The Soldier's Details
- Surname:
- Pierson
- First Name:
- Thomas William
- Nick Name:
- Tom
- Rank:
- Sergeant (Promoted on 28.1.1942)
- Regimental #:
- WX9238
- Company:
- Battalion Headquarters
- Enlisted:
- 30.10.1940
- Discharged:
- 24.06.1946
- DOB:
- 9.03.1898
- Place of Birth:
- West Hartlepool, England
- Father's Name:
- Albert Victor Pierson
- Mothers's Name:
- Elizabeth Mary Alton
- Religion:
- Church of England
- Pre-war Occupation:
- Farmhand
- Singapore:
- Selarang Camp Changi; Thomson Road (Caldecot Hill Estate Camp); Adam Park Camp; River Valley Road Camp; AGH Roberts Barracks Changi (16.2.1943-May 1943); Selarang Barracks Changi. Following return from Thailand - Changi Gaol Hospital (May-June 1944); Kranji Hospital Woodlands (June-December 1944); Changi Gaol Hospital (December1944-September 1945)
- Force:
- ‘F’ Force Thailand
- Camps Thailand:
- Shimo Sonkurai Hospital (May-September 1943); Kanchanaburi (November 1943-May 1944);
- POW#:
- 6133
- Return Details 1945:
- Singapore‐Labuan by aircraft; Labuan-Morotai-Brisbane, 2/2nd H.M. Australian Ship Wanganella; Brisbane-Sydney-Melbourne-Perth by troop train
General Description
Pierson enlisted AIF Oct 1940 joining Battalion Headquarters ads Sergeant In Charge Stretcher Bearers.
As a POW in Singapore, he was sent to work on Burma-Thai Railway with ‘F’ Force.
Please read about ‘F’ Force Thailand.
He was recovered from. Singapore at war’s end.
Below: he is welcomed home at Lake Grace.
Thomas had at least two sisters also born in Hartlepool, England. His father was a ship’s painter.
It is not known when he arrived in WA.
His father Albert Pierson died England 1955.
Thomas William Pierson married widow Lancashire-born Mary Alice Duckworth (nee Turner) at Williams in 1931, where Pierson was farming. Mary at least four sons. Her husband Edmund Duckworth died Lake Grace in 1927.
In 1937 Tom Pierson and mary were farming at Williams, the farm named Beenong.
Thomas and Mary continued farming around Williams area then moved to farm at Lake Grace where they were recorded on the Electoral Rolls. Mary died in 1975 and Tom moved to live in Menora where he died 31st Oct 1979 aged 70 years.
Below: 1943 wedding for John Duckworth – 2nd son
Below: engagement Dec 46 of Arthur Duckworth – 3rd son.
Below: Nov 47 Arthur Duckworth marries.
Below: Feb 1948 engagement of William Duckworth, youngest son.
Below: Sep 49 wedding of Glen Duckworth, second youngest son
Below: Pierson is reported being seriously ill on 3 Nov 1945.
Below: 17 Nov Tom Pierson’s name is removed from seriously ill list.
Camp Locations:
- Changi Gaol Camp - Singapore
- Johore Bahru, - Malaysia
- Kranji Camp Woodlands - Singapore
- River Valley Road Camp - Singapore
- Roberts Barracks Changi - Singapore
- Selarang Barracks Changi - Singapore
- Selarang Camp Changi - Singapore
- Thomson Road (Caldecot Hill Estate Camp) - Singapore
- Kanchanaburi, 50k - Thailand
- Shimo Sonkurai, 288k - Thailand
