Empress of Australia in Hong Kong 1945

Mon, 02/10/2020 - 17:26
Date picture taken
1945
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Janette Shrigley came home on this ship as a widow in 1945. Her husband was James Ralph Shrigley who was captured and imprisoned as a member of the Hong Kong Defence Volunteer Corp. He was tortured by the Japanese for refusing to reveal where he had hidden the Regimental Colours. He also gave his groundsheet to be used to remove soil dug out of escape tunnels. According to family info he was pushed from a 2nd floor window, but the Japanese record card says death was due to Beri Beri, which was crossed out and the word 'Suicide' written underneath.