The Soldier's Details

Surname:
Gregory
First Name:
Ronald Keith
Rank:
Private
Regimental #:
WX9202
Company:
‘A’ Company, 5 Platoon
Enlisted:
30.10.1940
Discharged:
27.11.1946
DOB:
4.11.1910
Place of Birth:
Kalgoorlie, Western Australia
Father's Name:
George Henry Gregory
Mothers's Name:
Janet Margaret Ronald Gregory (nee Grieve)
Religion:
Presbyterian
Pre-war Occupation:
Miner
Singapore:
Selarang Camp and Barracks Changi; Sime Road Camp; Kranji Hospital Woodlands (10 months); Changi Gaol Camp
Force:
‘F’ Force Thailand
Camps Thailand:
Shimo Sonkurai, Tanbaya Hospital Camp Burma (3 months), Kanchanaburi
POW#:
1/7869
Return Details 1945:
Singapore-Labuan by aircraft; Labuan- Morotai-Melbourne, 2/2 HM Australian Hospital Ship Wanganella; Melbourne-Perth by troop train

General Description

Tea break before Darwin Oct 41 Standing L-R Fitzgerald, Minchin, Golden, Short, Vidler, ? , Jamieson, Cpl Lee, ?, ? , Ewen. Kneeling L-R Cpl Townsend, Gregory and RK O’Leary. Photo taken by Major Saggers.

 

McGrath, Davies, Hinds, Parker, Newell, Gregory
McGrath, Davies, Hinds, Parker, Newell, Gregory

 

John & Ron Gregory
John & Ron Gregory.

 

Rons’s older brother ‘Jack’ Gregory WX8674 died of cholera 1/6/1943 Shimo (Lower) Sonkurai, aged 39 years.  The brothers were both working here at the same time having left Singapore with ‘F’ Force.  ‘Jack’s death to cholera would have been huge shock for Ron.
John Gregory enlisted one week before brother Ron, with ‘Jack’ in ‘B’ Coy 7 Platoon and Ron in ‘A’ Company 5 Platoon.  The brothers were however together in Singapore at Selarang Camp and Barracks before being selected with ‘F’ Force  and sent to Thailand.  We believe the brothers were at Shimo Sonkurai at the same time.  Ron was evacuated to Tanbaya Hospital Camp, in Burma (the hospital camp for ‘F’ Force) where he remained 3 months before being evacuated to Kanchanaburi.
Please read further about Tanbaya Hospital Camp, Burma.

And please read about ‘F’ Force

Below:  This following list was compiled by Harold Cowie.  Brothers Ron and Jack Gregory departed Singapore with ‘F’ Force Thailand in 1943.  Jack died June 1943 of cholera aged 39 years.

When he returned to Singapore from Kanchaburi he was billeted at Sime Road Camp, followed by Kranji Hospital Woodlands for 10 months, before moving to Changi Gaol Camp from where he was recovered at the end of the war.

 

R K Gregory

Below:  Ron returned to Norseman. He and Jack were working as miners and living in Norseman when they enlisted. He and Bill Halligan are returning to Perth.  They will undergo health checks and be discharged.
 
Parents George and Janet Gregory married in 1902 and moved from South Australia to WA to work in Kalgoorlie.  The couple had 4 daughters and three sons.  Janet Gregory died in 1917, John was about 14 years of age and Ron about 7 years old.  Their father died in 1923 East Coolgardie.
All the children were born in WA and John and Ron were born in Kalgoorlie.
Both John and Ron were miners as was their father.
In 1946 Ron married Emma Maude Carr.
Emma and Ron resided at Rivervale.  Ron was a plumber.
In the January 1973 Borehole Bulletin, editor
Ted Wallin wrote
‘Ron had been in Hollywood Hospital again, for a short spell.  Ron is not a very fit man these days.  Hope you come good soon, Ron.’
Ron Gregory passed away 21/3/2013.

 

 

Below:  Funeral notice for Janet Gregory in 1917.

 

 Below:  father George Henry Gregory died in 1923.

Camp Locations:

  • Changi Gaol Camp - Singapore
  • Kranji Camp Woodlands - Singapore
  • Selarang Barracks Changi - Singapore
  • Selarang Camp Changi - Singapore
  • Sime Road Camp - Singapore
  • Kanchanaburi, 50k - Thailand
  • Shimo Sonkurai, 288k - Thailand
  • Tanbaya, 362k - Burma
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