The Soldier's Details

Surname:
Carter
First Name:
Reginald Charles
Nick Name:
Reg
Rank:
Private
Regimental #:
WX8445
Company:
Headquarters Company from 'B' Company (27 October 1941)
Enlisted:
18.10.1940
DOB:
1.07.1913
Place of Birth:
Guildford, Western Australia
Father's Name:
Charles Henry Carter
Mothers's Name:
Sophia Elizabeth Carter
Religion:
Presbyterian
Pre-war Occupation:
French Polisher
Memorial:
Kanchanaburi War Cemetery, Plot 10, Row D, Grave 10, Age 31.
Singapore:
Selarang Camp Changi, Thompson Road (Caldecott Hill Estate Camp), Adam Park, River Valley Road Camp, Selarang Barracks Changi
Force:
'D' Force Thailand, S Battalion
Camps Thailand:
Tarsau, Konyu II, Hintok, Konkoita, Chungkai
POW#:
3/7236, 8763
Cause of Death:
Blackwater Fever
Place of Death:
Chungkai
Date of Death:
18.02.1945
Buried:
Grave No B129. Reburied at Kanchanaburi Allied War Cemetery, Row N, Plot 1 Grave No. 23.

General Description

Reginald Charles Carter Died Chunkai February 1945
Reginald Charles Carter
Died Chunkai  February 1945

 

 

Studio portrait inscribed: Ben Jones WX8449 , Reg WX8445; George Taylor WX8448 Pte J H Johnson? (back). 2/4 Machine Batt [Battalion] Singapore.
Believed to be WX9112 Corporal Benjamin Charles Jones (front left) who died whilst a prisoner of war on 5 November 1943; WX8445 Reginald Charles Carter (front centre) who died whilst a prisoner of war on 18 February 1945; WX8448 George Taylor, who was not a prisoner of war. The person behind is possibly identified as Private J H Johnson, but cannot be further identified.
Image may have been taken in Perth WA (rather than Singapore), but certainly printed there because of the emboss on the front right corner.
Carter West Australian 22 September 1946
Carter Reginald
Carter, Reg
Carter
Version 4
Photograph taken Kanchanaburi January 2018 by C. Mellor

 

Carter enlisted AIF 18 Oct 1940, later joining 2/4th’s  ‘B’ Coy and later moved to Headquarters Coy, Platoon 3.
Carter left Singapore by train for Burma-Thai Railway with ‘D’ Force Thailand S Battalion.   
At the end of 1943 and the rail was completed, the Japanese began moving all POWs in Burma south to one of several large camps in Thailand or to hospitals.
He was at Chungkai Hospital Camp with Blackwater fever when he died 18 Feb 1945 and was buried here.  Blackwater fever (malarial hemoglobinuria) is one of the less common but most dangerous complications of malaria. Blackwater fever occurs after four bouts of malaria in addition to the patient being in an endemic area for six months.  Treatment includes whole blood transfusion.
(Reg’s  body was exhumed from grave B1299 Chungkai cemetery on 27 July 1946 and reburied at Kanachaburi War Cemetery.)

 

Reg’s parents Charles Henry Carter and Elizabeth Sophia Lewis married 1919.  His father died 1961 and his mother in 1973.

Reg had worked for W. Zimpel  as a french polisher.

He married Joyce O’Shannassy in 1937.  When Reg enlisted 18 Oct 1940 he was a father to a young son, Norman.

Below:  Reg’s father-in-law, Larry O’Shanassy died 1937.

 

 

 

The above Photograph is with the AWM.

 

Camp Locations:

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  • River Valley Road Camp - Singapore
  • Selarang Barracks Changi - Singapore
  • Selarang Camp Changi - Singapore
  • Thomson Road (Caldecot Hill Estate Camp) - Singapore
  • Chungkai, 60k - Thailand
  • Hintok River Camp, 158k - Thailand
  • Kanu II, 152.30k - Thailand
  • Tarsau, Tha Sao 125k - Thailand
  • Konkoita (Brigade or Cholera Camp) - Thailand
  • Kinsaiyok Jungle No.2 Camp, 167.7Km - Thailand
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