3rd HAA Regiment RA, POW Singapore 1941 to 1945

Gnr, E J Smith , casualty card.

regards.......Graham.

 

Gunner E J Smith., became one of the British Sumatra Battalion.
Formed by Captain Dudley Apthorpe of the Royal Norfolk Regiment, from any men assembled off of escaping ships, but eventually captured around 17/03/1942.
500 of them were shipped to Burma on the 'England Maru', and initially worked the railroad alongside Australians at the Burma end of the line. (File very blurred, but just readable) .
Mike.

 

Well done Mike.
S Died
British Sumatra Battalion

Tim

 

Wow...thank you all so much for the time and effort taken to find all this out. I shall now put all this together and pass it on to my mother who knew he was on the death railway but nothing else. Many thanks. Ant

 

First time i have visited here and I am not totally sure what i am doing.

This is a new post not a response

I am looking for further details for
.Islwyn Rees Morgan DOB 7 October 1915
Service Number 2733816
Gunner with 3HAA WO345
Japanese Index plus description 36:Japanese Index Cards of Allied Prisoners of War and Internees from 1942 to 1945

I have scanned your forum and you all seem so wonderfully help full I wondered if I may press on your services. I actually live in Australia, so as much as I love going to Kew, its off the travel circuit at the moment.

Anymore information of what happened to him and where he was would be wonderful to find out. I know he returned a changed man, and no surprise there, but it would be good to complete his picture for our family.

Thanks every one - Nancy

 

Here is the Japanese Index Card:

and the reverse side:

Unfortunately the reverse has little info except his release date 20/8/30 which translates to 30 Aug 1945.
This is the entry in the Changi BRE Master Roll for the RA. I presume this is him - initials are different but the Service No.is correct.

OVL 26.6.42 is leaving Singapore Overland on 26 Jun 42. This would put him in the First Mainland Party going to the Thai/Burma Railway. This Party's job was to establish a base camp at Non Pladuk.
More info here: Death Railway

Tim

 

Good grief Tim, thank you so much!
It is certainly him as our family still live In Maesteg and Auntie Sophia live at that address for over 50 years
Was he on the railway for all those years and can I find out what camps he was in?

 

The best source for camps is the Liberation Questionnaire completed by most FEPOWs. If he completed one it will be held at the National Archives. A considerable number have been copied by COFEPOW and are available on their website. Unfortunately they don't appear to have copied all the 'M' s yet so I can't find one for Islwyn. This means a visit to he Archives to see whether one exists. There are members on this Forum who will copy it for you once the Archives reopen after the Corona virus shut down.
In case you haven't found your way round the link I provided see this, don't worry about the camp being spelt Nong Pladuk rather than Non Pladuk - various spellings for all the camps exist.
Nong Pladuc

Tim

 

What unbelievable torture
Thank you

 

Here is his entry from the file WO 392/25


The first date is the date of capture, the second is the date of liberation. TH is the place of liberation, in this case Thailand.

Tim

 

Tim, islwyn had a brother Ivor
Is there a card For the Ivor shown above to see if they were connected. The name is not unique (!) so this is a shot in the dark
Thanks Nancy

 

The card for the Ivor shown above has his date of birth as 18 Sep 20 and his Mother is shown as Elizabeth so I don't think they are related. Was Ivor a Japanese POW as well as this is what these cards refer to.

Tim

 

I'm not clear through the family what Ivor did through the war. He was born before Islwyn but i appreciate you having a look. Obviously he was not a POW
Do you know if there is there a war report i can read on how the 3rd HH actually ended up being captured.

. My uncle was stationed with the RAF in the east, again i have no idea what he did. Do you know of a reference site that i may search for Air Crew? He was not a prisoner.


Thank you so much - your assistance has been fantastic. You are fountain of knowledge Tim and i really appreciate you sharing you the information and searching capabilities.

Kind Regards from Queensland Australia - Nancy

 

Hi Nancy

Islywn was my grandad and me and my mum have managed to find some more war records. It would be great to share our findings with each other and also any other family history?

Thanks

Rich