Walton, Pierre Michael (Private, b.1912 - d.1981)

Collection relating to the Second World War service of NX621 Private Pierre Michael Walton, 8 Division Provost Company, including the period he was a prisoner of war (POW) of the Japanese, 1942-1945.

Wallet 1 of 1 contains two folders.

Folder 1 of 2 contains three small notebooks containing poems written by Private Pierre Walton, NX56747 Corporal Tom Higgins, NX17200 Private Alfred Jones, and NX68236 Private Stanley James Lugton in Singapore in 1942, recipes, a transcription of a sermon given by an unknown Catholic priest at the Osaka POW camp, and a casualty list for members of the 8th Australian Division. Collection also includes a two page typed letter from Ichiji Inoue to former Australian POWs, 1 August 1941. Ichiji Inoue was a Japanese worker at the Hitachi Shipbuilding Yard, near the Taisho POW camp in Japan where Private Walton was interned. Private Walton also spent time as a POW in Changi, Singapore, and Takefu camp in Japan.

Collection also contains three army paybooks, a demobilization procedure book, a record of service book, a Malaya Command military drivers licence, a receipt of issue of duplicate paybook, a receipt of prisoner of war package, and a label or tag with untranslated Japanese text.

Folder 2 of 2 contains a single folio account of prisoner executions, handwritten on Japanese note paper, and recounts the escape, recapture and subsequent death by firing squad of Australian prisoners-of-war, VX63100 Corporal Rodney Breavington and VX62289 Private Victor Lawrence Gale on 2 September 1942 at Changi. Several Australian officers witnessed the execution including NX70416 Lieutenant Colonel [Frederick] Gallagher [Galleghan], Officer Commanding the 2nd AIF at Changi. The author of the account is unknown.

• Folder 1 of 2 - Papers relating to the service of Pierre Michael Walton, 1939-1945
• Folder 2 of 2 - Eyewitness account of the executions of Corporal Breavington and Private Gale, c.1942