Life Story for David John Barlow (McCullough)
August 10, 2020
When David John Barlow was born on February 25, 1916, in Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia, his father, Stanley Victor Barlow, was 22 and his mother, Olive Martha Barlow (nee Veale), was 23. His father, Stanley, abandoned his mother (Olive) and David in approx. 1916, and Olive filed for divorce through desertion in 1919. Olive married Charles McCullough in 1920, and young David took his step-father’s last name, McCullough, at some point during his childhood.
David married Vera May Cleary on January 18, 1937, in Seymour, Victoria, Australia. They had four children during their marriage (his first son died at birth).
On 11 June 1940, David enlisted in the Australian Army (Service Number VX30784) with the 2/10 Field Company Royal Australian Engineers. He departed for overseas service on 2 February 1941 as part of the 22nd Brigade from Sydney on board the Queen Mary. He disembarked in Singapore on 18 February 1941. He was promoted to the rank of Lt. Sergeant on 20 March 1941, and subsequently to Sergeant on 1 May 1941. In a letter from his commanding officer received after the war, it was noted that he was recommended for a promotion of Sergeant Major, a position he was acting in at the time of his death. (A subsequent request to the Australian Army for recognition of this promotion was denied.)
While the exact date of his death is unclear, David died in the Fall of Singapore around 11 February 1942 at the age of 25. We learned that he was wounded a few days earlier by a bomb blast where he sustained chest injuries. His body was never found, however he has a memorial marker in Kranji, Singapore.
Ancestry Life Story for my maternal grandfather. Father of Dawn Olive Nunn.
