844593 Gunner Charles William HOOD, MiD, 9 Coast Regt. Royal Artillery: 21/02/1942

Hello I am trying to find out anything about my Great Uncle Charles William Hood who was killed in Singapore on the 21st February 1942. Age 25. He was a gunner in 9 Coast Regiment.
Sadly this is all I know about “Uncle Willy” and would love to know anything.

https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2133801/charles-william-hood/

 

Hayley,

Welcome aboard.

Your uncle appears in Post 2 under 'Men killed by the Japanese for escape activities !' in a large thread: CWGC - Additional Awards and Decorations citing an entry in: Page 5948 | Supplement 37808, 3 December 1946 | Lon... The London Gazette (official UK government notices).

If you search online with: "9 Coast Regiment" site:ww2talk.com it will reveal a good number of threads about individuals who were captured at Singapore. For the wider context of the surrender use "singapore" + "surrender" site:ww2talk.com

This website provides an outline of the regiment: 9 Coast Regiment RA - The Royal Artillery 1939-45

For a "starter" on the context see: Fall of Singapore - Wikipedia

He died six days after the surrender, which suggests he may have been wounded and died of his wounds - possibly not being treated properly.

You need to apply for his service record, which may be with the MoD or The National Archives (TNA). Details on a PM next.

 

Intriguing. The Casualty List listing C W Hood also has several other members of 9 Coast Regt with the same date of death. What is intriguing is that several of these have also been awarded a Mention in Despatches. I don't know the answer but I think I know someone who can help.

Tim

 

File WO 361/2090 at The UK National Archives is the BRE roll of 9th Coastal.

BRE was short for "Bureau of Record and Enquiry", an Allied POW organisation which recorded POWs and their movements, based in Changi, Singapore.

The screenshots are of the entries in the roll for Gnr Hood and his officer, Capt. Gordon.

According to the roll Gnr Hood was with "SPX" - ( the typing is very poor for the address of his father, possibly in Blackheath. )

An explanation of SPX is in the screenshot.

The leader of party SPX survived the war - see his WO 356/14 witness card - Capt. Gordon - who almost certainly gave the account of what happened, which led to the award of the decoration.

The whereabouts of Capt Gordon's affidavits are unknown to me.

Lists of all the M(SPX) could be recreated from the roll, but I have not done this.

 

Hello Hayley,

Read the thread here (especially from post #8 by Helen Bradford onwards). Please be warned that your uncle was not wounded; his fate was as a result of much darker action.

Help/Advice - Gunner Charles Hampton 9th Coast Regt Royal Artillery

Also see the attached image/document at Helen's post #10 here (you will see a surname you recognise in this sorry shocking tale).

Help/Advice - Gunner Charles Hampton 9th Coast Regt Royal Artillery

Always remember, never forget,

Jim.

 

Hayley,

Your great uncle's service records are currently held within the National Archives at Kew.
Here is a screenshot of the TNA catalogue entry, and the link to same is bellow.



Name: C W Hood . Service number: 844593 . Date of birth: 1 December 1916 . | The National Archives

If you wished to request them you can find advice on how to apply for them here:

Request Closed MOD Personnel Records

Whichever route you choose to take, whatever you wish to pursue, good luck with all.

Kind regards, always,

Jim.

 

If you follow the thread in post 5 above there is a link to this site:

https://9coastgunners1942.wixsite.com/website

At the site there is a typed document in "Word" which appears to be a partial transcription of the 9th Coast "missing" file maintained in London by the War Office branch "Casualty/ Prisoner of War" - although the transcription does not give the file reference.

The file is at The National Archives. There are statements by other witnesses which make reference to Gnr Hood.

"Catalogue description
Malaya: 9th Coast Regiment, Royal Artillery; missing personnel
Ordering and viewing options
This record has not been digitised and cannot be downloaded.

You can order records in advance to be ready for you when you visit Kew. You will need a reader's ticket to do this. Or, you can request a quotation for a copy to be sent to you.

Book a visit Request a copy
Reference: WO 361/350
Description:
Malaya: 9th Coast Regiment, Royal Artillery; missing personnel
Date: 1943 Apr 01 - 1946 May 31
Held by: The National Archives, Kew
Former reference in its original department: M 419 Enclosure 1
Legal status: Public Record(s)
Closure status: Open Document, Open Description
Access conditions: Open on Transfer
Record opening date: 18 October 2008 "

 

For some reason some of the dates in the transcript and on the website are incorrect.
Correct dates can be seen on Lt Pocock's LQ, which mentions Hood.
Pocock, Eric Innes
Can still not find the reason for the award of the MID,
It would seem that attributing Hood to Captain Gordon's Party is an error.

Tim

 

Here's the complete form Tim. How this one has been transcribed elsewhere on the web would, I think, readily lead to thinking of dates being out of kilter (me very much included; when I first read the transcription text they led me to think "that can't be right". The dates being largely out of chronological order, very much prompted by the format/questions on the form, and how any individual completing one interpreted them methinks).
And that's not a criticism of the good folks who did the work of going through the files and forms. They did the best with what was available to them at the time.

Kind regards, always,

Jim.

 

hello Hayley, I am a researcher in the period 1941-45 of the war in Singapore and Malaya - and have been researching events in detail for 25 years.For verification you can find my research documents of the 'COFEPOW' and 'Malayan Volunteers Group' websites under evacuation ships . I am in the final stages of completing a detailed ( it will be 15 or more pages) account of the lead up to and events war crimes that resulted in the deaths of Gnr William Hood, 844593, 9 Coast Regt.and many others ( it seem including my young NZ uncle serving in the 'Malayan Volunteers) on Pulau Bintan and also where they are now buried. If you would like to make contact on my email mncpether@gmail.com I will be happy to send you the final document before publication on the websites mentioned( for free of course). Michael Pether, Auckalnd, New Zealand

 

Michael,

Hayley has not logged on since September 2024, you could send her a Private Message (PM) as you have posted enough times.

 

Same. My granny's brother was Peter Keyes, 23, a Gunner, 9 coast regiment, killed in Singapore in 1943. I'd love to find a picture of him. Is ur uncle on the big memorial in singapore?

 

Cathy,

Hayley has not logged on since September 2024. I suggested Michael Pether try to contact her - no update alas.

I will send her a PM to check-in; she was only active for a few months in 2024.

 

Thankyou everyone for your guidance. I’m sorry I’ve not logged on more. Will do so from now on.

 

Hey Cathy, yes he is. I went there about 35 years ago with my grandfather, Uncle Willy’s very proud brother.

 

Aw wow. Must have been tough. Did you find willy's picture online or from home?