Hello I'm researching an Australian cousin of mine, Roderick Clarence McLachlan, QX12121, who was in the 2/26th Battalion of the 8th Division that was captured in Singapore in 1942. He subsequently spent the remaining years of the war in various camps in both Thailand and may be Burma. I have been told he was based in Camp 2 in Thailand at Chung Kai and Tha Makhan and more recently I have discovered he was at Nakom Paton. I am trying confirm these camp locations and the dates of when he was in these places. He may have been in other lcoations as well. He survived the war, returned to Australia (Queensland) and struggled with life and health issues and was diagonised with acute myeloid lukaemia shortly after and died in 1961. He was unmarried and lived a fairly quiet life with few traces of his life story. I have worked with veterans for a good part of my life and would like to be able to document this man's contribution to our nations history. Any help would be appreciated. G Bell
G Bell, welcome to the Forum. The service record has an entry at the end of the half page of dates for 1945: "Det to "A" Force- Embarked Singapore 14.5.42" This means he was in the first batch of POWs sent from Singapore to Burma. For a brief outline of the history of the Thai Burma Railway see here: TBRC Online: BRIEF HISTORY If you contact the TBRC I am fairly certain they will be able to help you with further details about your relative's service. This is a museum in Thailand run by Australians and Thais and they have a large amount of records of POWs. Australian Archives also have further digital records, especially useful are transcripts of war crimes prosecutions and evidence given at an inquiry into the treatment of POW. It is also possible that some records are in the UK National Archives. The TBRC will certainly have knowledge of what can be found in the U.K. I am sorry to say that the history you have given in your post is not unusual in that many former POWs struggled with health problems after the war. Good hunting. John
Hello G Bell, Please find below images of the appropriate files within The National Archive (at Kew) that your late cousin is listed in (they are the only two references of Roderick that I have been able to find up to now, via computer from home, given the covid constraints here in the UK at the moment). Also, I've put a couple of links (below the file images) with information on a couple of POW camps. Please, most importantly, note that I have but hung on the shirt-tails of the good people who have already responded to you in their posts above. Without their work I would not have had a starting place (beyond my fading memory of previous searching). Finally, I've posted up some images (previously posted before on WW2 Talk) of a book that I hope is still readily available in Australia. For me it gives a formidable account of the plight of POWs (and much more) in the Far East (it's a hard read at times but absolutely worth it). Also, film of Sir Edward "Weary" Dunlop can be found on "YouTube". Your cousin was fortunate to make it home. Good luck with all your searching, always remember, never forget, Jim. Tamakan Chungkai
Great work, Jim. Later in Group II and IV ( usually Thailand groups ) whereas his Groups for Force "A" would have been III or V. In practice, Japanese and Korean staff and guards moved around frequently and large numbers of men, both Japanese and allied personnel, were involved in keeping "records." Wireless links were good. There was no excuse for the Japanese in not providing for the POWs. Pure cruelty. The best book by far about the subject is "The War Diaries of Weary Dunlop", by the man himself. A wonderful man. Just kept going, and gave hope to everyone around him.
I have very much appreciated the 'clues' that you people have provided. It would seem that my cousin, being part of A Force began his journey on board one of the hell ships from Singapore and then was stationed on the Burma side of the railway. I have read that as the railway construction progressed south and north the workers were relocated frequently to camps in between the meeting point. This maybe what happened to him and his journey ended ended at Nakom Paton prior to his evacuation to Singapore and home to Australia. I'm sure confirmation of his locations and dates of movement are not far off. Many thanks for the prompt feedback. Regards Graeme B
Thanks to all who have helped navigate me to various resources related to my cousin's time in Burma and Thailand. They have proven to be very helpful and pieced together many of the jigsaw pieces, up until the very end. I now know he spent some time in Nakom Paton hospital in 1944, so he must have had been classified by the Japanese as 'heavy sick'. However, he is believed to have improved somewhat as he was sent back into the jungle to work on 'Japanese defensive positions'. Another of my cousins thinks this was near the border at the Nikki camp. I now know for certain that he was here at this defensive position when the war came to an end and he was 'recovered' on 23 Aug 1945. Any clues about the Nikki camp or the term 'Japanese defensive position ' in reference to the border area of Thailand would be appreciated. Regards Graeme B
Graeme, "Nikki" is sometimes referred to as "Niki" at Australian archives. Can be "Nichi." This file from Australian Archives is a 12.5 MB download. It indicates that men were there to repair Allied bombing damage. Refers to events in or about July or August 1945 and gives useful background information. NAA: A471, 81243 Series number: A471 Control symbol: 81243 Barcode: 739013 Number of pages: 58 Title: [War Crimes - Military Tribunal - KIMURA Takeo (Sergeant) : Unit - Imperial Japanese Army : Date and Place of Tribunal - Singapore, 18 November 1946] Good Hunting, John
There were three Nikki Camps - Lower Nikki, Nikki Bridge Building Camp and Nikki. Just by Nikki was the Tunnel Party Camp at 283km. Extracted from the link I gave at #4: Nikki Camp Tunnel Party Camp Follow the advice of Papiermache at #3 and contact TBRC - they are exceedingly helpful. Tim
Many thanks for providing these leads again. I've just read the War Crimes Military Tribunal papers for the trial of Sgt Kimura, a brutal and sadistic individual. Fortunately the recall of the POWs at the camp was the solid evidence required for conviction. The TBRC have been very helpful and came back last night with further information as well. Very much appreciate your efforts.. Graeme Bell
Am now to the point of trying to research and write about my cousin's liberation from Nikki camp in August 1945. From the information that I have been able to gather so far, he was identified as alive on 20 Aug 45 and 'recovered' along with his POW colleagues on 23 Aug 45. I believe they were still being treated as POW by the Japanese guards for at least a week after capitulation. Does anyone have any clues as to how this camp was liberated and the POW 'recovered'? Any information would be helpful in finalising this puzzle. Thank you. Regards Graeme Bell
