Reginald Arthur Shaw (1914-1995)
Reginald Arthur Shaw, nicknamed Tim, was the youngest son of Dugal James ‘Jim’ and Mary Ann Shaw née Bunsell, born in Busselton on 22 September 1914 (reference). In 1923 when Reginald was 9, the family moved into their new house in Bunbury, built for them by the Bunnings Brothers at 12 Oakley Street (reference). It appears that the house number changed a few times, with records stating that the Shaw family lived at 11, 12 and 8 Oakley Street. His father, Jim, paid off the family’s house each week with the wages he earned working as an engine driver (reference).
Before the war, Reginald was employed on a casual basis for the Post Office and regularly delivered mail in South Bunbury and served in the Volunteer Fire Brigade (reference; reference). Reginald was one of the first in Bunbury to answer the call to arms after the declaration of World War Two, voluntarily signing up on 9 November 1939 at Northam (reference). He became a part of the 2nd Australian Infantry Force, serving in the 11th Battalion 6th Division (reference). A month later his engagement to Hazel Marjorie Ferres was announced in the papers, sealing his commitment to her before he left for war (reference). As part of the 2/11th, Reginald would have begun training at Northam before travelling to Greta in New South Wales to continue his military education (reference). In March 1940 he would have returned to Western Australia before departing for service from Fremantle on 20 April 1940 (reference).
The 2/11th arrived in the Middle East on 18 May 1940 and continued to train in Palestine. As part of the 2/11th, Reginald could have first seen action in Bardia on 5 January 1941, and fought in Tobruk on 21 and 22 January 1941. In April 1941 the 2/11th was in Greece before travelling to Crete (reference; reference). In May 1941 the allies were defeated by the Germans in the Battle of Crete, where many Australians were taken as Prisoners of War. This is probably where Reginald was taken as a Prisoner of War, as records state that he was captured by the Germans (reference), and is reported missing in Australian newspapers on 20 June 1941 (reference). If this is the case, he would have been interned in a makeshift camp in Greece before being transported by rail to one of the POW camps in Germany (reference). Reginald remained as missing until 14 July when it was suspected that he was now a Prisoner of War (reference). His family did not receive any definitive information until August when it was announced that he was a POW (reference).
His father, Jim, died in 1942, never knowing if his youngest son would make it back alive to Australia (reference). Fortunately, Reginald survived the harsh conditions of a POW camp and was discharged from military service on 17 October 1945, returning home to marry Hazel (reference). Reginald picked up from where he left his life, rejoining the Volunteer Fire Brigade, becoming their captain and restarted work as a labourer. In 1946 the couple’s first child, Alisa, was born before tragedy struck again with the death of Reginald’s mother, Mary Ann, that same year (reference). In the following years they had two more children, Patricia and their only son James Robert, who died on 14 June 1950 at just 4 years old (reference). In 1953 as captain of the Volunteer Fire Brigade, Reginald travelled to Bendigo for the Australian brigade Championships where they competed against other Australian Fire Brigades from 24 to 27 February (reference).
Reginald’s lifelong commitment to the Volunteer Fire Brigade and his community had him receive a National Order of Australia for his services. His award was announced in the Canberra times on 11 June 1984 as part of the Queen’s Birthday Honour List (reference).
On 6 June 1995 Reginald passed away at the Royal Perth Hospital and was interned in the Bunbury Cemetery four days later (reference).
This article was researched with the help of Reginald’s granddaughter for the Streets of Bunbury project.