Anzac spirit flows through Starling’s veins
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ANZAC Round holds special significance for Raiders hooker Tom Starling and his family.
Tom’s Great Grandfather, William John Starling, known as ‘Snow’, served in World War II in the 2/30th Unit of the Australian Infantry Battalion with the Australian Army.
William, from Parramatta in Western Sydney, was sent to Singapore and was captured by the Japanese and made a prisoner of war. William John Snow Starling.
William was sent to work by the Japanese on the infamous Burma railway, sometimes known as the Thai-Burma Railway and The Death Railway. Built by the Japanese Empire to support their forces in the Burma campaign during World War II, this 415kms of railway was the scene of suffering, heroism, courage and legend. It included such infamous places as Hellfire Pass and the Bridge on the River Kwai. Of the 61,000 Allied soldiers who were held prisoner and forced to work on the railway, over