The Soldier's Details

Surname:
Gwilliam
First Name:
Horace Victor Wentworth
Nick Name:
Bill
Rank:
Private
Regimental #:
WX16383
Company:
Headquarters Company
Enlisted:
8.09.1941
Discharged:
3.05.1946
DOB:
5.10.1922
Place of Birth:
Hertfordshire, England
Father's Name:
John Gwilliam
Mothers's Name:
Martha 'Minnie' Gwilliam (nee Hitch)
Religion:
Church of England
Pre-war Occupation:
Farmhand
Singapore:
Selarang Camp Changi; Johore Bahru, Adam Park; Selarang Barracks Changi
Force:
‘D’ Force Thailand, V Battalion
Camps Thailand:
Kinsaiyok, Brankassi, Ubon
POW#:
4/6182
Return Details 1945:
Bangkok-Singapore by aircraft; Singapore-Fremantle, HMT Moreton Bay

General Description

Gwilliam enlisted AIF 8 Sept 1941 aged 19 years.
He was taken on Strength to Woodside Camp, South Australia 5 Oct 1941 joining No. 2 Platoon under CO Lt Royce, who was KIA at Hill 200 Ulu Pandan Feb 1942.
Bill trained in SA and travelled to Darwin with the Battalion prior to being taken to Singapore.
Bill left Singapore with ‘D’ Force Thailand, V Battalion to work on Burma-Thai Railway.  This work party endured many illnesses followed by deaths.  He was recovered from Ubon Work Party and Camp at the end of war.
Horace Victor Wentworth Gwilliam
Birth: unknown
Death: 1 Jul 1995
Monument: The Western Australian Garden of Remembrance, Nedlands, City of Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia
Memorial ID 2248448813
Bill Gwilliam died in 1995 aged 73 years.
He married Norma Bolitho and they had one son and four daughters.
Born 1922 to parents John Gwilliam and Minnie Hitch.  They migrated to WA arriving Dec 1923 with their family of eight children of which Bill was the youngest.
His father died 1966 aged 83 years and his mother in 1973 aged 76 years.

 

Below:  Gwilliam family arrive on Benalla Dec 1923.

 

Below:  John Gwilliam 1960

Below:  Bill’s father tests his marriage to Minnie and the couple look at divorce.

 

 

Below:  Bill and Norma residing Mundarng with dau Kathryn 1980.

Camp Locations:

  • Johore Bahru, - Malaysia
  • Selarang Barracks Changi - Singapore
  • Selarang Camp Changi - Singapore
  • Brankassi, Prang Kasi, 208k - Thailand
  • Kanchanaburi, 50k - Thailand
  • Kinsaiyok Main, 170.2k - Thailand
  • Nikhe Wood Camp, Ni Thea, 131 Kilo, 284k - Thailand
  • Kami Songkurai, 299k - Thailand
  • Shimo Sonkurai, 288k - Thailand
  • Ubon - Thailand ***
  • Tanbaya, 362k - Burma
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