Arthur Laurence Osmand
Stephen LearmonthLaurie was born on the 13th of March, 1906, at Burrowye, Victoria. He was one of five children born to William Thomas and Florence Emily (née Bownds). In 1928 Laurie was living at Koetong working as a railway repairer. Two years later he was working on the family farm. In 1934 he married Edna Margaret Kelly. Edna was one of Alan Kelly’s sisters who unfortunately was killed in action at Tobruk in May of 1941. Laurie and Edna continued to farm at Burrowye and in 1934 they welcomed the birth of their son, Terrance Alan Osmand.
Laurie enlisted on the 23rd of July, 1940, at Caulfield, near Melbourne. His medical examination was done by Dr Greenham, in Corryong, almost one month before he enlisted. He was allocated the Service Number VX47542 and sent to the Recruit Reception Depot at Royal Park. Laurie spent most of September in hospital at the Queens Memorial Infectious Diseases Hospital at Fairfield suffering from the mumps. After being released from hospital, he spent some time at Broadmeadows Camp before being posted to the Cavalry Training Regiment at Puckapunyal. He spent a few days in early November in the 7th Australian General Hospital, possibly from an adverse reaction to a vaccination. A posting closer to home happened in mid-January of 1941, when he was posted to the 8th Division Petrol Company based at Bonegilla.
On the 24th of July, 1941, Laurie changed units once again, this time being posted to the 27th Brigade Company AASC (Australian Army Service Corps). This unit was still part of the 8th Division. After a period of training in the Central Tablelands, in New South Wales, the brigade was given the task of reinforcing the 22nd Brigade, which was currently serving in British Malaya. Due to the growing concerns of Japanese expansion in the Pacific region, the Australians formed part of a defensive garrison in the Malayan Peninsula. Laurie’s unit disembarked at Singapore on the 15th of August, 1941.
On the 8th of December, 1941, the 27th Brigade was stationed at Jemaluang, about 100 kilometres north of Singapore. Upon the Japanese invasion of Malaya the battalions, and accompanying service companies, of the 27th Brigade were spread between Segamat and Batu Pahat. Throughout January, it fought several delaying actions, particularly at Gemas and Muar. It eventually withdrew all the way to Singapore and was initially responsible for defending the Causeway area and was involved in heavy fighting at Kranji, adjacent to the causeway. By the 14th of February, the Commonwealth forces’ hold on Singapore was down to a perimeter; a distance of 7 kilometres from the harbour. Two days later they surrendered. It’s difficult to piece together Laurie’s movements during this campaign. As a member of the AASC he would be involved in the movement and supply of materials to troops. Some auxiliary units were formed into fighting units, so Laurie could well have been involved in one of these towards the end of the battle.
On the 16th of February, 1942, Laurie was posted as missing in action.
After the surrender, Laurie would have been sent to Changi prison along with all of the other POW’s. Arthur’s records show that he died in Burma in early September of 1942. If this is the case then he must have been a member of “A” Force, the first group of prisoners that was sent from Changi to work on the Burma-Thailand Railway. This consisted of approximately 3000 Australians and left Changi on the 14th of May, 1942. These troops assembled at the Port of Singapore and instead of seeing a large troopship to take them to Burma, before them lay two rusty old cargo ships (the Celebes Maru and the Tohohasi Maru) that had been sheep transports before the war.
Conditions aboard them were unhygienic. Many of the men aboard already suffered from dysentery (bacillary and amoebic). Below decks it was insufferably hot, stuffy and crowded. Fresh water was limited with none available for bathing or washing. Latrines consisted of one three-hole toilet at the aft of the ship and another at midships; six for over 100 men. The troops disembarked at Mergui, South Burma on the 24th of May, 1942, where they were joined by 500 British troops from Sumatra. Conditions were only to become worse as they started on the Burmese end of the Burma-Thailand railway.
On the 5th of October, 1945, Base Records in Melbourne informed Laurie’s wife, Edna, that her husband Private Arthur Lawrence Osmand VX47542 had died on the 3rd of September, 1942, as a result of illness (dysentery), whilst a Prisoner of war of the Japanese.
Laurie was buried in the Thanbyuzayat War cemetery in Burma. He is also remembered on the Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, the Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, the Labuan Memorial on the island of Labuan and the Walwa WW2 Roll of Honour. For his service, he was awarded the 1939-1945 Star, the Pacific Star, the Defence Medal, the War Medal 1939-1945 and the Australian Service Medal 1939-1945.