| Accession Number | P03251.011 |
|---|---|
| Collection type | Photograph |
| Object type | Negative |
| Maker |
Unknown |
| Place made | Australia |
| Date made | c 1941 |
| Conflict |
Second World War, 1939-1945 |
| Copyright |
Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain
|
Studio portrait of NX37432 Private (Pte) Donald Leonard Watts, 2/30th Battalion. He enlisted in ...
Description
Studio portrait of NX37432 Private (Pte) Donald Leonard Watts, 2/30th Battalion. He enlisted in Paddington, NSW on 27 June 1941 and embarked aboard the Queen Mary for Singapore later that year, and was captured as a prisoner of war (POW) at the fall of Singapore on 15 February 1942. He was one of over 2000 Allied POWs held in the Sandakan POW camp in north Borneo, having been transferred there from Singapore as a part of B Force. The 1494 POWs 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 Watts, aged 23, died as a prisoner of the Japanese on 30 July 1945 and was believed to be one of seven POWs who survived the march and were shot by the Japanese in the jungle at Ranau. He was the son of Francis Samuel and Lucy Watts, of Kadungle, NSW. He is commemorated on the Labuan Memorial Panel 17.