Jack Dawson - A Beaconsfield Prisoner of War

 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 26^th 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

1. Beaconsfield Progress Association Incorporated, ‘Dawson John William’, Beaconsfield’s Soldiers [website], 2018-2021, https://beaconsfield.org.au/digitalmemorial/dawson-john-william/
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. 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
5. Australian War Memorial [AWM], ‘Changi’, AWM [website], 2020, para. 1, https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/encyclopedia/pow/changi
6. Department of Veterans’ Affairs [DVA], op. cit., para. 4.
7. Department of Veterans’ Affairs [DVA], op. cit., para. 8.
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
9. Department of Veterans’ Affairs [DVA], op. cit., para. 5-6.
10. 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
11. Australian War Memorial [AWM], ‘John William Dawson’, AWM [website], 2022, https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1712007
12. 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
13. 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