The Soldier's Details
- Surname:
- Edwards
- First Name:
- George Henry
- Rank:
- Private
- Regimental #:
- WX7266
- Company:
- 'B' Company, No 8 Platoon
- Enlisted:
- 1.08.1940
- DOB:
- 3.11.1910
- Place of Birth:
- Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England
- Father's Name:
- Not Known
- Mothers's Name:
- Not Known
- Religion:
- Church of England
- Pre-war Occupation:
- Miner
- Memorial:
- Epitah, Labuan Memorial, Panel 18, Age 34.
- Singapore:
- Selarang Camp Changi, Johore Bahru, Adam Park, Selarang Barracks Changi.
- Force:
- 'E' Force Borneo
- POW#:
- 4/6096 & 1686
- Cause of Death:
- Malaria
- Place of Death:
- Sandakan No. 1 Camp
- Date of Death:
- 20.04.1945
General Description
Edwards enlisted AIF 1 Aug 1940, later joining 2/4th MGB’s ‘B’ Company No. 8 Platoon under Commanding Officer Lt. MacKinnon.
He left Singapore with ‘E’ Force Burma for Sandakan from where he would not return. He died at No. 1 Camp Sandakan 20 April 1945 aged 35 years. Just a month prior to No. 2 March and all the POWs being emptied out of the huts to move to the open.
EDWARDS, Private, GEORGE HENRY, WX7266, A.I.F. 2/4 M.G. Bn., Australian Infantry. 20 March 1945. Age 34. Panel 18.
Labuan Memorial, Malaysia
Studio portrait of WX7266 Private (Pte) George Henry Edwards, 2/4 Machine Gun Battalion. Pte Edwards, originally from Newcastle on Tyne, England, enlisted at Claremont WA on 1 July 1940. He was one of over 2000 Allied prisoners of war (POW) held in the Sandakan POW camp in north Borneo, having been transferred there from Singapore as a part of E Force. The 500 Australian and 500 British POW’s who made up E Force, left Changi on 28 March 1943, on board the S.S. DeKlerk arriving at Berhala Island (adjacent to Sandakan Harbour) on 15 April 1943. The POW’s were held there until 5 June, when they were taken by barge to Sandakan. The next day they were transferred to the 8 Mile Camp, which was about half a mile from the B Force compound. Private Edwards, aged 34, died as a prisoner of the Japanese on 20 March 1945. He is commemorated on the Labuan Memorial Panel 18. (Personal information from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Database.)
Originally from Newcastle- on -Tyne, George had been working at Laverton prior to enlisting at Claremont.
We have been unable to find information about George’s life in England nor when he arrived in Australia. It is possible he arrived in another part of Australia as a young man before moving to Western Australia.
Camp Locations:
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- Johore Bahru, - Malaysia
- Selarang Barracks Changi - Singapore
- Selarang Camp Changi - Singapore
- Sandakan - Borneo ***
- Lintang Officers Camp, Kuching - Sarawak