Australia Service Medal : Corporal E W R O'Keeffe 2/26 Battalion

Australia Service Medal. Impressed around edge with recipient's details.

Australia Service Medal associated with the service of 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. The battalion, part of 8 Division, participated in the fierce campaign of fighting down the Malay Peninsular, 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.