SCHOFIELD, Mervyn Frederick - WX11841
From WA Military Digital Library
| Original items held by the Army Museum of Western Australia |
Lieut Mervyn Frederick Schofield
| Conflict | World War 2 |
|---|---|
| Service Arm | Australian Imperial Force |
| Unit | Army Service Corps 105 General Transport Company |
| Service No. | 32713, WX11841 |
| Service Arm | Army |
| Date of Birth | 2 Mar 1919 |
| Birthplace | Narrogin, WA |
| Residence | Perth, WA |
| Date of Death | |
| Relatives | Father -George Matthew Schofield |
This photo of the 105 General Transport Company was taken at Karrakatta before leaving Australia. Mervyn was captured by the Japanese in Singapore in March, 1942 and was one of the many POWs forced to work on the Thai-Burma Railway. He carried this photo with him the entire time he was in the camps. The Japanese guards would take it from him, laugh and throw it back at him. His mates fell, one by one, but this photo ensured that they lived on in his memory.
Mervyn wrote this letter in 1994 describing events that took place when the troopship 'Orcades' arrived in Indonesia on 15 February, 1942.
Mervyn returned to Thailand and and visited the Jeath Museum and the Hellfire Pass Memorial.
