GILBERT, Cyril Reginald
| Service Number: | QX14369 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 9 July 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Lance Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | AHQ 27 BDE 2 COY/AASC |
| Born: | Brisbane, Qld., 20 June 1920 |
| Home Town: | Yeerongpilly, Brisbane, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Buranda Boys State School, Churchland Grammar School, State Commercial High School |
| Occupation: | Clerk |
| Died: | Natural Causes, Brisbane, Qld., 21 June 2014, aged 94 years |
| Cemetery: |
Mount Gravatt Cemetery & Crematorium, Brisbane CEMETERY MEMORIALS-ANZAC 1-6 |
| Memorials: | Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, Greenslopes Private Hospital Cyril Gilbert Cancer Centre |
World War 2 Service
| 9 Jul 1940: | Involvement Lance Sergeant, QX14369, died 21 Jun 2014 (C'Mail) | |
|---|---|---|
| 9 Jul 1940: | Enlisted | |
| 9 Jul 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Lance Sergeant, QX14369, AHQ 27 BDE 2 COY/AASC, Kelvin Grove, Qld. | |
| 14 Feb 1946: | Discharged | |
| 14 Feb 1946: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Lance Sergeant, QX14369 |
Help us honour Cyril Reginald Gilbert's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Faithe Jones
Son of Reginald Herbert GILBERT and Emma Elizabeth nee WENCK, Delville Avenue, Yeerongpilly, Brisbane, Qld.
Born in Brisbane, Cyril enlisted in the Australian Army in 1940, just after his 20th birthday. He served as a Lance Sergeant in the 8th Division 27th Brigade Australia Army Service Corps. But he was captured after the fall of Singapore in 1942, and marched 316km to help build the infamous Burma-Thailand Railway.
Cyril spent most of 1945 in Changi Prison – “a resort compared to the railway”, he’d later say – before finally returning home, “a shell of his complete self”.
After discharging from the Army, Cyril spent the rest of his life assisting other ex-POWs and veterans – work that earned him numerous recognitions, including the Medal of the Order of Australia. At 91, he was still organising reunions and at 94, he was still the National and Queensland President of the Ex-Prisoner of War Association.
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