The Soldier's Details
- Surname:
- Delaporte
- First Name:
- Harry Thomas
- Rank:
- Private
- Regimental #:
- WX8011
- Company:
- 'A' Company
- Enlisted:
- 10.08.1940
- DOB:
- 14.08.1914
- Place of Birth:
- Capel, Western Australia
- Father's Name:
- Henry Thomas Delaporte
- Mothers's Name:
- Emily Ada Delaporte (Harwood)
- Religion:
- Church of England
- Pre-war Occupation:
- Labourer
- Memorial:
- Epitaph, Labuan Memorial, Panel 18, Age 30.
- Singapore:
- Selarang Camp Changi, River Valley Road Transit Camp
- Force:
- 'A' Force Burma, Green Force, No. 3 Battalion
- Camps Thailand:
- Tamarkan,
- Camps Burma:
- Victoria Point, Kendau 4.8km, Thetkaw, Meiloe 75, Augganaung,
- POW#:
- 3088
- Japan:
- Rakuyo Maru Party, Kumi No. 37
- Cause of Death:
- Lost at Sea
- Place of Death:
- South China Sea
- Date of Death:
- 12.09.1944
General Description
Harry Delaporte was from A Coy No. 4 Platoon
Standing L-R: Brothers Roy Harris (not 2/4th), Charles Harris WX7851 died Sandakan 27 May 1945, Front L-R: Roy Cox (not 2/4th) and thought to be Harry Delaporte.
Harry was youngest of seven (7) boys and three (3) girls born to the Delaporte family who resided at Quindalup, Western Australia.
Harry Delaporte married Myrtle May Harris in 1937 and the couple had two children, Peter and Valma.
Myrtle is sister to Ellen Harris who married Claude Knott WX7616. Myrtle and Ellen’s brother is Charlie Harris WX7851 who lost his life at Sandakan. The Delaporte family resided at Boyanup/Capel.
Delaporte, Knott and Harris were all in ‘A’ Company and enlisted at the same time.
The loss of Delaporte and Harris would have been enormous for their families and their community.
Read about the connections/marriages with the men of 2/4th.
Harry sailed with ‘A’ Force from Singapore on two ships on14 May 1942 to Burma. Green Force disembarked at Victoria Point, Burma on 21 may where they would remain several months repairing and extending the airfield, before heading north to Tavoy then onto northern Burma to work on the railway, which would link up with the Thai link. Green Force arrived at Thanbyuzayat via Lamaign by end of October 1942 and soon after working at Kendau Camp on the railway.
Harry appears to have been fortunate in that his health was such that he was not hospitalised – that is not to say he did not suffer with the usual tropical diseases and from the lack of food.
When the railway link was completed, Green Force was sent south to Tamarkan, Thailand.
He was deemed ‘fit’ by the Japanese whilst at Tamarkan, which was a large camp and was selected to work in Japan.
The work party for Japan was then sent by train via Bangkok to French Indo-China (today known as Vietnam) where it was planned to ship the POWs to Japan from Riviere de Saigon at Cape St Jacques. These plans soon dissolved as the Japanese command realised the Allied blockade of the nearby seas made their plans impossible.
The POWs worked in Saigon on docks, go-downs and other jobs at an airfield just north of Saigon. The Rakuyo Maru party finally began their journey back to Bangkok and onto Singapore between 24-28th June arriving about 4th July 1944, most of the party was accommodated at the River Valley Road Transit Camp for several months before sailing on the Rakuyo Maru.
Further reading about ‘A’ Force Green Force
Harry Delaporte was 30 years of age when he tragically lost his life in the South China Sea on 12 September 1944.
Harry’s name is inscribed on Busselton World War Two Memorial.
Camp Locations:
- River Valley Road Camp - Singapore
- Selarang Camp Changi - Singapore
- Tamarkan, Tha Makham 56k - Thailand
- Aungganaung,105Kilo - Burma
- Kendau, Kandaw, 4 Kilo - Burma
- Saigon - French Indo China
- Victoria Point, Kawthoung - Burma. \'A\' Force, Green Force No. 3 Btn
- Thetkaw 14 Kilo - Burma