British War Medal 1939-45 : Corporal E W R O'Keeffe 2/26 Battalion

British War Medal 1939-45. Impressed around edge with recipient's details.

This British War Medal 1939-1945 is associated with the service of QX15220 Corporal Edward William Roy O’Keeffe (also spelt O’Keefe), born at Dalby in Queensland on 23 April 1911. He enlisted into 2/26 Battalion on 1 August 1940 at Cairns and he served within the unit's Signals Platoon. The battalion, part of the 8th Australian Division, participated in the fierce campaign of fighting down the Malay Peninsula, between December 1941 and February 1942, in the face of the Japanese advance. O'Keeffe was taken prisoner at Singapore on 15 February 1942 and spent three and a half years as a prisoner of war, including service with F force on the Burma-Thailand Railway. He was infected with malaria in June 1943, suffering 20 relapses between then and May 1945. During his captivity he also suffered from beriberi (a nervous system ailment caused by a lack of thiamine or vitamin B1), bacillary dysentery (an infectious disease of the intestinal tract caused by bacteria), hydrocele (a build-up of fluids in a body cavity) and worms. After the end of the war, on 15 August 1945, he was sent home, along with the majority of the surviving 2/26 Battalion men on board the ship Largs Bay on 10 October 1945. He was discharged 23 November 1945.