The Soldier's Details
- Surname:
- Dickie
- First Name:
- Gordon Thomas
- Rank:
- Corporal (Promoted 14.6.1941)
- Regimental #:
- WX9328
- Company:
- ‘A’ Company, 6 Platoon
- Enlisted:
- 30.10.1940
- Discharged:
- 4.09.1953
- DOB:
- 26.04.1910
- Place of Birth:
- Risbridge, Suffolk, England
- Father's Name:
- Thomas Dickie
- Mothers's Name:
- Gladys Dickie
- Religion:
- Church of England
- Pre-war Occupation:
- Farmhand
- Singapore:
- Selarang Camp Changi; Johore Baru; Adam Park ; Selarang Barracks Changi, River Valley Transit Camp
- Force:
- 'D' Force Thailand, S Battalion
- Camps Thailand:
- Tarsau, Konyu II, Tamuang
- Camps Japan:
- Yamane, Nihama
- POW#:
- 1/7508, 8769 and 4766
- Japan:
- Rashin Maru Party
- Return Details 1945:
- Wakayama‐Okinawa, USS Sanctuary, Okinawa-Manila USS Bingham, Manila-Morotai, Darwin by PBY Catalina aircraft A24-206, Darwin-Perth by aircraft.
General Description
Dickie enlisted AIF 30 Oct 1940 and later joined 2/4th MGB/s ‘A’ Company 6 Platoon under commanding officer Lt John Morrison. He was promoted to corporal 14 June 1941.
Whilst in Singapore Dickie was admitted to AGM with beri beri on 13 June 1942 and again on 21 August 1942.
Gordon Dickie was selected to work on Burma-Thail Railway with D Force, S Battalion which departed by train from Singapore on 14 March 1943. S Battalion firstly worked a few weeks at Tarsau Camp (D Force Headquarters) before moving to Konyu II in the area of Hellfire Pass. He was in Thailand from 25 April 1943 to 15 March 1943.
You can read further about ‘D’ Force S Battalion
He was selected from Tamuang Camp to work in Japan, sailing on ‘Byoki Maru’ a journey which took 70 days to reach Moji, Japan.
Please read further about ‘Byoki’ Maru
Gordon was recovered from Niihama Camp at the end of the war.
Gordon Dickie arrived at Fremantle from London in 1928 on the SS ‘Barcoola’. He was 18 years of age and it was recorded he was a sawmiller. Prior to boarding the ‘Barcoola’ Gordon was staying at Kincardineshire.
Above: Doodarding/Doodanding Well on the Pioneer track to the Goldfields.
After the war, Gordon he returned to work at the farm of A.R. Harris at Doodanding, near Dowerin, where he worked prior to enlisting. He moved to live in Darlington which was where he was living when he died.
Above: from The Dowerin Guardian and Amery Line Advocate Wyalkatchem.
He died 5 May1956 at Darlington, aged 46 years and is buried at Karrakatta.
Gordon Hickie enlisted with AIF for war, born England, sadly he had no close family in WA. He survived being a POW of Japan for nearly 3.5 years, worked on the Burma-Thai Railway, sailed 70 days to Japan, and was recovered from Japan after the atomic bombs were dropped.
Gordon returned to and remained in WA in late 1945. He never married, never had a family or really put down roots. He initially returned to the Harris family where he had worked as a farm labourer before enlisting.
Within 11 years of returning from war Gordon Hickie died at the age of 46 years.
Camp Locations:
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- Johore Bahru, - Malaysia
- River Valley Road Camp - Singapore
- Selarang Barracks Changi - Singapore
- Selarang Camp Changi - Singapore
- Tamuang, Tha Muang 39k - Thailand
- Tarsau, Tha Sao 125k - Thailand
- Nihama, Hiroshima #2-B- Japan
- Yamane, Hiroshima #3-D - Japan