John 'Jack' Smith (NX27151)

Although born John SMITH he is known in all other records as Jack. Born in 1907 or 1908, Jack was the youngest of seven children born to George Walter SMITH (1867-1915) and Bridget COFFEY (1866-1965).

Like some of his siblings, Jack was a dancer and had his own dance school. He was also a theatrical entertainer, listing this occupation on his enlistment papers.

Prior to WW2 Jack married Emma Merle ? and they lived first at Glebe, then at Clyde.

Jack enlisted in the AIF in June 1940. He is described in his service papers as 5ft 7inches tall with grey eyes and brown hair. He was initially attached to the 18th R.T. Battalion and then in January 1941 was transferred to the 2/18 Battalion.

At the end of January 1941, the 2/18 Battalion embarked on the M.S. Tegelberg, arriving in Singapore in mid-February. They assumed garrison duties in Malaya and were involved in continuous training. They did not see action until January of 1942 when an ambush was launched against the Japanese. They saw action again in February when the Japanese invaded Sinapore Island and continued until its surrender. In total they saw only nine days of fighting before being taken captive.

Almost exactly a year to the day after his arrival in Singapore, Jack became a prisoner of war of the Japanese. His service record gives little detail of the next few years although a number of entries to hospital are listed for 1943 including a bout of dengue fever.

At Singapore, approximately 14,972 Australian soldiers were taken captive including just under 1,000 members of the 2/18. Initially the unit resided as a whole in the Selarang Barracks but was later split into various work parties. Jack was one of only 125 members of the 2/18 who spent their entire POW life in Changi - 110 of these men survived.

On the 8th of September 1945, Jack was recovered from Changi and a week later embarked on the "Orante" headed for Australia. He arrived home at the end of the month and received his discharge from the army on 31 January 1946.

Some time not long after the war, Jack and his wife moved to Queensland and the family lost contact with him. Jack died on 16 February 1972 at the age of 63.

References / Further Research:

• Burfitt, James. Against All Odds: The History of the 2/18 Battalion AIF, The 2/18 Battalion Association, 1991 (Kogarah Library)
• Service Record of Jack Smith NX27151, National Archives of Australia, 2002/04608374, NX27151
• Australia. Army. Battalion, 2/18th. Men may smoke : official journal of 2/18th Bn., 8th Div. A.I.F., Australian War Memorial, Troopship Serial (V.1.nos.1-7, Dec.1940-Oct. 1941)
• Ziegler, Oswald L.(ed). Men may smoke : being the final edition of the 2/18 Bn. A.I.F. magazine, Australian War Memorial, Troopship Serial (1948)
• Digger History, An Unofficial History of the Australian & NZ Armed Services (http://www.diggerhistory.info/)

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