Qld. Paybook photograph, taken on enlistment, of QX23540 Private Arthur James Laidlaw, 2/29th ...

Accession Number P02468.175
Collection type Photograph
Object type Black & white - Film copy negative
Conflict Second World War, 1939-1945
Copyright

Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain

Public Domain Mark This item is in the Public Domain

Description

Qld. Paybook photograph, taken on enlistment, of QX23540 Private Arthur James Laidlaw, 2/29th Battalion, Australian Infantry. He was one of over 2000 Allied prisoners of war (POW) held in the Sandakan POW camp in north Borneo, having been transferred there from Singapore as a part of B Force. The 1494 POW's that made up B Force, were transported from Changi on 7 July 1942 on board the tramp ship Ubi Maru, arriving in Sandakan Harbour on 18 July 1942. Private Laidlaw, aged 30, died as a prisoner of the Japanese on 10 April 1945. He was the son of Elizabeth Laidlaw, and the husband of Helene Marguerite Laidlaw, of Morningside, Qld. He is commemorated on the Labuan Memorial Panel 15. (Photograph copied from AWM232, items 4 and 5. Personal information from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Database.)