AI/417 Lt. Colonel Andrew Karslake MURCOTT, MiD*, 12th Frontier Force Regiment

Hello,

I'm trying to track down the circumstances of the death of Lt. Col A.K. Murcott in Burma in 1945.
Casualty

He had been C.O. of the 8th Battalion, 12th Frontier Force Regiment until 4th March 1945 when he left "...to take up another appointment…".

The CWGC records his death as killed in action on 24th July 1945 in Burma. The CWGC record lists him as "Commanding" 5th/12th FFR however this battalion appears to have been in Iraq at the time. The confusion may have arisen because of Murcott's attachment to the 5th Battalion on being commissioned in 1924.

The 8th Battalion war diary only lists the date he left the unit, 4th March 1945, but gives no other details. The regimental history provided the quote "...to take up another appointment…" but again no further details.

He has a record at the British Library however I can't get to see this at the moment.

Any help gratefully received. Thank you.

Steve

 

Hi Steve

I am trying to trace Murcott’s last two years. There certainly is confusion. He definitely served with the 5/12 FF. his memorial plaque in his home village states his association with the 5/12.

We’re you able to find out any more

 

Hi Ivor,

Sadly no, and now research options have diminished under the lockdown.

Steve

 

Thanks for such a quick response and the Gazette references. Guess it’s another things we will have to put on hold. Do you have a particular interest in Murcott

 

Murcott is buried in a collective grave all with the same date of death, which included an RAF pilot & also a navigator. This led me to a thread on the navigator W.O. (Nav) Kenneth John CROUCH RAF of 221 Gp. Com.

CROUCH, Kenneth John
Warrant Officer, Navigator, 1430701, Royal Air Force, 3rd T.A.F. No 221 Group Communication Flight, Sulegon, Burma. Only son of Mrs F. Crouch, 16 Sunnyhill Grove, Keighley. Died 24 July 1945 in Expeditor aircraft, serial No KJ 552.
ferrying army personell (2 Colonels, 1 Lt/Col and 2 Captains on a "Special Mission" Crashed in bad weather at Palam, Burma.
He had been in the RAF for four years, and all of which he had served abroad apart for eight weeks. He did his flying training in Rhodesia, prior to which he was employed by Keighley Lifts. He was one of the first to join the Keighley air cadets other five were military and appear to be part of the Army Headquarters staff of the recently formed Twelfth Army, set up to take control of South Burma. They were:
Colonel William Sholto Thessiger Douglass, OBE, aged 42, Royal Engineers
Captain John Douglas Morgan, MC, 2nd Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment.
Captain Maurice Albert Brown, aged 30, 10th Battalion, 1st Punjab Regiment, Indian Army,
Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Karslake Murcott, Commanding 5th Battalion, 12th Frontier Force Regiment.
Colonel Edward Knyvet Steward, Army Command and Royal Corps of Signals.

The thread goes on further to say that the aircraft encountered engine trouble. Pilot attempted a forced landing but crashed in the process. Flight was possibly going to Imphal.

the temporary burial place was at Kani, and that the permanent grave is in the Mandalay Cemetery. The officers & both aircrew were later re-buried in Taukkyan War Cemetery, Rangoon.

Warrant Officer Kenneth John Crouch - Killed on Active Service 24th July 1945.

 

Thanks again. I have a silver cup The Quetta Cup, which was awarded to the best Man at Arms at Sandhurst. Murcott won it in 1924. I am trying to catalogue the history of the other 5 winners