The Soldier's Details
- Surname:
- Branson
- First Name:
- George Howard
- Rank:
- Lieutenant
- Regimental #:
- WX10372
- Company:
- A' Company
- Enlisted:
- 18.12.1940
- Discharged:
- 22.11.1946
- DOB:
- 23.02.1918
- Place of Birth:
- Subiaco, Western Australia
- Father's Name:
- Howard Henry Branson
- Mothers's Name:
- Ethel May Branson
- Religion:
- Church of England
- Pre-war Occupation:
- Sales Manager
- Singapore:
- Selarang Camp Changi, Johore Bahru, Adam Park, Sime Road Camp, Selarang Barracks Changi. Returned from Thailand to Sime Road Camp, Serangoon Road Camp, Changi Gaol Camp.
- Force:
- H' Force Thailand, H6 Offcier's Party, 'H' Force No. 1 Sub-Section.
- POW#:
- 4/4079
- Return Details 1945:
- Singapore-Darwin-Sydney, HMT Arawa, Sydney-Melbourne by troop train, Melbourne-Fremantle, HMT Strathmore.
General Description
Branson enlisted from Babakin to AIF 18 Dec 1940, later joined 2/4th MGB’s ‘A’ Coy No 6 Platoon with Commanding Officer Lt John Morrison as his 2 I.C.
Lt Branson replaced Lieutenant J.C. Morrison on his evacuation to hospital with dengue fever.
In his book ‘Railroad to Burma’ Page 33, author James Boyle wrote of being POWs at Adam Park, Singapore and mentioned the growing day to day boredom. From this there grew a gathering of 30-40 amateur actors and musicians which formed a concert party. “The show was managed by George Branson of the 2/4th MG Batt.”
The orchestra consisted of about 15 instruments (some were wholly manufactured in the camp mainly from 3-ply and some lighter timber from the house timber). The Conductor was Bert Ford of the 8th Div. Sigs. who had been a member of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra before enlisting.
Branson left Singapore with ‘H’ Force Thailand H6 Officers Party for the Burma-Thai Railway. Please read further about this work Force
‘H’ Force returned to Singapore around the time of the railway completion, December 1943. He was recovered from Changi at the end of the war.
George Branson was member of Buffaloes, Changi Lodge
George Branson was a Western Australian Senator 1958-1971. Please read further
Please read about the boys from Bruce Rock
He died 27 January 1999.
or see below:
Senator for Western Australia, 1958-71 (Liberal Party of Australia)
George Howard Branson, sales manager and farmer, was born in Perth on 23 February 1918, the third of five surviving children of South Australian-born Howard Henry Branson and Ethel May, nee Carrett, from Victoria. At the turn of the century Howard had been a goldminer in Geraldton and went on to acquire interests from mining magnate Claude de Bernales. Faced with lung problems, Branson left the mining industry and by 1928 the family had settled on a wheat and dairy farm known as Hampton Court, at Babakin, 235 kilometres east of Perth, where George spent his early years. He attended Babakin primary school and played piano, drums, accordion, saxophone and trumpet in a small local orchestra. Leaving the farm in 1937, he worked as a salesman of agricultural and household products and as a stock agent in nearby Bruce Rock, and sold cars in Kalgoorlie. George was a great reader like his father, but the two held opposing political views. George claimed that his own conservative opinions were developed in reaction to his fathers strong support for the ALP.
On 31 December 1940 Branson married Isla May Burlinson, a schoolteacher, at the Methodist church in the Perth suburb of Nedlands. He had just joined the AIF. Over the next nine months Branson received four promotions, becoming a lieutenant in August 1941 in the 2/4th Machine Gun Battalion. During his training at the Medium Machine Gun School, he was described as a definite and forceful personality, inclined to be over-bearing, tending to tactlessness, who with more self-discipline, should prove to be a useful and energetic leader.
Camp Locations:
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- Changi Gaol Camp - Singapore
- Johore Bahru, - Malaysia
- Selarang Barracks Changi - Singapore
- Selarang Camp Changi - Singapore
- Serangoon Road Camp - Singapore
- Sime Road Camp - Singapore