Earle James Arrow (1923 - 1942)

Born 8 Jun 1923 in Parkes, New South Wales, Australia

Ancestors

Died 1 Jul 1942 at age 19 in At Sea

Biography

Earl Arrow was a Prisoner of War during World War II.

Earl Arrow died as a prisoner of war on the Montevideo Maru during the Second World War.

Earle James Arrow claimed he was born in 1922 but was actually born on 8 June 1923 at Parkes, NSW, the second son of Tasman John Arrow and Josephine Arrow.

He was living at Tichbourne, NSW (approx 10 km south of Parkes) in 1928 when he was very sick with gastritis^[1] and was attending school there in 1933.^[2] He gained entrance to the Forbes Intermediate High School from Tichbourne Primary at the end of 1936.^[3]

He enlisted in the Australian Army Militia at Paddington, NSW on 23 Apr 1941 as a Gunner (N109084) in the Royal Australian Artillery allocated to the 1 Anti Aircraft Brigade at North Head, Sydney, NSW. At the time he was single, a factory hand and was living at Moore Park, NSW. He had black hair and brown eyes.

He embarked on HMAT "Neptuna" at Sydney for Rabaul, New Britain in the Territory of New Guinea on 06 Aug 1941, disembarking on 16 Aug 1941 as part of the Rabaul Anti Aircraft and Anti Maritime Craft Defence.

Because the Battery was positioned high above the harbour to permit coverage of the sky and the guns could not be depressed to cover ships it was useless in the anti-maritime role. Requests for star shell in case of a night time attack were refused.

The battery was equipped with 2 WW1 vintage 3 inch guns which had never been fired before Japanese aircraft began attacking - one of the guns had a cracked breech and there was concern at what would happen when it was fired. Crews drilled without ammunition and of the 54 members only 1 officer and 2 of the sergeants had ever heard a 3 inch gun fired.

Nevertheless the battery performed well, managing to shoot down 1 confirmed Japanese plane.

The battery was destroyed ahead of the Japanese landing to prevent the guns falling into enemy hands.

After the Japanese invasion on 23 Jan 1942 he was captured at the Warangoi River and became a Prisoner of War, initially held at Rabaul.

He died on board the "Montevideo Maru" when it was torpedoed and sunk off the coast of the Philippines on 01 Jul 1942, en route from Rabaul to Hainan where he was destined for forced labour.

He was posthumously enrolled in the 2nd AIF as NX191455.

Sources

1. ↑ Tichbourne. (1928, September 6). Western Champion (Parkes, NSW : 1898 - 1934), p. 13. Retrieved May 25, 2020, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article113533714
2. ↑ Tichborne Junior Farmers (1933, September 15). Western Champion (Parkes, NSW : 1898 - 1934), p. 11. Retrieved May 25, 2020, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article113512850
3. ↑ PERMITS TO ENROL (1936, December 4). The Forbes Advocate (NSW : 1911 - 1954), p. 6. Retrieved May 25, 2020, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article219517660

• Department of Justice, New South Wales, Registry of Birth, Deaths and Marriages: Birth. ARROW, JAMES E; 16548/1923; TASMAN J; JOSEPHINE; PARKES. https://familyhistory.bdm.nsw.gov.au/

• WW2 Australian Army Service File - National Archives of Australia - ARROW EARL JAMES : Service Number - NX191455 : Date of birth - 08 Jun 1922 : Place of birth - PARKES NSW : Place of enlistment - RECRUITING DEPOT E C NSW : Next of Kin - ARROW TASMAN - http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/AutoSearch.asp?O=I&Number=5608791

• Roll of Honour - Family Notices (1945, November 17). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 30. Retrieved May 25, 2020, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17959993

• Roll of Honour - Australian War Memorial - https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1712034

• Commonwealth War Graves Commission - https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2615325/arrow,-earl-james/

See also:

• Virtual War Memorial Australia: https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/618447