Written by Kate Davis, Casey Cardinia Libraries
Last month’s blog detailed the
experiences of Beaconsfield locals Mr. and Mrs. Adamson, their family, and the
town during the Second World War. In the interview, Bruce Adamson mentioned
another Beaconsfield local, Jack Dawson and his prisoner of war status. This
article will focus on Jack’s story.
John William ‘Jack’ Dawson was born
April 10, 1919, in Brighton, to Gregory Dawson and Louise Harriet Horneman. At
the age of 21, on July 3, 1940, Jack enlisted. At the time, he was living in
Northcote and working as a clerk. Prior to his deployment, Jack trained at both
Mount Martha and Seymour. From there, Jack was sent to Sydney and shipped out
to Singapore on October 3, 1941. Over the next four months, Jack fought in the
Australian Army 2/10 Field Company and was ranked as Sapper (general term that
refers to all military engineers), service number VX34391 (1).
Jack in his military uniform.
In February 1942, Jack was wounded
and listed as shell-shocked (2). This was most likely a post-traumatic stress
response – of course this term was not yet used. Shortly after, on the 26th
of February, Jack was officially listed as a prisoner of war (3). It is likely
that Jack had fought in the Battle of Singapore and was taken as a prisoner of
war when Singapore fell to the Empire of Japan. In fact, in early 1942, over
22,000 Australians were captured by the Japanese army as they conquered parts
of Southeast Asia (4). Most Australians captured in Singapore were immediately
transferred to a collection of internment camps known as Changi (5). Many
Australian prisoners in these camps were then forced to work on the
Burma-Thailand railway. Jack’s
service records suggest that he was one of thousands of prisoners of war who
had worked on the Burma-Thailand railway.
Prisoners of war building a bridge using bamboo scaffolding at Tamarkan, across the Mae Klong River. This river is now known as the Kwai Yai River.
This railway, sometimes otherwise
known as the Burma-Siam railway, was built from 1942 to 1943. This railway
would provide an alternative supply line to Japanese forces in Burma and allow
them to avoid using sea routes which had recently become risky after Japan lost
significant naval strength in the Battles of Coral Sea and Midway in May and
June of 1942 (7).
The working conditions on this
railway were, as one might expect, horrendous. The track was 415kms long, and
work was carried out on all sections simultaneously, rather than the railway
being completed from each end and eventually meeting in the middle. This meant
that during the monsoon season, many working parties went without integral
supplies, due to immense rainfall affecting roads and pathways to these groups
(8). Prisoners often worked without food or medicine (9), while building the
railway with hand tools in rugged jungle areas (10). In total, 13,000
Australian prisoners of war worked on the railway, 2646 of whom died while
undertaking this forced labour (11).
Prisoners of war laying track at Ronsi, Burma.
During
World War Two, Japanese radio channels would broadcast lists and messages from
prisoners of war. As Bruce mentioned in his interview, Jack’s name was included
in these broadcasts for quite some time after his capture. Jack’s death though,
was not reflected accurately through the Japanese broadcasts. Jack died on
November 24, 1943, in Burma, from illness (12), but his death was not reported
on until early 1945 and only published in the local paper in April 1945, 2
years after his actual death (13). Bruce recalls that this had been very
difficult for Jack’s parents and his two sisters, all of whom had held out hope
that Jack was still alive all that time. Jack
was buried at the Thanbyuzayat War Cemetery, Thanbyuzayat Mon State Myanmar,
Burma and was posthumously awarded the 1939-1945 Star, Pacific Star, Defence
Medal, War Medal 1939-1945 and the Australian Service Medal 1939-1945 (14).
1945 article reporting on Jack’s death.
References
- Beaconsfield Progress Association Incorporated, ‘Dawson John William’, Beaconsfield’s Soldiers [website], 2018-2021, https://beaconsfield.org.au/digitalmemorial/dawson-john-william/
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- Department of Veterans’ Affairs [DVA], ‘Burma-Thailand Railway and Hellfire Pass 1942 to 1943, DVA Anzac Portal [website], 2021, para. 2, https://anzacportal.dva.gov.au/wars-and-missions/burma-thailand-railway-and-hellfire-pass-1942-1943
- Australian War Memorial [AWM], ‘Changi’, AWM [website], 2020, para. 1, https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/encyclopedia/pow/changi
- Department of Veterans’ Affairs
[DVA], op. cit., para. 4.
- Department of Veterans’ Affairs [DVA], op. cit., para. 8.
- Australian War Memorial [AWM], ‘Stolen years: Australian prisoners of war – the Burma-Thailand railway’, AWM [website], 2019, para. 2, https://www.awm.gov.au/visit/exhibitions/stolenyears/ww2/japan/burmathai
- Department of Veterans’ Affairs
[DVA], op. cit., para. 5-6.
- Australian War Memorial [AWM], ‘Prisoners of the Japanese, Burma-Thailand Railway’, AWM [website], 2021, para. 1, https://www.awm.gov.au/research/guide/pow-ww2-burma-thai
- Australian War Memorial [AWM], ‘John William Dawson’, AWM [website], 2022, https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1712007
- Dandenong 1945 The Dandenong Journal (Vic.: 1927-1954), ‘Death of Beaconsfield soldier in Thailand’, Trove [database], 18 April 1945, p. 1, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article214330916
- Beaconsfield Progress Association Incorporated, ‘Dawson John William’, Beaconsfield’s Soldiers [website], 2018-2021, https://beaconsfield.org.au/digitalmemorial/dawson-john-william/
Images (in order of appearance)
Beaconsfield Progress Association
Incorporated, ‘Dawson John William’, Beaconsfield’s Soldiers [website],
2018-2021, https://beaconsfield.org.au/digitalmemorial/dawson-john-william/
Australian War Memorial [AWM],
‘Burma-Thailand Railway. c. February 1943.’, AWM [website, accession
number 118879, 1943, https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C202573?image=1
Unknown Japanese photographer , ‘Collection
of 40 images taken by a Japanese surveyor and exchanged in Thailand post war
with QX15191 Arthur Francis Seary’, Australian War Memorial [website],
accession number P00406.034, 1943, https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C41431
The Dandenong Journal (Vic.: 1927-1954),
‘Death of Beaconsfield soldier in Thailand’, Trove [database], 18 April
1945, p. 1, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article214330916
