RICHARDSON, John
| Service Number: | NX45510 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 25 June 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | Not yet discovered |
| Born: | Collombatti, Kempsey, New South Wales, Australia, 15 April 1912 |
| Home Town: | Frederickton, Kempsey, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Bellimbopinni Public School, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Illness while a POW of the Japanese, Borneo, 6 April 1945, aged 32 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Commemorated on the LABUAN MEMORIAL in Labuan War Cemetery-Panel 26. |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, Kempsey Streets of Honour |
World War 2 Service
| 3 Sep 1939: | Involvement Private, NX45510 | |
|---|---|---|
| 25 Jun 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Private, NX45510 |
Help us honour John Richardson's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Geoffrey Gillon
'B' Company, 8th Division, 2/10th Field Ambulance, Australian Army Medical Corps - Service No. NX45510.
John Richardson was born at Collombatti, on the mid north coast of New South Wales. He was the youngest of eleven children born to Owen [1869-1939] & Mary Philomena Richardson nee Hutchinson [1867-1953], of Greenhill, NSW.
He married May Evelyn Kelly [1912-1993]on 7 April 1934 at Greenhill, NSW.
His siblings were:
James Henry Richardson1885–1938
Mary Isabell Richardson 1889–1895
Thomas Richardson 1892–1974
[Served as a Driver in WWI and was awarded the Military Medal]
Owen Richardson 1896–1926
Pearl Richardson Delaforce 1899–1990
Olive May Richardson Schmidt 1901–1965
Isabelle Richardson Walsh 1908–1991
John enlisted in the Second Australian Imperial Force on 25 June 1940. He was taken Prisoner of War (POW) by the Japanese on 15 February 1942 and died of illness at Sandakan, Borneo, aged 30 years.
Note: Sandakan, formerly known as Elopura (meaning beautiful city) is the second largest city in Sabah, East Malaysia on the north eastern coast of Borneo.
The Japanese occupation of Sandakan during World War II began on 19 January 1942 and lasted until a brigade of the Australian 9th Division liberated it on 19 October 1945. The Japanese administration restored the name Elopura for the town. One of the atrocities of World War II was the Sandakan Death Marches when Japanese soldiers decided to move about 2,400 POW's in Sandakan 260km (160 miles) inland to the town of Ranau. The prisoners who did not die en route were crammed into unsanitary huts; most of those survivors either died from dysentery or were killed by prison guards. Of all the prisoners who had been incarcerated at Sandakan and Ranau, only six Australians survived, all of whom had escaped. It is widely considered to be the single worst atrocity suffered by Australian servicemen during the Second World War. When the war ended, Sandakan was totally destroyed, partly from the Allied bombings and partly by the Japanese. As a result, when North Borneo became a British Crown Colony in 1946, the capital was shifted to Jesselton, now known as Kota Kinabalu (often just called 'KK' locally).
Biography contributed by Graham Prior
Jack Richardson Drive, Yarravel (near Kempsey) is named for him
STREETS OF HONOUR - The Macleay Valley's Tribute to its silent heroes
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