WW2 Australian POW Greece medals Westwater 2/5th General Hospital Prisoner War for Sale

WW2 Australian POW Greece medals Westwater 2/5th General Hospital Prisoner War For Sale

When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

WW2 Australian POW Greece medals Westwater 2/5th General Hospital Prisoner War:
$561.26

For sale - set of medals to a hospital orderly who was taken prisoner in Athens, Greece, as a result of staying behind to care for the Australian sick and wounded in 1941.

1939 -45 Star with unofficialclasp GREECE, Defence and War Medals (1939 – 45), Australian Service Medal 1939– 45, all named NX19640 J. WESTWATER. Court mounted for display itcomes with original medal award documents and copies of service records, P.O.W. card and newspaper articles with picture.

John Westwater was born on 5/2/1902 in Ryde, New SouthWales. On the outbreak of WW2 he was working as a wardsman when he enlisted atPaddington, N.S.W. into the 2/5th Australian General Hospital on 3/6/1940.

The 2/5th A.G.H was formed in May - June 1940, to be acompletely self-contained hospital of about 1200 beds, fully equipped withoperating theatres, wards, staff quarters and all ancillary items, togetherwith tents to house them. He sailed with the main body of the hospital staffsailed for the middle east on 20 Oct 1940 aboard the HMT Queen Mary to Bombay,India where they transhipped to smaller vessels for the trip to Palestine. Onarrival on 25/11/1940 they set up hospital in Rehovot.

Deployed to Greece and P.O.W.

On 4/4/1941 he deployed with the hospital to Ekali inGreece and within 3 days was fully operational receiving casualties fromnorthern Greece. Quickly the military situation became untenable and all femalestaff and many of the male staff were evacuated to Egypt, while the 165 malestaff left behind continued to look after their patients until they becamePOWs. As those patients recovered the staff were sent to various parts ofoccupied Europe, mostly to POW camps in Poland. 128 were repatriated toAustralia in October 1943, leaving 36 still in Europe.

Westwater was reported ‘missing in action’ on 21/5/1940being confirmed P.O.W. on 1/6/1941 being held at Stalag XXa in Torun, Poland.

He was part of a prisoner exchange being repatriated toEngland via Sweden in October 1943 and from there to Australia and discharge on24/8/1944. Post war he returned to nursing and died on 31/5/1986 in Gladesville,New South Wales

Please view my other collector\'s items for sale.I can combine postage, please just message me before payment and I can invoice you direct. If you are still offerding on items, let me know and we can discuss a later date for payment.