George James Airey
Stephen LearmonthGeorge James Airey was born on the 29th of November 1906 in Tumbarumba, New South Wales. He was the eldest of five children of John William and Helene (née Clarke). His youngest sibling, Arthur, would die at the young age of 4, whilst his three sisters, Doris, Margaret and Winifred would live until their late 60s.
One of George’s uncles, James Valentine Airey was a member of the 8th Light Horse and was killed in action at the Nek, Gallipoli on 7th August 1915.
Between 1910 and 1913 the family moved from Tumbarumba to Corryong, where John took up work as a dairyman.
George enlisted at Caulfield, Victoria on the 19th of June 1940 and was given the service number VX44578. He was initially placed with the general reinforcements for the AIF artillery, however, on the 2nd of December of that year, he was posted to the 4th Anti Tank regiment based at Puckapunyal in Victoria.
The regiment embarked on HMT QX1 (Queen Mary) at Sydney on the 2nd of February 1941 and proceeded in convoy with the Aquitania, the Niew Amsterdam and one escort. They disembarked at Singapore Naval Base a little more than two weeks later on the 17th of February.
Upon arrival the regiment travelled to Seremban where they were settled into the Angle Chinese School for their barracks. One of the standing battery orders informed the men not to purchase tooth or shaving brushes of Japanese or Chinese manufacture as there was a danger of anthrax in using them. Another was that in order to decrease the possibility of skin infection then all personnel should shower at least twice a day. The regiment was deployed to support the 22nd Infantry Brigade which had been sent to bolster the garrison in Malaya in case of a Japanese invasion.
During his time in Singapore, he was fined for being absent without leave on two occasions, once on the 21st of June and the other on the 26th of July. In the first case, he was fined 5 pounds and given 14 days detention, whilst in the second case, he was only fined 5 pounds.
By December 1941, the regiment possessed only twelve 2-pounder anti-tank guns and twenty-four 75 mm pack howitzers. When the Japanese invasion began most of the regiment was stationed on the west coast of the peninsula. The Japanese push down the Malay Peninsula is well known. On the 15th of February, the garrison commander, Lieutenant General Arthur Percival, ordered the surrender of the garrison on Singapore. The following day George was officially posted as missing in action.
Upon being taken prisoner George was initially incarcerated in Changi. It is not known how long he spent there, or what other camps he was moved to. It is known that he spent most of his time working on the first 150 km of the Thailand end of the railway.
George’s story is taken up by Neil Smith in his book “Tid-Apa; the History of the 4th Anti-tank Regiment”.
“One anti tanker group left Tarsoa by train and endured a most hazardous trip to Chungkai, near Kanburi. At the new camp conditions were a little better with food in larger quantities. Allied Military Police also had some responsibility for order. Again it was soon apparent that the prisoners needed to have money to exist and a host of novel commercial enterprises were commenced; such as making and selling cakes, rolling cigarettes for the canteen, carrying bamboo at fifteen cents per three trips and selling tomatoes.
Although there was a good deal of monotony in the Chungkai camp, the men regained some strength. There were still deaths however, such as George Airey who died on the 19th September 1943 and George Timms a few days later. In these circumstances the deceased was wrapped in a rice sack and carried to the graveyard by his comrades, with a Union Jack draped across the body. The pall bearers dug the grave, filled it in and erected a crude cross.”
George’s records indicate that his official cause of death was “died of illness avitaminosis whilst POW”. It does not mention that the unsanitary conditions, the starvation diet, consist hard back breaking work, dysentery, beri beri, tropical ulcers and inhumane punishments at the hands of his captors would have also contributed to his death.
After the war George’s body was reinterred in the Kanchanaburi War Cemetery in Thailand. He is also remembered on the Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War memorial, and the Tumbarumba Memorial. 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.
