David Lord and World War II

David Guy Lord was born at Rosebay in New South Wales on 29 November 1920. On 30 November 1939, David was living with his aunt, Nora Hutton, at 39 Darling Point Road, Darling Point when he initially enlisted in the army. Nora Hutton was listed as his next of kin. David was employed as a clerk working at Colonial Sugar Co, O’Connell Street, Sydney. He was now nineteen years old.

The medical examination form prepared when he first enlisted described David as being 5 foot 7 inches tall and weighing 133 pounds. His minimum chest measurement was 30 and a half inches while his maximum chest measurement was 35 inches. David's hearing was declared normal and his eyesight was 6/6 (known as 20 /20 vision today).  Marks or scars were declared as a scar for an operation for appendicitis plus a scar on the back of his neck.  A second form completed in July 1940 noted that he had brown hair and blue eyes. 

David Lord had been a member of the school cadets at Scotch College in Sydney. On 30 November 1939 he enlisted as a signalman in the Second Division Signals. In the lead up to the Second World War the Second Division was primarily an army militia. In 1939 it was commanded by Major General Iven Mackay. When David enlisted the division's brigades had been reduced from four battalions to three. When the Japanese entered the war, members of the Second Division were engaged in home defence, particularly around Sydney but this was later broadened to Australia. Men in the Second Division units undertook short training courses.

2nd Div. Signalmen with a wireless transmitter 1937

Units of the Second Division were located in and near Parramatta. David Lord completed 76 days of continuous signals training from 21 February 1940 to 6 May 1940. Signalmen learned to operate signal equipment as well as to install and maintain telephone lines. In the field this was often needed to be completed under enemy fire.

On 25 July 1940 David was discharged from the Second Division Signals to enlist in the AIF (Australian Infantry Forces). He was back in Paddington to complete a new set of Attestation forms.

By this time David was aged 20 years and seven months and his aunt's address had changed to 24 Cooper Street, Double Bay. David had another medical examination at the Battalion Drill Hall, Park Road, Paddington on 26 June. He signed the Oath of Enlistment on 11 July. In the Second Division Signals David's service number was N53362. Now that he was in the AIF he had a new service number - NX58681.

David Lord was now a member of the Australian Army Service Corps Headquarters (AASC HQ) 8th Division. On 11 July 1940 the new recruits marched to the army camp at the Sydney Showgrounds. The Service and Casualty Form provides a record of his movements though it can be difficult to decipher the writing and abbreviations - especially as more than one person recorded the information.

On 13 August David Lord was taken on strength of the the 8th Supply Column at Liverpool. On 9 December he was detached to the School at the GMH property at Pagewood. 

During the war GMH continued to manufacture one type of car for the domestic market but primarily manufactured vehicles and equipment for military use. The factory produced aeroplane engines, tanks, large attack guns, machine guns, air-frame assemblies, shell and bomb cases and other military components. 

On 21 December David was back at the Central Military Training School at the Sydney Showgrounds. His next location was the Rosebery Army Camp at Rosebery Racecourse which was his base until the end of July. On 28 March David was appointed to Special Group III where his position was acting lance corporal.

On 29 July 1941 the Dutch ship, Johan Van Oldenbarnevelt, was used to transport members of the 8th Division to Singapore. Two other ships in the convoy were TSS Katoomba and Marnix Van St Aldegonde and their escort ship initially was HMAS Sydney, later replaced by HMAS Canberra. The ships sailed to Melbourne, then to Fremantle before continuing the journey to Singapore where they disembarked on 15 August.

On 21 September 1941 David Lord was attached to the Motor Launch School. Singapore was an island, although there was a causeway into Malaya, and motor launches played a significant role in evacuating people from Singapore when the Japanese troops invaded the island in February 1942.There were several types of harbour defence launches. Motor launches were also used in ferrying troops from to shore or evacuating troops to ships in Malaya.

The information about what happened next in regard to David and the other troops is sparse. Some members of the 8th Division were sent to Malaya in February 1941 after arriving from Australia aboard the Queen Mary. These men crossed the causeway and trained in an area in southern Jahore.  When these soldiers left Australia they expected to be travelling to the Middle East.  They therefore had to become used to conditions in the jungle and military vehicles had to be repainted green instead of yellow for camouflage. Many of the men became bored with waiting for something to happen but then on 6 December 1941 the first Japanese ships in the area were sighted.

However most members of the 18th Division, including David, were held back in Singapore until 1942. The records indicates that he was definitely in Malaysia on 16 February 1942 after the Japanese had invaded part of the country. He was declared as Missing. A stamp on the card for 3 July 1943 states that he was a Prisoner of War. On the 5th September 1945 the army record states that David Lord was 'recovered from the Japanese at Changi PW camp'.

On 18 September 1945 David Lord was aboard HMAT Duntroon on his way back to Sydney. He was 'discharged at own request on compassionate grounds' from the army on 21 November 1945.

David Lord married Jean Walmsley at St Stephen's Church in Macquarie Street on 30 October 1945.

References:

David Guy Lord service record - NAA

 Collie, Craig. On Our Doorstep (2020)

 Ewer, Peter. The Long Road to Changi (2013)

2nd Division (Australia) - Wikipedia

Photo of Signalmen 1937 - Australian War Memorial  

GMH military commitments for 1941 in Australia - Article on the Oldsmobile

"F F" - Johan Van Oldenbarnevelt - Convoy to Singapore

A Bitter Fate: Australians in Malaya and Singapore - Anzac Portal