Egbert Harry (Burt) GOWER

GOWER, Egbert Harry

Service Number: QX17462
Enlisted: 29 July 1940, Kelvin Grove, Queensland
Last Rank: Private
Last Unit: 2 Company Australian Army Service Corps
Born: Springsure, Queensland, 29 June 1901
Home Town: Rockhampton, Rockhampton, Queensland
Schooling: Not yet discovered
Occupation: Cook
Died: Died of Illness (POW of Japan), Borneo, 15 September 1942, aged 41 years
Cemetery: Labuan War Cemetery
Section R, Row A, Plot 8, Labuan War Cemetery, Labuan, Malaysia
Memorials: Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, Sandakan Prisoner of War Memorial
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World War 2 Service

29 Jul 1940: Involvement Private, QX17462, 2 Company Australian Army Service Corps, Malaya/Singapore
29 Jul 1940: Enlisted Kelvin Grove, Queensland
29 Jul 1940: Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, QX17462
15 Sep 1942: Discharged

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Biography

"QX17462 Private Egbert Harry (Burt) Gower, 2nd Company. He was one of over 2000 Allied prisoners of war (POW) held in the Sandakan POW camp in north Borneo, having been transferred there from Singapore as a part of B Force. The 1494 POWs that made up B Force, were transported from Changi on 7 July 1942 on board the tramp ship Ubi Maru, arriving in Sandakan Harbour on 18 July 1942. Private Gower, aged 41, died as a prisoner of the Japanese on 15 September 1942. He was the son of William Morton Gower and Emily Gower. He is buried in the Labuan Cemetery Section R, Row A, Plot 8." - SOURCE (www.awm.gov.au)

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