, doused with petrol and set alight. Only Lieutenant Ben Charles Hackney and VX52333 Reginald Arthur Wharton survived, feigning death despite repeated brutalities by the Japanese. Private Cant, aged 33, was the husband of Priscilla Florence Cant of NSW." - SOURCE (www.awm.gov.au)

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