Locals who died as prisoners of the Japanese during WWII

VX44281 Albert 'Blue' Dewsbury was born in Sale on December 3, 1919 and enlisted in the 2nd Australian Imperial Force (AIF) on July 4, 1940. He was assigned to the 2/2nd Pioneer Battalion and served in the Middle East. After Japan entered the war, his unit was sent to the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). He was reported as missing in action on April 30, 1942 and word was eventually received that he had become a Prisoner of War (POW) of the Japanese. Blue Dewsbury died on September 12, 1944 when the Japanese ship carrying him and other POWs between Singapore and Japan was sunk. He was one of the over 600 people who died. Blue Dewsbury was 24 years old.