HARPLEY, JOHN CHARLES Rank: Corporal Service No: NX52259 Date of Death: 20/07/1945 Age: 28 Regiment/Service: Australian Infantry A.I.F. 2/20 Bn. Panel Reference: Panel 13. Memorial: LABUAN MEMORIAL Additional Information: Son of Arthur John and Gladys Ivy Harpley, of Parkes, New South Wales.http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2562004/HARPLEY,%20JOHN%20CHARLES
John Charles Harpley 1917–1945 BIRTH 29 JAN 1917 • Cargo, New South Wales, Australia DEATH 20 AUG 1945 • Ranau, Borneo Name: John Charles Harpley Birth Date: 29 Jan 1917 Death Date: 20 Jul 1945 Cemetery: Eugowra Cemetery Burial or Cremation Place: Eugowra, Cabonne Shire, New South Wales, Australia Has Bio?: N URL: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=152852722&ref=acom TD
Studio portrait of NX52259 Corporal (Cpl) John Charles Harpley, 2/20th Battalion (left) and an unidentified soldier. Cpl John Harpley enlisted in Paddington, NSW, on 2 July 1940 and was one of over 2000 Allied prisoners of war (POW) held in the Sandakan POW camp in north Borneo, having been transferred there from Singapore as a part of E Force. The 500 Australian and 500 British POWs who made up E Force, left Changi on 28 March 1943, on board the S.S. DeKlerk arriving at Berhala Island (adjacent to Sandakan Harbour) on 15 April 1943. The POW's were held there until 5 June, when they were taken by barge to Sandakan. The next day they were transferred to the 8 Mile Camp, which was about half a mile from the B Force compound. Corporal Harpley, aged 28, died as a prisoner of the Japanese on 20 July 1945. He was the son of Arthur John and Gladys Ivy Harpley, of Parkes, NSW. He is commemorated on the Labuan Memorial Panel 13. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P03251.041
Port Dickson, Malaya. July 1941. Informal portrait of NX52259 Corporal John (Johnie) Charles Harpley, 2/20th Battalion wearing a towel on his head. Cpl Harpley had a skin rash which prevented him from shaving for a considerable period of time. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P02959.002 NSW. Informal portrait of NX52259 Corporal John (Johnie) Charles Harpley, 2/20th Battalion taken on enlistment. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P02959.001 NSW. Paybook photograph, taken on enlistment, of NX52259 Corporal John Charles Harpley, 2/20th Battalion, Australian Infantry. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P02467.616
