Reginald Hart Guy (1903 - 1942)

Born 3 Aug 1903 in Brighton, Sussex, England, United Kingdom

Died 1 Jul 1942 at age 38 in At Sea

Biography

Reginald Guy was a Prisoner of War during World War II.

Reginald Guy died as a prisoner of war on the Montevideo Maru during the Second World War.

Reginald Hart Guy was born in 1903 at Brighton, Sussex, ENG, the son of Frederick and Ada Alice Guy.

He enlisted in the Australian Army for overseas service at Paddington, NSW on 02 Jul 1940 as a Private (NX55433). At the time he was single and an accountant. He gave no usual address in Australia and his next of kin was his eldest brother, Alfred William Guy of Brighton, ENG. He had fair hair and blue eyes.

After initial training he was taken on strength with 2/18th Bn on 09 Aug 1940, then transferred to 22 Anti Tank Coy, Royal Australian Artillery as a Gunner on 10 Sep 1940. He transferred to 17 Anti Tank Bty (less C Coy) on 09 Aug 1941.

He and the rest of the unit embarked in Sydney on 09 Sep 1941 on the HMT "Zealandia" for Rabaul, New Britain in the Territory of New Guinea, disembarking there on 30 Sep 1941 as part of Lark Force to defend the Territory. The unit was woefully under-prepared and under-equipped with the only rounds available for their guns being solid shot.

After the Japanese invasion on 23 Jan 1942 he was captured at Gasmata after a long overland trek and became a Prisoner of War, initially held at Rabaul. He hied 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.

Sources

• Birth - UK GRO BDM Birth index - GUY, REGINALD HART; TURLEY; GRO Reference: 1903 S Quarter in BRIGHTON Volume 02B Page 241

• WW2 Australian Army Service File - National Archives of Australia - GUY REGINALD HART : Service Number - NX55433 : Date of birth - 03 Aug 1903 : Place of birth - BRIGHTON ENGLAND : Place of enlistment - PADDINGTON NSW : Next of Kin - GUY ALFRED - http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/AutoSearch.asp?O=I&Number=4641338

• Roll of Honour - Australian War Memorial - https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1704595

• Commonwealth War Graves Commission - https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2615730/guy,-reginald-hart/

• Virtual War Memorial Australia: https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/630571

• The Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial: https://www.powmemorialballarat.com.au/prisoners-of-war/guy-reginald-hart/