CONROY, John Charles
| Service Number: | VX45776 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 24 July 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Driver |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/2nd Motor Ambulance Convoy |
| Born: | Stawell, Victoria, Australia, 12 May 1906 |
| Home Town: | Fyans Creek, Northern Grampians, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Fyans Creek State School via Stawell, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Illness (Beri beri), Thailand, 22 December 1943, aged 37 years |
| Cemetery: |
Kanchanaburi War Cemetery 1 D 23, |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, Fyans Creek Halls Gap Honour Roll, Stawell Other Wars Memorial |
World War 2 Service
| 3 Sep 1939: | Involvement Private, VX45776 | |
|---|---|---|
| 24 Jul 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, VX45776 | |
| 2 Feb 1941: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Driver, VX45776, 2nd/2nd Motor Ambulance Convoy, embarked Sydney for Singapore | |
| 26 Mar 1942: | Imprisoned Malaya/Singapore, 15 Sept 1943: confirmed PoW held by Japanese in Siam |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Younger of the two siblings (Henry and John) who served in WWII, Private John Charles Conroy (Service No:VX45776) enlisted in the AIF on 24 July 1940 and marched out to 19th Motor Transport Coy. Driver Conroy was attached to 2/2 Motor Ambulance Convoy on 2 February 1941 when he embarked with his Unit from Sydney for Singapore. Reported missing on 26 March 1942, Driver Conroy was confirmed as a PoW held by the Japanese at Kanchanaburi in Thailand on 15 September 1943. Driver Conroy died from Beri Beri on 22 December 1943.
John was born in Stawell, Victoria in 1906, youngest of three children of Thomas Conroy (b1853 in Sydney, New South Wales) and his second wife Jane Annie Osler (b1881 in Dooboobetic, Victoria). Thomas (a Widower with six children) and Jane married in 1903 in Stawell, and lived at Fyans Creek via Stawell where they raised their family and Thomas was a Labourer. Following Thomas' death in 1906, Jane remarried in 1910 to James Elepious Duffy (b1881 in Tongala, Victoria) - James (a Farm Labourer) and Jane had two sons before James enlisted in the AIF and was KiA at Gallipoli in 1915. Jane remarried in 1916 to Joseph Frederick Gowland (b1880 at Pleasant Creek via Stawell, Victoria). Joseph (a Widower with one child) and Jane settled in Stawell, where Joseph was a Labourer. Jane raised nine children of her own.
John worked as a Labourer at Glenloth via Wycheproof, and in 1938 in Ararat married Jean Alice Osler (b1923 in Stawell, Victoria). John and Jean settled at Fyans Creek, where John was a Labourer in 1940 when he enlisted in the Army. John died in Thailand in 1943, and Jean died in 1948.
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