Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Edwin Samuel Weller, known as Ted, was born 24 Jun 1918 at Gympie, the 2nd of 5 children of Ted & Meg Weller. The Weller family lived next door to the Memorial Hall. That must have led to some interesting evenings on the nights that dances etc held there! Ted was enrolled at Wooroolin School, pupil No 547, in Jul 1923.
Ted worked for the QN Bank and probably started at the Wooroolin branch soon after he left school. By 1 Feb 1939, aged 21 he was working at the Murgon Branch when he enlisted in the Australian Army – Serial Number 420084 and assigned to the 47th Battalion. On 2 Jul 1940 Ted was reassigned to SN Q302363 and promoted first to Sergeant then Corporal. On 9 Feb 1941 he was reassigned to SN QX16116 in the 2nd/26 Battalion where he was promoted to Lieutenant. 8 months later another Wooroolin lad, John Chapman, enlisted in the army and was also assigned to 2/26 Battalion.
A small part of Ted’s records before he joined the 2/26 Battalion are available on the NAA website but none of him time in the 2/26. He was in Singapore when the Japanese attacked on 8 Feb 1942 and the brigade defended the Causeway sector. They could not stop the Japanese, however, and on 15 Feb 1942 the British commander on Singapore surrendered. The 2/26th spent the next three-and-a-half years as prisoners of war. After the surrender the battalion was concentrated in Changi goal, where they were used as labour for work parties, first in Singapore and then in other parts of Japan's Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere. Men were sent to Burma and Thailand to work on the railway, while others were sent to Borneo and Japan.
I have been fortunate to find several online articles that mention Ted: the Makan No. 262 Official Journal 2/30 Bn. A.I.F. Association, 15th September, 1981 (July/Sept, 1981). George H. Brown - Wagga Wagga, 2650 - A Company wrote: "I left Changi in a truck convoy soon after arriving out there. Can't remember whether Bob Morrison was in charge or not. On the way into Singapore, a few of the trucks turned into a short side road. A large number of men from the forward trucks were lined up on the side of the read in 2s or 3s and counted off by the Japanese. A Jap officer came along right opposite my truck and gave instructions in Japanese for the men to split into 2 parties. Not understanding what he meant and amongst the confusion, the officer drew his sword and started making motions of chopping through the file. From my vantage point in my truck I could see what he wanted, so jumped down and moved the troops into 2 sections. The next thing I knew; I am detailed to go with one of the groups. I grabbed my gear off the truck and took command of the group and followed the Jap Corporal down the short road into St. Andrew's School. When we arrived we found about 120 men and 2 officers in the group, the other Officer being Ted Weller of 2/26 Bn.
Another Jap Lieut., who spoke reasonable English, came ever. He said he wanted the party split into 2 groups each of 60, one to stay at the school, the other to go to Nee Soon. I had a talk to Ted Weller and he took his 60 to Nee Soon & we stayed at St. Andrews.”
I am currently rereading Behind Bamboo, the story written by Rohan Rivett about his time in the POW camps in Java & Burma. The first time I read this book I was about 13 years old – I snuck Dads copy from the family bookshelf. He was astounded when he eventually found out I had read it at such a young age! The condition in the POW camps in Malaya were horrendous and so many service people lives lost. My story on Ted concentrates on his singing ability and how he used this skill to entertain other POWs.
AN article named: “We Girls”: Female Impersonators in Prisoner-of-War Entertainments on the Thailand-Burma Railway states: The Australian Ted Weller had been a singer in the variety shows in Aungganaung, Burma, in 1943, but not as a female impersonator. Tom Morris remembered him as “a slim, slight-built, little fellow [who] had a boyish voice at his command . . . a most glorious boy soprano voice.” Because of his “silver tenor with a strong falsetto range,” producer Norman Carter cast Weller as the ingénue or young woman “leading lady” in a series of musical comedies and revues at Tamarkan convalescent camp in Thailand in 1944. A photographic portrait of Ted Weller taken in 1939, when he received his commission as a second lieutenant, shows a handsome, fresh-faced young officer with gentle features who, with a wig and some makeup, could easily be transformed into a beautiful young woman. On two separate occasions, entertainments officer Major Jim Jacobs called Weller, “a fair dinkum Aussie impersonator” and “a female impersonator second to none.”
Whilst Ted was in the Japanese POW Camps the Atomic Bombs were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and they surrendered on 15 Aug 1945.
Ted was discharged from the army on 21 Jan 1946 and returned to Wooroolin. Ted was awarded an M.I.D on the recommendation of the Governor General, the Duke of Gloucester, on 4 Jul 1947 for services rendered whilst POW in Japanese hands. I believe he stayed overseas a bit longer to help entertain service people until they could get home.
Ted was very involved in the reformation of the Wooroolin-Tingoora RSL. He was one of the 3 men, E Weller, G Champney & J Miller to convene a meeting on 12 Mar 1946 to discuss the reformation. Ted was appointed Treasurer at the first meeting.
He married Betty Evans, known as Bet, in 1947. They moved about Qld a bit before moving to Cairns in the 1960’s where Ted was the Manager of the South British Insurance Company and Betty was the Manager of the Ansett ANA office. I lived and worked in Cairn from 1972 to 1976 and Dad visited me a couple of times. I don’t know if they caught up. I was not interested in this sort of thing at the time.
Ted wrote a book about his life as a POW and the eldest of each of the Weller generation were given a copy. I think young Malcolm has a copy which I am hoping he will loan me to read.
At some stage Ted & Bet moved to the Sunshine Coast. Ted died in 2004 and is buried at Buderim Cemetery where Bet joined him in 2020. There is a memorial to him at the Qld Garden of Remembrance at Pinaroo Cemetery, Brisbane.
Lest We Forget