Service: Army – 2/4th Anti-Tank Regiment
Service number: VX27292
Locality on Enlistment: Colac
Duration of Service: 17 Jun 1940 – 6 Jun 1942
Prisoner of War: Yes
Honours: None for display
Date and Place of Birth: 1 May 1921, Frostenden, Suffolk, England
Parents: James REEVE and Violet Anne REEVE
Spouse: None
School/s:
Occupation: Flax Mill Colac
Date and Place of Death: 6 Jun 1942 Tavoy, Burma (Myanmar)
Place of Burial: Thanbyuzayat War Cemetery A12 B19 Myanmar
NOTES: Arthur became a POW at Tavoy. At first the conditions for prisoners in Burma were adequate, if basic. All were tasked initially with building air fields. The Japanese control was fairly lax and the Australian commander Brigadier Arthur Varley established a relatively good working relationship with the Japanese. Despite this, prisoners who attempted to escape–as did eight men in June 1942,–were executed without trial, despite the protests of Australian officers. Arthur Reeve of Colac was one of the eight men executed, known as the “Tavoy Eight”.