hi all doing some research into this person pte leslie fletcher r.a.o.c 10532128 executed by the japanese in malaya 1942 can any one offer any info ? i know he was one of four people executed, the others being cpl bevington and pte page (australian) and pte walters (east surrey rgt). cheers sketch
FLETCHER, LESLIE Initials: L Nationality: United Kingdom Rank: Private Regiment/Service: Royal Army Ordnance Corps Age: 21 Date of Death: 13/02/1942 Service No: 10532128 Additional information: Son of Samuel and Elizabeth Fletcher. Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead Grave/Memorial Reference: Column 109. Memorial: SINGAPORE MEMORIAL
Hello Sketch do you have the exact spellings of the name if you check Geoffs search engine for Walters East Surrey nothing shows if you have a play around you might find more info Geoff's 1939-47 Search Engine also perhaps try for Page Australian War Memorial - Search the Roll of Honour
Leslie Fletcher Given Initials: L Rank: Private Death Date: Feb 1942 Number: 10532128 Birth Place: Denbighshire Residence: Cheshire Branch at Enlistment: Other Corps Theatre of War: Malaya Regiment at Death: Royal Army Ordnance Corps Branch at Death: Other Corps
From the East Surrey's history: There is also the tragic story of Private H. Waters who had been been recaptured with three companions after trying to escape. In the presence of five of their officers, the four men were shot by a firing party of Indians who had deserted to the Japanese. The men refused to be blindfolded, and faced their executioners unflinchingly and died proudly. The date below is more in keeping with an escape from a camp. Presumably Pte Fletcher's date of death is that of the day he was posted missing? Name: WATERS, HAROLD Initials: H Nationality: United Kingdom Rank: Private Regiment/Service: East Surrey Regiment Unit Text: 2nd Bn. Age: 23 Date of Death: 02/09/1942 Service No: 6140961 Additional information: Son of Edmund William and Hannah Waters, of King's Heath, Birmingham. Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead Grave/Memorial Reference: 10. D. 4. Cemetery: KRANJI WAR CEMETERY No Bevington listed in that part of the world, though.
Sketch, we have a bit of a problem (or I'm looking at something completely different): Name: FLETCHER, ERIC Initials: E Nationality: United Kingdom Rank: Private Regiment/Service: Royal Army Ordnance Corps Age: 21 Date of Death: 02/09/1942 Service No: 7591250 Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead Grave/Memorial Reference: 10. D. 5. Cemetery: KRANJI WAR CEMETERY
There are only two Australians in Kranji for 02/09/1942, one of whom could be 'Cpl Bevington'? Name: BREAVINGTON, RODNEY EDWARD Initials: R E Nationality: Australian Rank: Private Regiment/Service: Australian Army Ordnance Corps Age: 38 Date of Death: 02/09/1942 Service No: VX63100 Additional information: Son of Edward Kindred Breavington and Fanny Breavington; husband of Margaret Breavington, of Fairfield, Victoria, Australia. Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead Grave/Memorial Reference: 3. A. 2. Cemetery: KRANJI WAR CEMETERY The other entry is a Pte Gale: Name: GALE, VICTOR LAWRENCE Initials: V L Nationality: Australian Rank: Private Regiment/Service: Australian Army Ordnance Corps Unit Text: A.I.F. 10 Ord. Wksp. Age: 23 Date of Death: 02/09/1942 Service No: VX62289 Additional information: Son of Arthur Edward and Annie Gale, of Balwyn, Victoria, Australia. Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead Grave/Memorial Reference: 2. E. 17. Cemetery: KRANJI WAR CEMETERY Sketch - what's the source of your list?
hi all i'm researching this for my website Home - BUCKLEY AT WAR Pte. Fletcher was my friends great uncle.. i,ve been given a few photocopies of what seems to be a personal testimony by J.N. Lewis Bryan assistant chaplain general, far east. it says :- "we were taken by lorry to a spot near the sea and told we were to witness the execution of four of our men. they were Cpl Brevington A.I.F, Pte. Page A.I.F.,Pte Walters, East Surrey Regt., Pte Fletcher R.A.O.C. They had been taken by the I.J.A after attempting to escape in the first few weeks after capitulation. Cpl. Brevington and pte. fletcher were taken from roberts hospital - the former suffering from dysentry and malaria, only able to walk with a stick, and clad in hospital pyjamas." i also have a handwritten one by a person called alan dick. that says :- "they died with their eyes open while one of them read from the new testament as a japanese firing party slowly killed them with calculated misshots "
Nasty buggers. The recapture of Breavington, Fletcher E, Waters and Gale (it was him) sparked the Selarang Incident which may, in turn, have sparked their execution, if it wasn't already inevitable. There's also a page and a half on the execution in the book Surviving the Sword by Brian MacArthur. Regarding Leslie Fletcher, is he known to have been executed, or is it a case of misidentification with Eric? There were ordnance bases dotted around Singapore Island and some of these would have been overrun before the surrender on 15 Feb, tallying with Leslie's date of death of 13 Feb.
Im with Idler on this one, in that I think the Pte Fletcher who was executed was actually Eric Fletcher and not Leslie Fletcher. The AROH for Eric Fletcher shows that he lived in Hampshire Name: Eric Fletcher Given Initials: E Rank: Private Death Date: 2 Sep 1942 Number: 7591250 Birth Place: Malta Residence: Hampshire Branch at Enlistment: Other Corps Theatre of War: Malaya Regiment at Death: Royal Army Ordnance Corps Branch at Death: Other Corps The Private Leslie Fletcher that you are researching, was born in Wrexham District, but is showing as residing in CHeshire at the time of his death. His father was originally from Saltney. If you have an ancestry account, then Leslie Fletcher appears in 3 Family Trees, which indicate that he still has a brother / sister living. May be worth registering for the 14 day free trial and get some messages out to the owners of the family tree's. P ps, between 1910 & 1912, Leslie Fletcher's father Samuel lived at Anchor Row, Saltney aged 17.
thanks everyone . i'm looking into this for my friend. there is a living relative (my friends grandmother) who was leslie fletchers sister. she passed the original information to me. which i think she got from hawarden high school, who were tracing ex-pupils. Pte. Fletcher is listed on the Buckley war memorial which is in Flintshire. interesting to see him listed as residing in Cheshire.
Sketch, your best bet will be the Chester Records Office or Chester Library, and go through the newspaper Archives, for the weeks following his death.
