Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

After Singapore fell Bill was taken prisoner and spent about 12 months based in Changi and sent to different locations around Singapore doing forced labour – mainly doing "pick and shovel" work and later on at the wharves loading and unloading ships. He was then sent to Thailand by rail in a trip taking 6 days in appalling conditions in open and cramped rail cattle trucks. The Prisoners became part of D Force and were put to work on the Burma-Thai Railway, completing sections at a time including the Wampo Viaduct and Hellfire Pass working 14 hours a day. After surviving working on the Burma Railway, Bill was selected to go to Japan along with 1500 fellow Australians. In July 1944 he was placed in the hold of the Byoki Maru (the sick ship) and along with a convoy of other Ships the Byoki Maru survived torpedo attacks on the convoy from US submarines. After 70 days the Byoki Maru arrived in Japan and Bill was sent to the Fukuoka 2-B prison camp in Nagasaki to work in the Kawanami Shipbuilding dockyards. Bill was detailed drilling rivet holes in the sides of ships on scaffolding 50 to 60 feet high, working 30 days on and 1 day off. Bill died of croup / pneumonia on the 27th December 1944. Most of the above information was extracted from a mate of Bill’s (name unknown) letter, who wrote to Bill’s sister Alice in 2000. He also referred to Frank Christie’s diary.