Roy William Power
1924 - 1946
Power was born on the 24th of October 1924, in the NSW township of Lithgow. Little is known of his life before the army, but he was working as a Cannister (Working with shipping containers). He enlisted into the Citizen Military Forces (CMF) on the 6th of January 1942 and was subsequently assigned to the Ammunition Company of the 2nd Division.
Less than a month after arriving with his new unit, Power received his first offense for being AWOL. Through out his service, Power’s received so many offense charges that I will not list them all individually, but rather in the form of Statistics at the end. At the end of July, he was reassigned to the Divisional HQ where he worked with the transport company, despite having zero driving experience. He remained here until December when he was once more moved, this time to No.5 Docks Depot, utilising his prior work as a Cannister. With the exception of his many infractions, little else of note happened whilst with the Docks Company, as he moved from Sydney to Darwin with the unit.
In late April 1944, Power transferred from the CMF to the regular army in the AIF. He continued to work with the Docks, but following the wars end was given the opportunity to serve abroad. He volunteered for and was accepted into the British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF) and set sail for Japan where he joined the 120th Transport Platoon AASC. In Japan, Power’s offenses worsened and he added theft to his list of crimes.
On the 12th of June 1946, he was arrested and following a court martial in August was found guilty of 2 charges. 1) Theft of public property. 2) Conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline. Power was sentences to 18 months hard Labor, followed by a dishonourable discharge from the army. However, before he could complete his sentence, Power’s escaped confinement at the BCOF Detention Barracks on the 4th of December. He stole a car and making his escape crashed the vehicle, fatally injuring his head. He was buried temporarily in Kure War Cemetery before being relocated late to Yokohama War Cemetery where he still rests.
Powers offenses throughout the war included:
- Absent Without Leave: Charged 22 times
- Failing to appear for parade: Charge 2 Times
- Conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline: Charged 2 times
- Deserting Picket post (Guard Duty)
- Disobeying orders
- Breaking out of barracks (Not including hiss break out on the 4th of December 1946)
- Stealing public property