Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

From the Australian Army Archives:

Frederick John WREGHITT was born in Charters Towers, Queensland, on the 14th of April 1905. He moved to Townsville and was a Fireman before enlisting in the Armed Forces on the 22nd of January 1941 where he was posted to the General/Motor Transport Company (WW2). He was promoted to Lance Corporal on the 3rd of February 1941.

On the 10th of April 1941 he embarked by ship to Singapore arriving there on the 3rd of May 1941.

He was married to Elsie and had two sons, Frederick and Donald at his time of enlisting.

He worked with the General/Motor Transport Company as a Driver/Mechanic and was detached for duty to ‘L’ Force on the 6th of November 1941. He embarked by ship from Singapore on 30th of April 1942 arriving in Java on 25th April 1942.
He saw action in Java and was reported ‘missing in action’ on the 27th of April 1942.

The army received notification on the 20th of November 1942 that he was believed to be a prisoner of war of the Japanese. This was confirmed on the 7th of December 1943. The location of the prisoner of war camp that he was imprisoned in was reported to be a Japanese Prisoner of War camp in Thailand. Nothing further was heard regarding his location or welfare after 27th of December 1943 until on the 15th of September 1945 notification was received that he was alive and in Siam.

On the 6th of October 1945 he was recovered from the Japanese at Siam.

He was transported from Singapore on the Tamaroa bound for Sydney on the 10th of October 1945. On the 22nd of October 1945 he was taken to a ‘holding strength camp(?)’ in NSW and evacuated to hospital on 13th of December 1945.

Information from Family Verbal History:

I am Frederick John Wreghitt’s granddaughter. I was aged approximately 12 years old when he died on the 6th of July 1975. I was living with my father, Donald Cecil Wreghitt in Mount Isa, Queensland at the time and my grandfather was living in Townsville, Queensland. He was aged 70 years at his death and is buried in the Townsville (Belgian Gardens) Cemetery.

There is some information handed down through the family about some of the experiences that happened at home while he was posted and a Japanese prisoner of war. These events show the impacts of war, not only on the those who served but how these events can influence the lives of generations to come.

I didn’t know him very well and he never discussed his experiences in the war with me. What I recall is that as a small child my father and our family visited my grandfather’s house in Townsville regularly for holidays. I recall my grandfather as a generous and kind man, I liked him. He was tall and strong.

I recall that he used to pick me up and carry me around – on his hands his thumb nails were disfigured. As a small child I used to say to him ‘granddad don’t touch me with your yukky thumbs’. Being only a young child of probably 5-6 years old I had no way of understanding that this disfigurement was caused by the torture techniques during his time in the POW camp! Only finding this out after his death.

When my grandfather was identified as being ‘missing’, there was a period of nearly 7 months before he was listed as a possible POW and over another 12 months before it was confirmed he was indeed a POW of the Japanese.

After Frederick was listed ‘missing in action’, Elsie took their two sons (Donald, my dad and Fred) and deposited them with their paternal grandmother who lived in Hughenden, Queensland. Elsie, now believing herself to be a war widow, met another man. They went on to have a daughter of their own and it is said they married.

Frederick was eventually confirmed as a POW in Thailand and Elsie and her new family remained together for the remainder of the war. Donald, (my dad) and his older brother Frederick (named after his father), remained with their grandmother in Hughenden during this time.

On my grandfather’s return to Australia from the POW camp in Siam at the end of 1945, it is said that Elsie and he tried to reconcile, and that Elsie, now having made a new family, chose to stay with her new husband. I have no details of how this effected my grandfather personally – however he did eventually remarry to a woman who had two daughters of her own.

It was this woman and my grandfather whom I used to visit with my dad on holidays in Townsville.

I understand that my grandfather took his sons home before the boys moved onto live their own lives – my father moving to Mount Isa where he met and married my mother and his brother Frederick remaining in Townsville and having a family of his own.

There was very little contact between our families and our grandmother Elsie.

Melanie McGaw (nee Wreghitt)