Anthony King Barraclough (1923 - 1942)

Born 25 Mar 1923 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Ancestors

Died 1 Jul 1942 at age 19 in At Sea

Biography

Tony Barraclough was a Prisoner of War during World War II.

Tony Barraclough died as a prisoner of war on the Montevideo Maru during the Second World War.

Anthony King Barraclough was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia on 25 March 1923, the son of Harry King Barraclough and Anne Elizabeth Makins. He preferred to be called Tony. His father (King) was ex-1st AIF and was probably part of the well known Optician firm in Sydney.

He enlisted in the Australian Army Militia at Paddington, NSW on 21 May 1941 as a Gunner (N270956) in the Royal Australian Artillery allocated to the 1 Anti Aircraft Brigade at North Head, Sydney, NSW. At the time he was single, an optical mechanic and was living at Kensington, NSW. He had brown hair and hazel eyes.

He embarked on HMAT "Neptuna" at Sydney for Rabaul, New Britain in the Territory of New Guinea on 06 August 1941, disembarking on 16 August 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.

On 17 December 1941 he was appointed a Specialist Gun Layer Group III.

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

After the Japanese invasion on 23 January 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 July 1942, en route from Rabaul to Hainan where he was destined for forced labour.

He was posthumously enrolled in the 2nd AIF as NX191480.

Sources

• Department of Justice, New South Wales, Registry of Birth, Deaths and Marriages: Birth.

https://familyhistory.bdm.nsw.gov.au/

• WW2 Australian Army Service File - National Archives of Australia - BARRACLOUGH ANTHONY KING : Service Number - NX191480 : Date of birth - 29 Mar 1922 : Place of birth - SYDNEY NSW : Place of enlistment - RECRUITING DEPOT E C NSW : Next of Kin - BARRACLOUGH HARRY - http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/AutoSearch.asp?O=I&Number=5609089

• Roll of Honour - Family Notices (1945, October 27). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 30. Retrieved May 25, 2020, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article27924905

• Roll of Honour - Australian War Memorial - https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1690089

• Commonwealth War Graves Commission - https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2615347/barraclough,-anthony-king/

• Virtual War Memorial Australia: https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/619152

• Anthony King Barraclough (The Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, https://www.powmemorialballarat.com.au/ : accessed 7 Mar 2024)