Ronald Hamilton Cornish
From Our Contribution
 | |
| Personal Information | |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 14 Dec 1915 |
| Place of Birth | Perth, Western Australia |
| Death | 22 Mar 1971, aged 55 |
| Place of Death | Fremantle |
| Age at Enlistment | 24 years, 10 months |
| Description | 5'9½" (1.76m) tall ; ; fair complexion ; hazel eyes ; fair hair ; birthmark on left hip |
| Occupation | Farmer |
| Religion | Church of England |
| Address | Byford, Western Australia |
| Next of Kin | Father , Bertram Hugo Cornish |
| Military Information | |
| Reg Number | WX9035 |
| Date of Enlistment | 25 Oct 1940 |
| Rank | Sergeant |
| Unit/Formation | 5 Platoon, A Company, 2/4th Australian Machine Gun Battalion |
| Military Movement | |
| 1st Departure from Australia | |
| Journey Dates | 30 Dec 1941 ‒ 1 Jan 1942 |
| Transport Details | SS Marella or HMAS Westralia Darwin to Port Moresby |
| Transfers | |
| Journey Dates | 4 Jan 1942 ‒ 20 Jan 1942 |
| Transport Details | HMT Aquitania Port Moresby to Suda Strait via Sydney, Perth |
| Journey Dates | 20 Jan 1942 ‒ 24 Jan 1942 |
| Return to Australia | |
| Journey Dates | 20 Aug 1945 ‒ 20 Aug 1945 |
| Transport Details | Aircraft Thailand to Singapore |
| Journey Dates | 15 Oct 1945 ‒ 24 Oct 1945 |
| Transport Details | HMT Moreton Bay Singapore to Fremantle |
| Post War Details | |
| Fate |
POW (Singapore) Returned to Australia |
| Monument(s) |
ANZAC Memorial Park (Byford) Byford WW2 Honour Roll |
| External Monument(s) | The Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial Ballarat, Victoria |
| Medals |
1939-45 Star Pacific Star Defence Medal War Medal 1939-45 Australian Service Medal 1939-45 |
Pre War
In a 1939 electoral roll for Canning, Ron is listed as living in Cardup and working as a Brickmaker. His parents Bertram and Eva were also living in Cardup. Ron was Married on 3 Aug 1940 to Aldwyn (yet he listed his father as NOK). Ron was a champion amateur wrestler at age 17, and he captained the Armadale football team for several years, as well as being a gymnasium instructor.
Ron was awarded the Royal Humane Society's Bronze Medal and Certificate for rescuing a miner
War Service
Enlisted full time on 25 Oct 1940 at Claremont camp. On 5 Nov 1940 Ron was appointed an Acting Lance Corporal, before being admitted on 12 Nov 1940 to the Camp Dressing Station until 15 Nov 1940. On the same day that he was discharged from hospital he was promoted Acting Corporal, and on 27 Nov 1940 he was transferred to No. 3 Depot Battalion. On 4 Dec 1940 Ron was transferred to the 2/4th Australian Machine Gun Battalion. Ron was promoted Acting Lance Sergeant on 27 May 1941, and he was granted pre-concentration leave from 1 - 8 Jul 1941. On 21 Jul 1941 he embarked in Fremantle on HMT Duntroon for Adelaide, disembarking on 25 Jul 1941. On 27 May 1941 Ron was appointed Acting Lance Sergeant.
Next day, 28 July in Woodside Camp, Ron was admitted to the Woodside Camp Hospital where he received treatment until 4 Aug 1941 when he rejoined his unit. On 11 Oct 1941 Ron entrained for the Northern Territory arriving there on 19 October. On 30 Dec 1941 Ron embarked on a small ship (either SS Marella or HMAS Westralia) in Darwin for the journey to Port Moresby where they boarded HMT Aquitania for Singapore via Sydney and Fremantle. On 20 Jan 1942 the troops transshipped from Aquitania to two smaller Dutch vessels which carried them to Singapore, disembarking on 24 January 1942. On 29 Jan 1942 Ron was promoted Sergeant in the short lead up to the battle for Singapore, which began in earnest on 8 Feb 1942.
Ron, along with thousands of others was posted Missing in Malaya on 16 Feb 1942. It wasn't until September 1943 that the Army confirmed that he was a Prisoner of War. During his time in captivity Ron spent periods of time in a mumber of camps. The first, following the surrender, was the Adam Park Camp - Singapore where some of Ron's unit were used to construct a monument to the Japanese dead. On 17 Feb 1942 along with all other 8th Division POWs who could walk, he marched the 17 miles (29km)to the Selarang Baracks on the Changi Peninsula. In April 1942 he was amongst the POWs sent to Johore Bahru on the Malay mainland where they also erected a shrine to the fallen of the Japanese Imperial Guards. .Division, taking 25 days to do so before returning to Adam Park where they were used to convert the Singapore Golf Course into a Fallen Warriors Shrine.
On 14 Mar 1943 'S' Battalion of 'D' Force left Singapore by train as the first element of the second wave of POW labour used to construct the Burma Railway. 'D'Force initially massed in the Hintok-Kanu sector in Thailand, with a strength of 2,220 men of the 2nd AIF, in addition to 2,780 British and Dutch. The journey involved a four day rail journey, followed by a 49 km truck travel to Kanchanaburi. Ron had been given a POW number of 8717, and his work group were allocated an area that included the two cuttings known as 'Hellfire Pass' and the three tier bridge. From Kanchanaburi they moved to Tarsau to clear the vegetaion along the route ahead of the rail construction. On Anzac Day 1943 they moved to Kanu II camp where they remained until 16 Jul 1943 when the camp was evacuated as a result of a Cholera outbreak. ""S Battalion lost 14.2% of their mnen while working on the railway.
The next camp for Ron was Upper Konkoita - Lower Teimonta. Later camps included Aungganaung, at 105Kilo in Burma; the Reptu, Retphaw, 30Kilo 385k camps in Burma. In Feb 1944 the Japanese began to transfer POWs to Japan in old cargo ships to work in Coal Mines. Unfortuneately several were sunk by US submarines with very heavy loss of life for the POWs in the holds below. Aungganaung, 105Kilo - Burma; Reptu, Retphaw, 30Kilo 385k in Burma and Thanbyuzayat, 415k - Burma".
Ron was recovered from the Japanese oon 20 Aug 1945 by the 2nd Australian Prisoner of War Reception Group and evacuated from Thailand to Singapore by aircraft. Following medical attention and time to recover his health he sailed from Singapore on HMT Moreton Bay , departing on 15 Oct 1945 and disembarking in Fremanle on 24 Oct 1945. On 25 Nov 1945 he was admittd to the 110th Australian Base Hospital for treatment for NYD Meningitis. He was well enough to take his discharge on 19 Dec 1945.
Post War
Notes
'Colour Patch The men of the 2/4th Australian Machine Gun Battalion - 1940-1945