NUMBER:

VX28007

BATTALION / UNIT / SHIP:

2/22nd Infantry Battalion

PLACE OF BIRTH:

Nerrena East 9 September 1908

NEXT OF KIN:

Harry Bellingham, his father. His mother was Annie Bellingham nee Kuhne.

DATE & PLACE OF ENLISTMENT:

2 July 1940 at Caulfield

LOCATION ON ENLISTMENT:

Nerrena East via Leongatha 

OCCUPATION:

Farmer's assistant  

DATE & PLACE OF DEATH:

8 March 1942 aged 34 at Gasmata Beach New Britain, Papua New Guinea.

LOCATION OF GRAVE/MEMORIAL:

He has no known grave and is on the Rabaul Memorial Papua New Guinea. 

RELATIONSHIP TO WOORYAL SHIRE:

He lived in Nerrena East with his family all his life.

He is remembered on the Leongatha Memorial and Dumbalk

MILITARY/OTHER HISTORY:

Tom was placed in the 2/22nd Battalion and trained at Mt Martha before going to Trawool near Seymour. The battalion then marched on foot from Trawool to Bonegilla near Albury for further training. Tom was in A Company with many other men from Leongatha and district and his commanding officer was Major Bill Owen.

Soldiers of the 2/22nd Battalion were given a few days leave to see their families and friends before returning to Bonegilla and going away to the war. On 11 March a selection of men travelled to Sydney by train and then boarded the Katoomba, an old liner. They stopped for a day in Brisbane before heading north past the Great Barrier Reef and into the Coral Sea. After a few days in Port Moresby, they headed off to Rabaul arriving on 26 March 1941. The rest of the Battalion reached Sydney on 17 April and headed to Rabaul on the Zealandia. They sailed into Rabaul on Anzac Day.

The men continued training and found themselves in a waiting game. Would the Japanese attack? Bombing started in late 1941 and the situation became very serious. The undermanned force was in serious trouble. The Japanese landed with a large force and quickly over ran Rabaul on 23 January 1942. Tom together with his brother Bill and others from A Company escaped into the jungle. The men were on the run until early March. We do not know how they became prisoners at Gasmata. Unfortunately, the men in this group were all executed by the Japanese on 8 March 1942.