P03236.308 Accession Number: P03236.308

Description

Studio portrait of two Australian ex-Prisoners of War (POW), 2812 Trooper (Tpr) Reuben John Blechynden, Imperial Camel Corps, from Bridgetown, Western Australia, on left, and 1351 Signaller (Sig) Duncan Leslie Richardson, 1st Light Horse Regiment, from Broken Hill, NSW, on right. Tpr Blechynden enlisted on 1 March 1916 at the age of 21 and embarked for overseas with the 10th Light Horse Regiment on 17 July 1916 aboard RMS Mongolia. He was captured at Gaza on 19 April 1917 and held as a POW in Yarbaschi, Amanus District, Turkey. On 7 August 1918, he wrote "Shall be very pleased when money and parcels sent come to hand. P.A. O'Hare of the 3rd Company I.C.C. [Imperial Camel Corps] an Australian captured on 19/4/17 is here with me, he has not received any letters whatever since being here, although we other Australians who were captured the same time have been receiving letters from home at intervals for 8 or 9 months." Tpr Blechynden was repatriated to Cairo on 28 November 1918, to England on 17 December and arrived back in Australia on 17 March 1919. Sig Richardson enlisted on 20 June 1915 at the age of 23 and embarked for overseas on 12 October 1915 aboard HMAT Pera. He was captured in the Romani Canal Zone on 4 August 1916 and held as a POW in Turkey. While at Afion Kara Hissar, Turkey, he wrote on 7 July 1918 "Am keeping well, Another food parcel has arrived safely in good condition. Things have changed a lot and I am in a much better camp and parcels and money seem to be arriving very well now, but I am still in the same trouble about letters. I have had three in twelve months. I think my people are writing a little more than that." Sig Richardson was repatriated to Alexandria on 21 November 1918, to England on 17 December and arrived back in Australia on 26 March 1919. One of a series of over 400 photographs sent by Australian POWs in German camps to Miss M. E. Chomley, Secretary, Prisoners Department, Australian-British Red Cross Society, London. Original album housed in AWM Research Centre at RC00864, Album image number 366.