An American family whose father was in the United States Navy is looking for relatives of an Australian family whose father was Thomas Martin.
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The USN lad was aboard the USS Houston when it was lost in the battle of the Sundra Strait along with HMAS Perth. He survived and was taken prison of war where he met Tom.
Tom's full name was Thomas Gregory Martin and he was born on March 27, 1904 in Timaru, New Zealand, but was living in Taree, NSW when he enlisted at Paddington on July 29, 1941. He was discharged on January 22, 1946.
Tom's service number was NX 40074 and he was with the 3 Reserve Motor Transport Company.
When a POW, he was held in Kanchinaburi, Thailand.
He was one of many who worked on the Burma Railway, however he worked on the south end of the railway rather than the northern part of Burma, and was held back at Kanchinaburi to work on the trucks in the Japanese motor pool. This may have saved his life as many of those who went on into the jungles of Thailand and Burma to build the railway, never survived.
Tom lived at the Brown's Hill (now called Browns Creek) area, Taree, his wife was Daphne and their three children were Greg, Marlene and Wayne Edgar.
Tom died of tuberculosis not many years after the war, but Daphne lived for many more years and she and the mother of the American family wrote frequently.
After Daphne's death Marlene kept up the correspondence for awhile.
When the American mother died in her 90s in 2011, she hadn't heard from the Australian family for quite a few years.
Marlene has passed away but it is hoped Greg and Wayne Edgar are still alive.
If there is anyone who knew the family or knows of relatives can you please contact the Manning River Times by perhaps leaving an email address or phone number and they will pass the information on to me.
I will be in touch immediately.