Addison, Percy Romer (Private, b.1918 - d.1945)

Collection relating to the Second World War service of NX31849 Private Percy Romer Addison, 2/30 Australian Infantry Battalion, Second Australian Imperial Force, Malaya and Australia, 1941-1946.

Wallet 1 of 1 – Contains three folders of material relating to Private Percy Romer Addison.

Folder 1 of 3 consists of one card, four letters, one telegram, and three postcards from Private Addison to members of his family. These items of correspondence were sent by Private Addison between December 1941 and c 1945, during his service with the 2/30th Australian Infantry Battalion in Malaya and time as a prisoner of war of the Japanese at Sandakan Prisoner of War Camp, Borneo. In his correspondence, Private Addison writes about recovering from illness in hospital, Japanese air raids, daily duties, getting lost in the jungle near enemy lines, and being a prisoner of war.

Folder 2 of 3 consists of correspondence relating to the death of Private Addison as a Japanese prisoner of war in May 1945. This folder contains:
1x Postcard from Private Addison’s mother, Mrs Millicent Euphemia Addison, to Private Addison, Inverell, New South Wales, 19 May 1945. In this postcard, Mrs Addison sends her best birthday wishes. This postcard was unable to be delivered, and was returned to Mrs Addison.
2x Letters from Mrs Addison to Private Addison, Inverell, New South Wales, 29 September 1945 and [date unknown]. In her letters, Mrs Addison enquires after Private Addison’s safety and health, and gives family news. These letters were unable to be delivered, and were returned to Mrs Addison.
1x Letter from Warrant Officer Class 1 William Hector Sticpewich to Mrs Addison, Wickham, New South Wales, 26 December 1945. In this letter, Warrant Officer Sticpewich relates the circumstances of Private Addison’s death and burial.
1x Card of thanks from the Addison family for expressions of sympathy upon the news of the death of Private Addison, c 1945.

Folder 3 of 3 consists of four letters and one telegram from the Australian Military Forces to Private Addison’s mother, Mrs Millicent Euphemia Addison, dated between 17 November 1945 and 30 January 1946. These items of correspondence inform Mrs Addison of the circumstances of her son’s death and burial.

Private Percy Romer Addison enlisted to the Second Australian Imperial Force on 13 June 1940. After a period of training, he was posted to 2/30 Australian Infantry Battalion and embarked for service in Malaya in July 1941. Private Addison was captured as a prisoner of war when Singapore fell to the Japanese in February 1942. He was initially interned at Changi Prisoner of War Camp, and subsequently transported to Sandakan Prisoner of War Camp, Borneo, as part of ‘B Force’. Private Addison remained in Sandakan until May 1945, when he, among many others, was forced to march out of the camp. He died of malaria on 15 May 1945, and his grave is unknown. Private Addison is commemorated at Labuan Memorial, Malaysia.