Soldier profiles

Name : WALKER, HENRY EDWARD
Service Number : VX22708
Date of Birth : 13/03/1918
Place of Birth : ALMA, VIC
Known as :
Occupation on Enlistment : TRUCK DRIVER
Date of Enlistment : 05/06/1940
Locality on Enlistment : RED CLIFFS, VIC
Place of Enlistment : CAULFIELD, VIC
Next of Kin : WALKER, THOMAS
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 : 29/01/1946
Date Died : 12/11/2006
Age at Death : 88
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) : OMUTA (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-0089 Missing & POW Circular
References found (entries & photos) : National Archives of Australia (Barcode 6227416 [DIGITISED]), WW2 Nominal Roll, Australian War Memorial, Past article (size 240kB), Herald Sun 14/11/2006, 2/2 Pioneers Newsletter 12/2006 p1

Background : Arrived in Japan 16/01/1945 aboard hellship Awa Maru. Repatriated to Australia on H.M.S. Speaker.

Service & personal summary At enlistment : single. No previous military experience. At discharge : height 5 feet 6 inches, brown eyes, dark complexion, dark hair. Marital status : single. Children : nil. Marks / scars : nil. Full time war service : A.I.F. 05/06/1940 to 29/01/1946 which included 2065 days active service (105 days within Australia & 1654 days overseas). Operational service : Middle East & Java areas (embarked from Australia 07/04/1941, disembarked in Australia 16/10/1945). War badge no. 291696. Discharge certificate no. 486801.

Service record
05/06/1940 Taken on strength Recruit Reception Depot Caulfield, Victoria.
07/06/1940 Posted to 1 Corps Petrol Park.
19/06/1940 Transferred to 2/2 Pioneer Battalion.
19/06/1940 Transferred from 1 Australian Petrol Park to 2/2 Pioneer Battalion Puckapunyal, Seymour, Victoria.
30/06/1940 Admitted 4 Australian General Hospital Puckapunyal, Seymour, Victoria with mumps.
11/07/1940 Discharged to 2/2 Pioneer Battalion from 4 Australian General Hospital Puckapunyal, Seymour, Victoria.
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.
13/11/1941 Appointed Lance Corporal.
22/01/1942 Promoted to Corporal.
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.
30/04/1942 Reported missing in action believed prisoner of war (Java).
25/08/1943 Reported prisoner of war (Java).
22/12/1943 Interned Thailand camp.
15/01/1945 Transferred to Fukuoka, Japan.
22/08/1945 Reported alive in Siam (Thailand).
14/09/1945 Recovered at Fukuoka, Japan.
26/09/1945 Marched in and taken on holding strength Manila, Philippines.
04/10/1945 Embarked Manila, Philippines on H.M.S. Speaker.
15/10/1945 Disembarked Sydney, New South Wales.
15/10/1945 Taken on holding strength, New South Wales.
16/10/1945 Transferred out to Victoria Lines of Communication area R.R. and General Details Depot.
19/11/1945 Admitted 115 Australian General Hospital, Heidelberg, Melbourne, Victoria with chest, for invest.
16/01/1946 Discharged to Prisoner of War Wing Watsonia, Victoria.
16/01/1946 Marched in General Details Depot ex 115 Australian General Hospital, Heidelberg, Melbourne, Victoria.
24/01/1946 Marched out from General Details Depot Victoria to Australian Military Forces Discharge Depot.
24/01/1946 Marched into Australian Military Forces Discharge Depot.
29/01/1946 Discharged Royal Park, Victoria.