Soldier profiles
Name : COWDEN, MAXWELL BARRY
Service Number : VX19297
Date of Birth : 06/02/1922
Place of Birth : MALVERN, VIC
Known as : MAX
Occupation on Enlistment :
Date of Enlistment : 30/05/1940
Locality on Enlistment : BLACK ROCK, VIC
Place of Enlistment : CAULFIELD, VIC
Next of Kin : COWDEN, BARRY
Rank (at time of discharge / death) : CORPORAL
Service : ARMY
Final Posting : 2/2 PIONEER BATTALION
Position / Platoon / Company (as 2/2 Pioneer) (date / details) :
Unit Transfers / Promotions (date / details) :
Theatres of War : SYRIA, JAVA
Actions :
Wounded (date / details) :
Discharged : 28/11/1945
Date Died : 26/09/2003
Age at Death : 81
Community Roll of Honour : N/A
Buried Location / Memorial (P.O.W., D.O.W., K.I.A.) : N/A
K.I.A. (date / details) : N/A
D.O.W. (date / details) : N/A
M.I.A. (date / details) : N/A
P.O.W. (location/s) : JAVA
Died P.O.W. (date / details) : NO
P.O.W. Camps (details) : SENRYU 24 (JAPAN), FUKUOKA (JAPAN)
Recovered P.O.W. (location/s) : JAPAN
Honours and Gallantry : None for display
Applicable Australian War Memorial circulars : Australian War Memorial B-JAVA-0019 Missing & POW Circular
References found (entries & photos) : National Archives of Australia (Barcode 6204720 [OPEN]), WW2 Nominal Roll, Australian War Memorial, Past article (size 432kB)
Background : He put his age up by 3 years in order to enlist. 15/12/1944 boarded hellship Awa Maru at Singapore. 26/12/1944 sailed in convoy up China Coast and across to Moji, Japan. Arrived in Japan 16/01/1945 aboard hellship Awa Maru. Repatriated to Australia on the H.M.S. Formidable. Commemorated at Bunurong Memorial Park.
