SMITH, Francis Sidney
| Service Number: | VX36035 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 4 July 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | Not yet discovered |
| Born: | London, England, 15 March 1905 |
| Home Town: | Beeac, Colac-Otway, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Illness, Borneo, 17 May 1945, aged 40 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Labuan Memorial, Labuan, Malaysia |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, Beeac War Memorial, Bendigo Sandakan Prisoner of War Memorial |
World War 2 Service
| 3 Sep 1939: | Involvement Private, VX36035 | |
|---|---|---|
| 4 Jul 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, VX36035 |
Help us honour Francis Sidney Smith's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Ian Fox
VX36035 Private Francis Sidney Smith, 2nd Reserve Motor Transport Company, Australian Army Service Corps.
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 Smith, aged 40, died as a prisoner of the Japanese on 17 May 1945. He had been a POW for three years and had died just three months prior to the end of the war.
Private Smith was the son of Francis Sidney and Gertrude Smith, and the husband of Mary Ann Winnifred Smith, of Beeac, Vic. He is commemorated on the Labuan Memorial Panel 22. (Photograph copied from AWM232, items 4 and 5. Personal information from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Database.)
[Source: Australian War Memorial]
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