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The third eldest brother, Edward ‘Edi’ Long (QX18668), born in 1919 in Mackay where he worked as a labourer. He enlisted in 1941 in Mackay and served in the Australian Army. In 1941, he was among thirty-three volunteers from Mackay who left by train for Brisbane to join the AIF. While serving in Unit 2/26th in the Australian Infantry Battalion, Private Edward Long was captured with his younger brother, Raymond, in the Japanese Sonkurai Camp, 13 kilometres south of the Thai/Burma border.

The Sonkurai Camp, among numerous Japanese camps in Southeast Asia, was a terrifying ‘black hole’ because of immense human pains, agony and indescribable suffering. Australian POWs, including Edi Long, experienced harsh punishment, starvation, torture, disease and death. The camp was in the faraway jungles of Siam, ‘where no white man has worked before’, a site which is so aptly called ‘The White Man’s Grave’. The prisoners were tasked to build a 15-kilometre stretch of railroad, including a wooden bridge over the Songkalia River, known as the ‘Bridge of 600’, because 600 prisoners died during its construction. Cholera spread, and as the moisture went from the bodies of the men, big upstanding men would shrink to almost skeletons in a few hours before death intervened. They were forced into a camp on what was known as ‘Cholera Hill’, whose entire area was a ‘sea of black mud’ where they had ‘to lie in mud and die like dogs’.

From the camp, only letters either controlled or dictated by Japanese officials had a ‘chance’ to arrive in Australia. Two of Assena’s sons, Edward and Raymond, when they were captured sent their cards from the Japanese Sonkurai to their mother who worked in the Red Cross. It was a chilling emotional appeal from the camp where Edward wrote to his mother, Assena: ‘Ray and I are prisoners of war. I am fit and well. Trusting all is well. Love and kisses’. He also wrote, ‘I am in best of health. I am a prisoner of war. Love to all at home’. When they were in prison their parents were worried – they did not believe in the words used to describe his and his brother’s conditions, ‘they cried days and nights, their house was filled with sadness’. Being very worried and anxious mother also smoked heavily because of her two POW sons. While nursing for the Red Cross and collecting necessary supplies for distribution, Assena as a young Muslim woman, additionally inspired by Islamic social virtues, worked hard in helping Australian soldiers.

Being camp-based, the Australian POWs were separated from other members of their military unit. However, Ray and his brother Edward were in the same camp together until the last moments of Edwards’ life. Private Edward Long passed away on 31 August 1943 due to cholera at the age of 24 in the Sonkurai camp. Their crying mother Assena pondered questions about the loss of her son, seeking answers about the circumstances of his death. He died in the arms of his brother, Raymond, who later returned home from the war while Edward was buried in Burma. The loss of Edward was too great for the whole family.

Private Edward Long was issued the 1939/45 Star, the Pacific Star, the War Medal and the Australian Service Medal. His family kept his medals, always cherishing memories of his contribution to the Australian Army and his country. His name is listed on the Roll of Honour in Mackay.

From the book:

Dzavid Haveric, 'A History of Muslims in the Australian Military from 1885 to 1945: Loyalty, Patriotism, Contribution’, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, London, 2024