BESSELL, Philip Mowbray Frank
Service Number: | WX7639 |
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Enlisted: | 10 August 1940 |
Last Rank: | Private |
Last Unit: | 2nd/3rd Machine Gun Battalion |
Born: | Thames Ditton England, 27 November 1914 |
Home Town: | Margaret River, Augusta-Margaret River Shire, Western Australia |
Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
Died: | Prisoner of War - Executed, Java East Indies, Java, Netherlands East Indies, 30 April 1942, aged 27 years |
Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" |
Tree Plaque: |
Margaret River Memorial Park
|
Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, Margaret River War Memorial, Singapore Memorial Kranji War Cemetery |
World War 2 Service
10 Aug 1940: | Enlisted Private, WX7639, Army Training Units | |
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10 Aug 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX7639 | |
28 Feb 1942: | Involvement Private, WX7639, 2nd/3rd Machine Gun Battalion, Australia's Northern Periphery, Blackforce Java | |
25 Mar 1942: | Involvement Private, WX7639, 2nd/3rd Machine Gun Battalion, Prisoners of War |
Help us honour Philip Mowbray Frank Bessell's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Robert Kearney
Private Philip Bessell was awarded the Commendation for Gallantry for actions following capture by the Imperial Japanese Army in March 1942 until his execution as a result of an escape attempt in about April 1942. PTE Bessell and five other men escaped, making for the coast of Java by hiding among Royal Air Force POWs. The group continued their escape from Djokjakarta but were recaptured by Japanese forces, interrogated and taken away to Taskimalaja. PTE Bessell and the five others are reported to have been executed near Taskimalaja about April 1942. - Courtesy Defence Honours and Awards
Biography contributed
Philip Mowbray Frank BESSELL was born in Thames Ditton, Surrey, England on 27th November, 1914
His parents were John Hulme BESSELL & Janet CUNNINGHAM