POWs bonded in life and in death

Harold Stephen Kildey (known as Mick Kildey) passed away on February 28 last year.

On March 5, his ashes were interred at Lake Macquarie Memorial Park at Ryhope.

Two months later, Mr Kildey's good mate Ken Collins was laid to rest nearby in the park.

Mr Kildey's daughter, Deborah Kelly, said the links between the men were extraordinary.

"Mr Collins enlisted with my dad, he was captured in Singapore with my dad, and they went to Japan together as POWs," Ms Kelly said.

"They had been in the same army medical unit, and were the best men at each other's weddings, and remained close friends all their lives."

Mr Kildey had grown up at Teralba and Booragul, and was living on the Gold Coast when he passed away aged 91.

Mr Collins had lived at Pelican.

"It was nice that after all those years they should be laid to rest together," Ms Kildey said.

Mr Kildey was aged just 20 in 1941 when he set sail with the Second Australian Imperial Force to fight in World War II.

He left behind his 18-year-old bride, Una Stewart, whom he'd married just a few weeks before his departure.

He saw active service in Malaya and Singapore with the ill-fated 8th Australian Division.

"Dad became a prisoner of war and for the next 3½ years suffered many indignities, acts of brutality and starvation," Ms Kelly said.

Originally housed at the infamous Changi Prison, in Singapore, Mr Kildey was later shipped to Japan and forced to work in coal mines.

In 1945, Mr Kildey witnessed the explosion of the atomic bomb at Nagasaki which helped to end the war. At the time, he weighed just 42 kilograms.

He returned to Australia and, after his retirement, contributed to several books about war.

He also spoke about his wartime experiences during Anzac Day commemorations at Varsity College, in Queensland.