3rd HAA Regiment RA, POW Singapore 1941 to 1945

Discussion in 'Prisoners of War' started by gryalln1969, Nov 11, 2015.

  1. Enigma1003

    Enigma1003 Member

    Roy,
    Camp, Aug44-Nov44 is LINSON CAMP (202Km camp)
    N Paton full name is Nakom Paton

    Col Owiran is Lt. Col OWTRAM of 137 Field Regiment.
    Tamakan is Col. Williamson again.

    Mike
     
  2. Dannemois

    Dannemois Member

    Thanks Mike
     
  3. Dannemois

    Dannemois Member

    Mike,
    Sorry to trouble you but hopefully one last question: Did the camp '248 KM camp' have a name?

    Regards, Roy
     
  4. Enigma1003

    Enigma1003 Member

    Roy,

    I am not sure about this.
    The nearest camp I can see to 248km is Krian Kri (also called Krieng Krai) but that is listed as 250Km.

    Mike

    (its never a trouble to help those genuinely interested to keep the mens story alive)
     
  5. Dannemois

    Dannemois Member

    Thanks once again Mike.
     
  6. Dannemois

    Dannemois Member

    Hi Mike
    Following the list of camps Gnr Harris was POW for some reason I can not find any info on Chunkai camp; do you happen to know the distance of this camp from Ban Pong and what kind of work Gnr Harris be expected to do at the camp.
    Roy
     
  7. Enigma1003

    Enigma1003 Member

    Roy,

    Many camps had alternative spelling. Try CHUNGKAI.
    It is 60Km from Nong Pladuk , (57Km) from Ban Pong.
    Chungkai was a major camp.

    It is just 7km from Kanchanaburi, which is the CWGC Cemetery.

    Mike
     
  8. AndySweeney

    AndySweeney Member

    Hello all :) . Really interesting reading all of this. My grandfather was Cornthwaite, Leslie, service number 845929. It seems that he was in 3rd HAA when Singapore fell. He died when I was just three, but he never really spoke about it afterwards anyway so our information is sketchy. All I really know is that he was married to a local in Singapore (my grandmother) and they were separated when he was imprisoned. I think that he was in Burma. After the war, possibly motivated by wanting to see things through (I suspect), he went back to Singapore as a prison guard at Changi, where he witnessed some of the worse officers meeting their fate.

    Is the best starting place Kew? I had a look on cofepow and he is listed on there but I am struggling to find any narrative / battery number etc that would allow me to try to learn more about his experiences. :)
     
  9. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    Tricky Dicky and AndySweeney like this.
  10. AndySweeney

    AndySweeney Member

    Many thanks sir!! I think my mum has a couple of his documents lurking somewhere (and his football medals from when he won the Malaya Cup in the 1950s :D ) but definitely not complete!
     
  11. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    Hi Andy,

    The National Archives will have some POW documents for Leslie, his Index card for example and possibly a liberation questionnaire. There are a lot of listings and nominal rolls available on Find My Past in relation to POW status. The only document I have on my computer is part A-D of WO392/23 a nominal roll of those held by the Japanese.

    Leslie's entry does show his liberation date, perhaps something new to you, as 2nd September 1945 (Thailand). Hopefully, other members will know more on his unit etc.

    Good luck going forward.

    Steve

    WO392 A-D 2.jpg
     
    timuk and AndySweeney like this.
  12. Enigma1003

    Enigma1003 Member

    Hi Andy,
    A few pieces to get your search moving.

    He was 29th Battery, and was sent to the Siam Railroad on 10.10.1942 (maybe 15.10.42 according to another document).
    He was at 7th Branch camp of the THAI POW Camp which is Kanchanaburi.

    On his Regiment Roll he lists HIS grandfather as next of kin.
    On his Japanese Index card he lists John Varcoe.
    .
    .
    DSC_0696.jpg GBM_POW-GALLIP_1-1-2053_00676.jpg GBM_POW-GALLIP_1-1-2053_00677.jpg
     
    timuk, Buteman, AndySweeney and 2 others like this.
  13. AndySweeney

    AndySweeney Member

    Oooo many thanks!! Those are really helpful starting points! A bit too much family history coming out here... (!) . He was born three years before his mother married. He always listed "George" as his father (but it was in fact his maternal grandfather). John Varcoe was his sister's husband and the address was his home address. He was married to a Malay and many went to great lengths to conceal that from the Japanese as their wives were prisoners too and at risk of worse treatment if they were married to British soldiers. In this case though, it was probably a means of getting word home... his wife will have already known!

    I used to work for a Japanese bank so will get an old colleague to translate the text :)
     
  14. AndySweeney

    AndySweeney Member

    For anyone interested (!) the Japanese writing on the obverse reads "Aug 30, Showa-20yr (=1945): (He was) handed over to the Allied Forces in Bangkok." . I guess it took three days to process him.
     
  15. timuk

    timuk Well-Known Member

    Looking carefully at the Regimental Roll quoted by Enigma I think the OVL date does actually say 15.10.42.
    This is also the date given by the RA Roll
    upload_2018-12-29_22-38-26.png
    You may find reading this of interest:
    Death Railway

    Tim
     
    AndySweeney and Tricky Dicky like this.
  16. AnthonyOwen

    AnthonyOwen Junior Member

    hi all. I wonder whether anyone can help me, I am looking for Gunner Enoch Joseph Smith 1810686 who was also in 3 RAA RA and he was killed/died in 114km camp as far as I am aware. if anyone can help I would gratefully appreciate it. many thanks in advance, Anthony.
     
  17. timuk

    timuk Well-Known Member

    Gunner E J Smith, Service Number should read 1810689.
    CWGC Concentration Report shows him originally buried Kukkyre Cemetery then reburied Thanbyuzayat Military Cemetery.

    upload_2019-12-28_15-50-26.png

    I'll try and find out where Kukkyre was.

    Tim
     
    AnthonyOwen and Buteman like this.
  18. papiermache

    papiermache Well-Known Member

    According to the Bureau of Record and Enquiry roll ( WO361/2101 at Kew ) , prepared in Changi, Singapore ( a long way from Burma and the railway ), Gnr Smith EJ 1810689 served with 30 H.A.A. Battery of 3 H.A.A. Regiment. His POW registration card might have the cause and place of death on 29th December 1943.

    WO361:2101 page 43.jpg
     
    Enigma1003, AnthonyOwen and timuk like this.
  19. AnthonyOwen

    AnthonyOwen Junior Member

    Thank you so much tim for your research, I have tried searching for him but it all comes down to going to Kew, what you have found is amazing, I have found out by going on forces war records that he was in captivity for a while and died of malnutrition. once again thank you so much. Ant
     
  20. timuk

    timuk Well-Known Member

    Gunner E J Smith.
    This is becoming intriguing.
    The Royal Artillery Roll compiled by the BRE (Bureau of Record and Enquiry) has his entry as M-PAD (Missing Padang) indicating that he escaped from Singapore (either officially or unofficially) to Sumatra and was making his way to Padang.
    upload_2019-12-30_14-31-20.png
    His Japanese Index Card shows he was not captured (or at least registered) as a POW until 17 Mar 42.
    Sm-So Database
    Those captured in Singapore show date of capture as 14 Feb and those captured in Java show 8 Mar. It would appear that he initially evaded capture before being sent to Thailand/Burma. The BRE obviously lost track of him until the report of his death as shown by Papiermache at #58. This indicates that he would have gone direct to Thailand/Burma by sea from Sumatra/Java.
    There may be more information in this file at the National Archives:
    upload_2019-12-30_14-47-48.png

    Tim
     
    papiermache likes this.

Share This Page