I am also wondering if someone can help me with this Japanese POW card please. TURRELL, JOHN HENRY, T/187628, Royal Army Service Corps Regards Michael.
I cannot help much with the card but it appears from the RASC Pilot Roll ( WO361/2183) that he did not move away from Changi. His date of death is given by the Bureau of Record and Enquiry as 7th August 1943. He appears to have been diagnosed with colitis some two months before. John
Thanks for looking John. Sorry for this next stupid question is Changi a prison or place ? Regards Michael.
Michael, A narrative description of Changi I have found is: "40,000 men from the surrender of Singapore were marched to the northern tip of the island where they were imprisoned at a military base called Selerang, which was near the village of Changi. The British civilian population of Singapore was imprisoned in Changi jail itself, one mile away from Selerang. Eventually, any reference to the area was simply made to Changi." There were other POW camps on Singapore Island, as, for example, Sime Road, and River Valley Road, in Singapore the city and docks on the south of the island. John
Hi DEACS Driver John Henry Turrell T/187628 Captured Singapore 15/02/1942 to Thailand with "F" Force Train 7 24/04/1943 Died at Songkurai Camp 07/08/1943 of Diarrhoea (Japanese say Colitis) Now Buried at Thanbyuzayat (Burma) B3. B. 09 Alaska
Thanks also to Nekojita John's card as also been translated. On the front, John Henry Turrell's camp is stamped "Malay" On the back, he was ill from 昭和18 (1943) June 6 and died the same year, August 7th. Cause of death, 大腸炎 (colitis, as translated there). death location in Thailand, somewhere in Kanchanaburi (カンチャナブリ県), I'm having trouble deciphering the full location. 土葬 - buried, location ソニクライ? (sonikurai) He had probably been taken to work on the Burma railway.
