P.O.W. HONOURS FALLEN MATES
A PRISONER of War who is one of Queensland’s last surviving Thai-Burma Railway prisoners honoured his fallen army mates at a special Remembrance Day service on November 11.
Gordon Jamieson, 97, laid a wreath in respect of soldiers and civilians killed in war at his home, the Carinity Cedarbrook aged care community at Mudgeeraba on the Gold Coast.
Gordon served in the Australian Army during World War II and fought in the Malayan campaign. Following Japan’s capture of Singapore in February 1942, he was a prisoner of war for three-and-ahalf years.
“We became captives of the Imperial Japanese Army six months after arriving in Malaya and following a 10week battle. Thus began a 42month phase of my life, a period of tragic events, the memories of which will remain for all time,” Gordon said.
Gordon was held in prison camps in Singapore before he and fellow Allied troops were “herded into metal rice vans” and transported to a remote jungle area to work on construction of the infamous Thai-Burma Railway.
The prisoners of war (POWs) would work shifts of up to 18 hours building embankments, bridging creeks and digging cuttings with picks and shovels. More than 2800 Australians were among the 12,500 Allied POWs who died while working on the railway, while around 75,000 Asian labourers also perished.
“The memories of my war are not those of victorious battles or ignominious defeat, but of the human spirit of our Australian soldiers,” Gordon said.
“I was fortunate that I survived to return to my wonderful country and a loving family, but leaving so many of my companions behind, the memories still linger.”
Gordon has since travelled to Thailand and Japan to take part in commemorative ceremonies honouring prisoners of war.
Carinity Cedarbrook residential manager Wendy Kane said the Remembrance Day ceremony at the aged care community was a solemn occasion.
“Many of our residents knew someone who fought in World War II and sadly many of those people didn’t return home from abroad following the end of the conflict,” Wendy said.
The Remembrance Day ceremony featured one minute’s silence, playing of The Last Post, and a display of World War II and Vietnam War vehicles supplied by Military Jeep Club of Queensland members from Mudgeeraba.
THE PRISONERS OF WAR WOULD WORK SHIFTS OF UP TO 18 HOURS [USING] PICKS AND SHOVELS