About this objectFramed portrait of Ray in later life wearing collared shirt and jumper. Framed with a wooden frame with gold trim. Brass plaque attached to bottom of portraits on the frame with "NX59902
W02 Raymond Charles MYORS
2/19 Battalion AIF POW WW2".
MakerAnne Marie Ingham
Medium and MaterialsAcrylic on canvas
Subject and Association DescriptionWith other World War 2 former soldiers, Ray Myors travelled to Singapore, Malaya and Thailand in 1982 to where Ray had served as a Warrant Officer in 2/19, AIF, and where he was a POW, in Changi and on the Burma Railway. Ray’s story, told in the book “Prisoners of War. Australians Under Nippon”, relates how the prisoners felt they could “put up with anything” as long as they knew that Australia hadn’t been captured by the Japanese. He felt that the fact that he had been young and fit helped him to survive, as well as the fact that he was newly married with a son and he was determined to survive. The Red Cross parcels, when the prisoners actually received these, contained Palmolive soap and Ray would only ever use that brand and his wife, Ivy, still uses it. Ray commented that he was astonished that after the prisoners’ release, there were very few incidents of revenge and that he was not bitter towards the Japanese. He suffered nightmares but felt that “family things mattered” and that “time cures”. When the POWs returned to Molong, there was a “Welcome Home” gathering at the Showground. Ray’s son, Phillip, aged four, greeted his father with the words, “Dad, we’ve got a photo at home of someone just like you.”
Dedicated to Raymond Charles Myors
Service: 2/19 Battalion AIF WW2
Service Number: NX59902
Date of Birth: 27 March 1919
Place of Birth: Molong NSW
Next of Kin: Kathleen Myors
Date of Death: 16 June 1989
Rank: Warrant Officer 2