Arthur James Sargeant (1912 - 1942)

Born 10 Nov 1912 in Terang, Victoria, Australia

Ancestors

Died 1 Jul 1942 at age 29 in At Sea

Biography

Arthur Sargeant was a Prisoner of War during World War II.

Arthur Sargeant died as a prisoner of war on the Montevideo Maru during the Second World War.

Arthur James Sargeant was born in 1912 at Terang, VIC, the son of Samuel Sargeant and Ellen Cantwell.

He enlisted in the Australian Army for overseas service at Caulfield, VIC on 07 Jun 1940 as a Private (VX24120), having completed his attestation form at Geelong, VIC. At the time he was single, a taxi driver and was living at Lorne, VIC. He had dark brown hair and hazel eyes.

He was initially identified for the 2/8th Field Coy, Royal Australian Engineers Motor Transport, but was posted to the 2/22nd Bn on 31 Jul 1940.

He entrained from Victoria to Sydney on 11 Mar 1941, embarked in Sydney on HMT "Katoomba" on 12 Mar 1941 for Rabaul, New Britain in the Territory of New Guinea, disembarking there on 28 Mar 1941. His Battalion was to form the core of "Lark Force" to defend the Territory.

He was admitted to hospital several times during Dec 41 - Jan 42 with pyrexia (fever) and malaria and was still there when the Japanese invaded.

After the Japanese invasion of 23 Jan 1942, he was captured at the Kokopo hospital and became a Prisoner of War, initially held at Rabaul. Japanese records show him as part of C Coy.

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.

Sources

• Birth - Victoria BDM Birth index - Event: births; Registration number: 35214 / 1912; Family name: SARGEANT; Given name(s): Arth Jas; Place of event: TERANG, VIC, Australia; Personal detail Mother's name: Ellen; Mother's family name at birth: CANTWELL; Father's Name: Saml

• WW2 Australian Army Service File - National Archives of Australia - SARGEANT ARTHUR JAMES : Service Number - VX24120 : Date of birth - 10 Nov 1912 : Place of birth - TERANG VIC : Place of enlistment - CAULFIELD VIC : Next of Kin - SARGEANT S - http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/AutoSearch.asp?O=I&Number=6227927

• Deaths - Family Notices (1945, October 12). Camperdown Chronicle (Vic. : 1877 - 1954), p. 7 (Afternoons.). Retrieved April 1, 2020, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article65433952

• Roll of Honour - Australian War Memorial - https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1698879

• Commonwealth War Graves Commission - https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2616256/sargeant,-arthur-james/