READING, Thomas Archibald
| Service Number: | NX40332 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 19 June 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/18th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Barraba, New South Wales, Australia, 1 June 1912 |
| Home Town: | Barraba, Tamworth Municipality, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Illness whilst a Prisoner of the Japanese, Malaya, 11 August 1945, aged 33 years |
| Cemetery: |
Labuan War Cemetery He is commemorated on the Labuan Memorial Panel 11. |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, Barraba St Laurence's Anglican Church Memorial Window, Barraba War Memorial, Ranau Number 2 Prisoner of War Jungle Camp "The Last Camp Memorial" |
World War 2 Service
| 3 Sep 1939: | Involvement Private, NX40332 | |
|---|---|---|
| 19 Jun 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Private, NX40332, 2nd/18th Infantry Battalion | |
| 2 Feb 1941: | Embarked H.M.T. Queen Mary | |
| 27 Jan 1942: | Imprisoned Malaya/Singapore |
Help us honour Thomas Archibald Reading's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Kerry Donaghy
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 POW's 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 Reading, aged 33, died as a prisoner of the Japanese on 11 August 1945. He was the son of Alfred and Minnie May Reading, and the husband of Edna Irene Reading, of Kogarah, New South Wales. He is commemorated on the Labuan Memorial Panel 11. (Photograph copied from AWM232, items 4 and 5. Personal information from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Database.)
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