Soldier profiles

Name : BRACKLEY, WILLIAM ALBERT ERNEST
Service Number : VX22391
Date of Birth : 19/04/1920
Place of Birth : MANANGATANG, VIC
Known as : BILL
Occupation on Enlistment : FARM LABOURER
Date of Enlistment : 05/06/1940
Locality on Enlistment : KORALEIGH, NSW
Place of Enlistment : CAULFIELD, VIC
Next of Kin : BRACKLEY, ALMA
Rank (at time of discharge / death) : PRIVATE
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 : 21/06/1946
Date Died : 03/12/2003
Age at Death : 83
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) : MOULMEIN (BURMA)
Recovered P.O.W. (location/s) : THAILAND
Honours and Gallantry : None for display
Applicable Australian War Memorial circulars : Australian War Memorial B-JAVA-0010 Missing & POW Circular
References found (entries & photos) : National Archives of Australia (Barcode 6205490 [DIGITISED], Barcode 1032938 [NOT EXAMINED]), WW2 Nominal Roll, Australian War Memorial, Past article (size 152kB), 27/06/1941 Wounded in action telegram (front), 27/06/1941 Wounded in action telegram (back), 21/07/1941 Wounded in action telegram (front), 21/07/1941 Wounded in action telegram (back), 08/12/???? Reported prisoner of war telegram (front), 08/12/???? Reported prisoner of war telegram (back), 13/09/1945 Reported alive in Siam telegram (front), 13/09/1945 Reported alive in Siam telegram (back), 21/10/1945 Arrival in Melbourne telegram (front)

Background : Repatriated to Australia on the M.V. Highland Brigade.

Service & personal summary At enlistment : single. No previous military experience. At discharge : height 5 feet 11 inches, brown eyes, fair complexion, fair hair. Marital status : single. Marks / scars : McBurney appendectomy scar, scar left side of face, broad scar medial left calf. Full time war service : A.I.F. 05/06/1940 to 21/06/1946 which included 2208 days active service (243 days within Australia & 1659 days overseas). Operational service : Middle East and Java areas (embarked from Australia 07/04/1941, disembarked in Australia 21/10/1945). War badge no. 241708. Discharge certificate no. 546803.

Service record
05/06/1940 Taken on strength Recruit Reception Depot Caulfield, Victoria.
07/06/1940 Posted to 2/2 Pioneer Battalion Puckapunyal, Seymour, Victoria.
12/08/1940 Admitted with Coryzal Upper Respiratory Tract Infection (U.R.T.I.).
15/08/1940 Discharged to unit.
02/09/1940 Admitted Puckapunyal 4 Australian General Hospital, Seymour, Victoria with mumps.
14/09/1940 Discharged to unit.
07/04/1941 Embarked Sydney, New South Wales on H.M.S. Queen Mary (H.M.T. N.N.).
03/05/1941 Disembarked Middle East.
20/06/1941 Wounded in action.
20/06/1941 Wounded in action - shrapnel wound right knee - ? pleurisy.
21/06/1941 Evacuated to 1 Australian General Hospital and transferred to X list.
26/06/1941 Discharged 1 Australian General Hospital and transferred to Pioneer Training Battalion.
26/06/1941 Marched in.
04/07/1941 Marched out to 2/2 Pioneer Battalion.
04/07/1941 Taken on strength from Pioneer Training Battalion.
08/07/1941 Wounded in action - wound in eye.
NOTE - section of service record blanked out up to entry below by National Archives Of Australia on medical privacy grounds.
18/01/1942 Marched in from Pioneer Training Battalion Australian Imperial Forces.
20/01/1942 Marched out to Pioneer Training Battalion Australian Imperial Forces.
20/01/1942 Marched in ex 6 Australian I.S. Group.
22/01/1942 Marched out to 2/2 Pioneer Battalion.
22/01/1942 Taken on strength from Pioneer Training Battalion.
31/01/1942 Embarked Middle East on S.S. Orcades.
18/02/1942 Disembarked Batavia, Java.
07/03/1942 Reported missing in action, Java.
30/04/1942 Reported missing in action, Java and transferred to X list.
01/10/1942 Reported missing in action believed prisoner of war.
22/12/1943 Reported prisoner of war.
15/08/1945 Granted proficiency pay.
06/10/1945 Embarked Singapore on M.V. Highland Brigade.
21/10/1945 Disembarked Melbourne, Victoria.
21/10/1945 Marched into General Details Depot ex M.V. Highland Brigade.
20/11/1945 Admitted 115 Australian General Hospital, Heidelberg, Melbourne, Victoria with lacerated face.
29/11/1945 Discharged to General Details Depot, Victoria.
05/12/1945 Admitted 115 Australian General Hospital, Heidelberg, Melbourne, Victoria with hookworm.
10/05/1946 Discharged to Stonnington Convalescent Hospital, Victoria with hookworm.
10/05/1946 Admitted Stonnington Convalescent Hospital, Victoria from 115 Australian General Hospital, Heidelberg, Melbourne, Victoria with unstable leg scar and malaria (benign tertian).
31/05/1946 Evacuated to 115 Australian General Hospital, Heidelberg, Melbourne, Victoria with leg scar and malaria (benign tertian).
07/06/1946 Marched out to Australian Military Forces Discharge Depot.
21/06/1946 Discharged.