GOURLEY, Robert Leslie
| Service Numbers: | QP35191, QX10431, QX10431, |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 4 July 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/26th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Dalby, Queensland Australia, 24 December 1919 |
| Home Town: | Jandowae, Western Downs, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Contractor |
| Died: | Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 17 January 1994, aged 74 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: | Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial |
World War 2 Service
| 4 Jul 1940: | Involvement Lance Corporal, QP35191, also QX10431 & 1732 (NAAQ film) | |
|---|---|---|
| 4 Jul 1940: | Involvement QX10431 | |
| 4 Jul 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Lance Corporal, QX10431, 2nd/26th Infantry Battalion | |
| 4 Jul 1940: | Enlisted | |
| 30 Jul 1941: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, QX10431,, 2nd/26th Infantry Battalion, embarked Melbourne for Singapore on board HMT EE | |
| 15 Feb 1942: | Imprisoned Malaya/Singapore, Held in Singapore, Thailand then Fukuoka Camp, Emukae, Japan | |
| 3 Oct 1945: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Lance Corporal, QX10431, 2nd/26th Infantry Battalion, embarked Sendu, Japan for Sydney on board HMS Formidable | |
| 30 Nov 1945: | Discharged | |
| 30 Nov 1945: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Lance Corporal, QX10431, 2nd/26th Infantry Battalion |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Lance Corporal Robert Leslie Gourley (Sevice No:QX10431) enlisted in the Army at Toowoomba, QLD on 4 July 1940, and was attached to 2/26th Infantry Battalion on 30 July 1941 when he embarked with his Unit from Melbourne for Singapore on board HMT 'EE'. Following his capture by the Japanese on 15 February 1942, Lance Corporal Gourley was held at Changi Prison, before embarking from Singapore with 'A' Force on 4 May 1942, sailing to Thailand and later to Japan where he was interned at Fukuoka Camp. Recovered from the Japanese on 19 September 1945, Lance Corporal Gourley embarked from Sendu, Japan for Sydney on 3 October 1945 on board HMS Formidable. Lance Corporal was hospitalised for treatment for severe malnutrition before Discharge on 3 November 1945.
Robert was born at Jandowae via Dalby, QLD in 1920, ninth of eleven children of Charles Frederick Gourley (b1878 in Maryborough, Victoria) and Mary Ashcroft (b1887 in Orbost, Victoria). Charles was a Selector at Mountain View, Moola via Dalby in 1908 when he and Mary married. They lived at Mountain View, where they raised their family and Charles was a Selector, until the mid 1920s when they moved to Limegrove via Jandowae, Dalby QLD. Retiring in the late 1940s/early 1950s, Charles and Mary settled in Pialba.
Robert was working as a Labourer/Contractor in Jandowae when he enlisted in the Army in 1940, and returned there following his Discharge and recovery, He was a Farmer in Jandowae until the late 1950s when he moved to Reid's Creek via Gayndah, where he was a Farmer until retirement in the late 1980s. Robert died in 1994.