NSW. Paybook photograph, taken on enlistment, of NX46612 Bombardier Geoffrey Frederick Brownlee, ...

Accession Number P02467.517
Collection type Photograph
Object type Black & white - Film copy negative
Conflict Second World War, 1939-1945
Copyright

Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain

Public Domain Mark This item is in the Public Domain

Description

NSW. Paybook photograph, taken on enlistment, of NX46612 Bombardier Geoffrey Frederick Brownlee, 2/15th Field Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery. He was one of over 2000 Allied prisoners of war (POW) held in the Sandakan POW camp in north Borneo, having been transferred there from Singapore as a part of B Force. The 1494 POW's that made up B Force, were transported from Changi on 7 July 1942 on board the tramp ship Ubi Maru, arriving in Sandakan Harbour on 18 July 1942. Bombardier Brownlee, aged 33, died as a prisoner of the Japanese on 11 July 1945. He was the son of William and Clara Catherine Brownlee, and the husband of Sadie Frances Brownlee, of Bellingen, NSW. He is commemorated on the Labuan Memorial Panel 3. (Photograph copied from AWM232, items 4 and 5. Personal information from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Database.)