Inside St.James Church Buttermere is a very nice memorial to a 2nd Class Aircraftman Alan Edmond Catherall. Aircraftman 2nd Class CATHERALL, ALAN EDMOND Service Number 1143771 Died 23/10/1943 Aged 22 Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve Son of Cyril and Nora Catherall, of Loweswater, Cumberland. Buried at AMBON WAR CEMETERY Location: Indonesia Cemetery/memorial reference: 14. A. 2.
Captured Java 9/3/42. From Record Details Surname: CATHERALL First Name(s): Allan A Rank: A.C. Service No: 1143771 Service: AF Date of Capture: 09/03/1942 Unit: Unit not known Held: Held Java, Moluccas (Ambon) Died: Died Ambon (Liang) Date: 23.10.43 Buried: Buried Ambon Ca Database From Wiki: Ambon A large Far East prisoner of war camp was situated in the north near Liang. This was made up of British men of the 77th HAA, 3rd Kings Own Hussars and some RAF volunteers. The c.1000 men arrived in April 1943 and were marched from Ambon town over two days without food or water. The FEPOWs built the camp including a water pipeline. They were ordered to build an airfield and runway alongside the beach and cleared coconut trees for the task. They did all they could to sabotage construction. Conditions were horrendous and many men died due to disease, starvation and ill treatment by the Japanese. Many men also suffered blindness due to working chipping at the coral. Tim
The Lancashire Daily Post, Tursday, April 1st, 1943 Aircraftman Alan E Catherall (21), radio operator, RAF, of Sevenoaks, Davenham, Cheshire, is reported a prisoner in Jap hands. He is the eldest son of Mrs Nora Catherall and grandson of the late Mrs A Edmondson, of the Fish Hotel, Buttermere, Cumberland.
Cheers Tony, I found his mam and dad in the 1939 census living at "Sevenoaks", Residence Place: Northwich, Cheshire, England but didn't find Alan but there is a This record is officially closed wonder if that could be him ? Cyril Catherall Nora Catherall This record is officially closed. Christopher Catherall Eva Catherall Elizabeth A Catherall
Burial card held by the National Archives of Australia (www.naa.gov.au) The Ambon War Cemetery registration sheets are held in volumes 38-43 This item contains registration sheets for British and N.E.I (Netherlands East Indies) forces, and some unidentified Australian soldiers The entries in this item are arranged by plot, row and grave, with 16 graves in each row (eg, 7A1 to 7A16 = plot 7, row A, grave 1 to plot 7, row A, grave 16) They include some group burials.