Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Son of Robert Alfred and Annie Moore; husband of Edith Lillian Moore. of Dubbo.

OBITUARY
Mr. Mark Moore
A post mortem examination conducted by the Government Medical Officer, failed to reveal the cause of the sudden death of Mark Moore at his home, 8 Goode street, on Friday night. Just prior to passing away he complained of difficulty in breathing. Deceased had attended a Postal Institute function that night, and shortly after retiring to bed at about 11.15, he told his wife that he felt breathless. Shortly after, he expired. Deceased was a linesman attached to the staff of the P.M.G. at Dubbo. He was 46 years of age, and had  been a prisoner of war in Japan for three years.
An inquest into the circumstances surrounding his death is to be held. The date has not yet been fixed. The late Mr. Moore was bom at Narrandera, and came to Dubbo with his parents when very young. His father had a property in the Buninyong district, and Mark had his early schooling at Buninyong school He married Miss Edith Oakley in 1928.
There are no children, his widow, father-in-law (Mr. W. Oakley) and sister-in-law (Mrs. Morris) residing at 8 Goode Street. Mr. Moore died within 24 hours of the anniversary of his  father's death five years ago. His mother lives at Greenthorpe, near Grenfell. Surviving brothers and sisters are: Wilfred (Nip), Alex, Don and Colin; Charlotte (Mrs. Harry Traves, Canowindra), Ruby (Mrs. A. H. Brown, Eulomogo), Maggie (Mrs. E. G. Traves, Canowindra), Irene (Greenthorpe), Marion (Mrs. Les Brown, Greenthorpe) and Jean (Mrs. Don Barr, Greenthorpe.)
Mark Moore enlisted in 1941, and went to Malaya with the 2/3 Reserve Motor Transport, Eighth Division. He was taken prisoner at Singapore in 1942, and while being taken to  Japan on a Japanese transport, the ship was torpedoed by an American submarine. Together with another Australian soldier and a Japanese he was adrift on an improvised raft in the China Sea for two days without food and water before being rescued. In Japan he was put to work in a foundry until his repatriation in 1945. His experiences in Malaya, on the raft, and in Japanese prison camps permanently affected his health. The funeral took place from St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church on Sunday afternoon, the Rev. G. R. Garner
conducting the services at the church and cemetery. W. Larcombe and Son conducted funeral arrangements.
BURIED WITH R.S.L. HONORS
During the service at the Presbyterian Church, Rev. Garner asked Mr. E. B. Serisier to say a few words on behalf of the Returned Soldiers. Mr. Serisier referred in feeling terms to the service of the deceased, and his qualities as a citizen. Mark Moore, he said, was a man amongst men, an excellent citizen, a good soldier, and wonderful mate. He had at all times exhibited gentlemanly qualities that were inherent in his personality, and which must have been of great help during the days when he was a prisoner of war in Japan. Mr. Serisier recalled to those who did not perhaps remember that Mark Moore had been a member of the 8th Division, captured in Malaya, and sent to Japan for imprisonment. En route, the boat had been torpedoed by the Americans, and Mark had spent some days on an open raft with two companions. Arriving in Japan, after being picked up, Mark Moore had been placed at work in the mines and foundries, and it was there that his constitution had first began to crack, dreaded berri berri causing him to be sent to hospital.
The esteem in which he was held was exemplified by the great number of returned men who had attended that day, and who, when they said their farewell at the graveside would
be fortified with the knowledge that when their time came they would again meet their old comrade in the Hills of Valhalla where old warriors ever rest in blessed and eternal  peace. The funeral cortege leaving the Church was preceded by a double column of some two hundred returned men, whilst six ex-P.O.W.'s acted as pall bearers. At the graveside the Returned Soldiers' service was conducted by Mr. S. W. Keeble, the President of the local Sub-Branch of the R.S.L., at the conclusion of which he stated, "The service of the day is over, and the hour come to rest. This poppy, an emblem of sacrifice, the symbol of a life given in the service of one's country, is a link between our comrade, and us who  remain. We place it here — in remembrance." The assembled ex-servicemen then each placed in the grave a red poppy which had been worn during the march and cermony.
The lines in remembrance were recited by the President, and after one minute's silence, Bandsman J. Booth played the "Last Post".