Hi, I am looking for some information on my wife's uncle TROOPER JOHN LUBY Died 19.08.1945 - Aged 24 Service Number: 3856499 Reconnaissance Corps 18th (5th Bn. The Loyal Regt.) Regt. John is buried at KANCHANABURI WAR CEMETERY Grave 6. D. 62. On the associated pages on the CWGC site he is listed as initially being buried at 12 Kilo Camp and re-buried at Kanchanaburi on 2.04.1946 On another page it lists him as Transferred From Open site/Ty. Cem - Prachap Kirikan Area? I have looked for 12 Kilo Camp on the Thai Burma Railway but can't see any reference to this? Prachuap Khiri Khan is 415km from Kanchanaburi? My mother in law told us that sadly John died as he was taken aboard a troop/hospital ship bringing him home? We have not been able to confirm this. Can anyone throw any light on this or direct me to where I could find any more information about John. Many thanks, Dean
I`m sure someone with a knowledge of these things will be along soon to answer your questions in the meanwhile Prachuap Khirikhan, Mergui Road (12 Kilo Camp). Mergui Road wasn`t a railway construction site it was as it`s title suggests `Road` construction . "The road connected Prachuap Khiri Khan to Mergui via Tenasserim on the Burmese south coast. It was hastily constructed under supervision of the Japanese army as a means of retreat in 1945" The Mergui Road, Burma | COFEPOW Mergui Road - Wikipedia Something to be going on with until the experts on the subject arrive. Edit:- a little bit of connected information and documents related to your subject:- Fold3 info Full Name Luby, John Date of Birth 31 May 1920 Nationality British Date of Capture 15 Feb 1942 Date of Liberation 30 Aug 1945 Other POW Camps Thailand POW Camp Malai Rank Name Private Service Number 3856499 Profession Worker Duty Location Singapore Next of Kin Wife: Mary, 78 Park Street, Farnworth, Lancashire Service British Army Primary Unit 18th Reconnaissance Corps Archive Reference Ron Bridge's Collection Conflict Period World War II Served for United Kingdom Documents:- Good Luck with your research Kyle
I can add a couple of things. Contact this website: TBRC Online: THE THAILAND-BURMA RAILWAY CENTRE , because it is very likely that the TBRC will have more information on your relative. Australian Archives have this file, which is downloadable free. This gives further information. " NAA: B3856, 144/14/33 Series number: B3856 Control symbol: 144/14/33 Barcode: 772397 Number of pages: 13 Title: Nominal rolls of Prisoners of War [includes nominal roll - Prisoners of War Railway Siding Detachment, Medical Officer in Charge Captain Cayley and list of NONG HIN - Mergui Road deaths ][13 pages] " "Captain Cayley" served with the RAMC, attached to the 5th Suffolk regiment. His details were: Cayley, Forde E De W, Captain, service number: 101279. As for "12 Kilo", there was a tendency to measure ( and re-measure, which altered the old distances or kilo numbers on re-surveying! ) the length of the railway from each end. Post war "searcher parties" found original graves and arranged reburial. "12 kilo" will be somewhere up at the top of this map, made in 1946, which measures kilos from the Thai end of the railway. The starting point, for your purposes: 0 kilo, is Thanbuyzayat.
Tpr John Luby left Singapore for the Thai Burma Railway 24//6/42 as part of the 'First Mainland' Party. In April 45 he was transferred to building the Mergui Road. Mergui Road Tim
Many thanks Kyle, Tim and papiermâché for your input. It is much appreciated. Especially the grave marker and extra documents. So to summarise it looks like John was taken to work on the Thai Burma railway then transferred to work on the Murgui Road where he eventually succumbed to dysentery. Still not sure where the exact location of 12kilo camp may be? My wife and I intend to travel to Thailand when we retire in a couple of years time & visit the final resting place of John and retrace any other places he may have been. Many thanks again. Dean
Thanks. I am not sure, either. Here is the southern end of the above map, but not as far as the Kra Isthmus ( for which I do not have a map of similar vintage), which is where the Mergui road was being built. I apologise for creating confusion by going to the Burma end. Here is a link to a summary of a war crimes case about the Mergui Road, downloadable free from the International Criminal Court ( only 828 KB.) The full case is at The National Archives at Kew, reference WO 235/981. https://www.legal-tools.org/doc/b26268/pdf
