Please help with an RAF Far East Prisoner of War

I'm hoping someone can help make sense of some fragments of information I have regarding a FEPOW who died in captivity after being captured by the Japanese following the surrender of Allied Forces in the Dutch East Indies?
Like many of his RAF comrades, 537959 Cpl. Herbert Bassnett (aka Bassinett) was initially posted to Singapore but doesn't appear to have been attached to a Squadron or Unit. His Japanese POW Index Card states that his occupation as a "Butcher" and was captured and made a prisoner of war on 23rd March 1942 at Batavia, West Java.
According to the RAF Commands website, he appears to have been stationed at Seletar, Singapore, although I'm not sure how long he would have been there (if at all) before he was evacuated to Java...

Does the fact that he was not officially attached to a unit mean he would have been one of the last RAF reinforcements to arrive in Singapore (possibly as part of the Convoy BM12?), or did he go straight to Java?

Also, he was seemingly promoted to the rank of sergeant, but I'm unsure if this was an "in the field" appointment.

Following his capture, he became part of Java Work Party 5A and was subsequently transported to Singapore and then on to Japanese mainland where he died from acute nephritis while in captivity at Hakodate POW main camp, Bibai-Machi.

Any help or suggestions would be very greatly appreciated.

Best regards
Steve

 

All this is from a Family tree on Ancestry



Herbert Bassnett (P.O.W.)
1915–1943
BIRTH 1915 • Macclesfield, Cheshire, England
DEATH 21 MAY 1943 • Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan

December 1941 England
One of hundreds of RAF personnel unattached to any Squadron or Unit who were posted to the Middle East with the intention of relieving men who had been on overseas service for three years.

08 December 1941
Believed to have embarked for Suez as part of convoy WS 14 (eleven troopships carrying 38,148 British Army and RAF personnel, and 16 other vessels). The convoy would take the longer but less dangerous Atlantic route around the Cape of Good Hope.

23 March 1942 Batavia, West Java, Dutch East Indies
Captured and made a Prisoner of War

11 October 1942 Batavia, West Java, Dutch East Indies
One of a group of 457 POW's known as "Java Work Party 5", who were transported from Batavia to Singapore on the Japanese "hell ship" Dainichi Maru 3.

27 October 1942 Singapore, Malaya
Among the first shipment of POW's embarked at Singapore on the Tofuku Maru. Departed 27th October 1942 and arrived at Moji on the 27th November 1942. Twenty Seven POW's died en-route.


21 May 1943 Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan
Died from acute nephritis while in captivity at Hakodate POW main camp, Bibai-Machi, 27 Dai-mach, Hakodate.

Just to add to all that there is also a complete listing of POW's at Java 5 - hope this link works - Java Party 5A


TD

 

Steve
You original post gave his number as 537959, but I assume that we are talking about the same person. I feel certain that you are aware of the following, but just in case it adds anything :

WO 392/23 POWs in Japan or Japanese Occupied Territory, A-D, 1945
No. 2934
Name: Bassinett, Herbert
Rank/Service number: Cpl 530959
Service: AF
Date of capture: 20.3.20 (Note: that is what it says)
Date of liberation: 21.5.43
Camp: HA
Remark: Deceased

WO361/2009 POWs transported from Dutch East Indies to Japan 1945
Name: Bassinett, Herbert
Service: AF
Rank: Cpl
POW No: 4368
Regt No: 530959
Date of departure: 29/10/17 (Note: that is what it says)

WO361/1325 British prisoners of war dead or missing in Pacific Area
Number: 530959
Name: Bassnett, H
Rank: Cpl
Unit: ?
Information received from & remarks: Britsec etc.: Ashes received by Britsec from Hakodate Main Camp

WO 361/2211 Prisoners of war, Far East: Java Party No 5a; nominal roll

Royal Air Force, Party 5a arrived Changi on 17 Oct 1942
Reg No: 530959
Rank: Cpl
Name: Bassnett, H
Date of departure: 27/10/42 OVS

 

Hi Tony56

The dates where you have said "Note: that is what it says" I think are the dates as written in the Japanese calendar, I could be wrong but remember from the Japanese POW cards several members have mentioned this.

TD

 

Hi Tricky Dicky

Thanks for replying - the Ancestry Tree is actually mine... I'm using it as a working document to put together Cpl. Bassnett's story!

 

In light of what transpired on arrival in the Far East, you may see the irony in this description of one of the ships in WS14 at Durban. BBC - WW2 People's War - Mutiny in Durban — The Full Story (Part 1)

For what little it is worth, I believe that my mothers serious boyfriend (i.e. intended) was on this convoy and she described how he virtually walked off the ship straight into captivity. In the belief he was dead, she met and married Dad......

 

Not that it adds any more info, but the book "Unsung Heroes Of The Royal Air Force" - L & P. Stubbs gives the following.....

Bassnett Herbert 530959 - RAF Seletar - Held Java, Singapore, Hokkaido (Hakadate) Died Hakadate - 21.5.43. Buried Yokohama.