Defence Medal : Signalman R C Ingram, 8 Division Signals, AIF

Defence Medal. Impressed on edge with recipient's details.

Robert Cuthbert Ingram was born 9 August 1901 in Wagga Wagga NSW. He worked as a telephone linesman with the Post Master General's department before the Second World War. Ingram enlisted in the Army on 5 June 1941 in Paddington NSW and was allocated the service number NX29000. He began training as an engineer before transferring to a signals training unit. Ingram had several stints in hospital between June 1941 and August 1941 having fractured his right ankle on several occasions during this time. Ingram embarked from Sydney on 1 January 1942 bound for Singapore. He was promoted acting sergeant for the duration of the trip and reverted back to the rank of private when the ship arrived on 24 January 1942. Ingram joined 8 Division Signals in Malaya and became a Prisoner of War on 14 February 1942 when Singapore was surrendered. On 28 November Ingram was transferred to Japan as a part of 'C' Force. Over the next year, he suffered with beri beri, pleurisy and malnutrition. Robert Ingram succumbed to his illnesses in Kobe, Japan on 24 April 1944 and was cremated. His ashes were interred with 335 other soldiers, sailors and airmen of the British Commonwealth, the United States and the Netherlands in an urn located in a shrine within the Yokohama War Cemetery, Japan.