John Locke 1914 – 1945

Who was John Locke?

The following “story” below was complied using “Co-Pilot” and the information was extracted from data found from various family e-mails and references.

John Locke was born on 4 May 1914 at Turramurra, New South Wales, and enlisted in the Australian Military Forces on 26 April 1941 with service number NX2899. He later held the rank of Acting Corporal in 1 Company, Australian Army Service Corps (AASC).

The family email correctly identifies him as a son of William Henry Locke and Alice Henrietta Locke (née Westcott). The Commonwealth War Graves Commission record confirms those parents and records the family residence as Narrabeen, NSW.

What was the Australian Army Service Corps?

The AASC was responsible for logistics: transporting food, fuel, ammunition, equipment, and other supplies needed to keep front-line units operating. Men in the Corps were essential to the functioning of the army but were often caught up in the same campaigns and disasters as combat troops.

Singapore and captivity

Your email says John arrived in Singapore in August 1941 with the 8th Division AASC. After Japan invaded Malaya in December 1941, Australian forces fought a retreat down the Malay Peninsula before the surrender of Singapore in February 1942.

One point worth noting: the statement that he “became a Prisoner of War on 20 March 1943” is likely inaccurate. Australian soldiers who surrendered at Singapore generally became POWs immediately following the surrender in February 1942. The date in the email may relate to a later administrative record or transfer rather than his original capture. The sources I found do not specify a 20 March 1943 capture date.

Transfer to Borneo

Many Australian POWs were moved from Singapore to Sandakan, in British North Borneo (now Sabah, Malaysia), where the Japanese used prisoners as labourers, particularly for construction and airfield work. Historical accounts describe extremely harsh conditions, worsening food shortages, disease, and brutal treatment of prisoners.

The records I found confirm that John died in Borneo on 20 March 1945, aged 30.

The Virtual War Memorial specifically records his cause of death as illness.

Sandakan and the tragedy of 1945

John died only a few months before the end of the war. By early 1945 conditions at Sandakan had deteriorated catastrophically. The camp became associated with what are now known as the Sandakan Death Marches, one of the worst wartime tragedies involving Australian servicemen. Thousands of Allied POWs died in captivity in North Borneo.

I cannot confirm from the sources whether John personally took part in one of the death marches, but he was in the Sandakan/Borneo POW system and died there on 20 March 1945.

Burial and memorials

An interesting correction to the family email concerns his memorial.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission records John Locke as commemorated on the Labuan Memorial, Malaysia (Panel 21) rather than buried in an identified grave.

This is common for many POWs who died in Borneo and whose individual graves could not later be identified with certainty.

The Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour also records his death in Borneo on 20 March 1945.

The memorial window

The family email states that a memorial window was installed in Saint Michael’s Anglican Church, Sandakan, and dedicated on 24 April 2005, with family members attending. That detail comes directly from the family correspondence and was not independently verified in the sources I searched, but it is entirely consistent with the commemorative efforts associated with Sandakan POWs mentioned in the email.

A concise timeline

• 4 May 1914 – Born, Turramurra, NSW.
• 26 Apr 1941 – Enlisted, service number NX2899.
• Aug 1941 – Arrived in Singapore with AASC (per family correspondence).
• 1942 – Became a POW after the fall of Singapore. (General historical context; exact capture date not specified in the records found.)
• Later transferred to Borneo/Sandakan as a POW labourer.
• 20 Mar 1945 – Died in Borneo, aged 30.
• Commemorated on the Labuan Memorial, Malaysia.