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Hello, I wonder if anyone can help me. I know its a long shot but here goes.
I"m doing some family history research and a cousin of mine has said that her father, Maurice Westwood, had told her of two service men, named Westwood, who died while engaged in building the Bridge over the river Kwai.
I unfortunately don"t have anymore information except that my cousins son visited the area around 12 years ago and saw the names on a memorial plaque by the bridge.
He didn"t get any more information (not even initials) but took a photo. Typically this digital photo has been lost.
I would be very grateful if anyone could provide me with any information that might shed a bit of light on the mystery.

Hello, could any help with info on my grandfather. Morris Douglas Crossfield
(2582500).. As far as i know he was captured singapore1942 /escaped /recaptured 3mnths later ,strung up for bayonet practice and left for dead.
thanks

Hi Donna-Marie. Corporal Cyril Dibble, RAF H.Q. Kluang, Malaya. Regrouped in Java, and taken prisoner there on 08.03.1942. From his Liberation Questionnaire he states he was in 5 different camps between March 42 and December 43 in the Surabaya region. He was then bought to the Bicycle Camp at Batavia and then to Makasura Camp in April 44. On 08.01.45 he boarded an unnamed hellship, referred to as Maru 16 or OSK Ferry, and was sent to Singapore in Java Party 25. Documents state he was sent to River Valley Camp, but he himself states it was Tanjong Pagar. (similar area). The slave tasks here would have been in the dockside unloading Japanese ships, or digging tunnels for air raid shelters. A Sgt. Who travelled with him in Java party 25 and was then with him at Tanjong Pagar has documented that he was liberated on 05.09.45 and sailed home on the HMT Almanzora. Although there is no guarantee that this was also Cyrils journey home, I imagine there would be a high probability.

Good afternoon
I am wondering if you have any information on my Grampy Cyril Albert Dibble
(626545) who was a ja japenese POW who i believe worked on Burma?

My email is Show email address
Many Thanks

Hi David. Welcome back, 6 years on. Re Gunner Leonard Harrison. I will not be able to help much with this as he was not a POW from beginning of Far East war. I believe the 69th Field were with the Chindits fighting the Japanese in Burma, and you will probably do better to go to a Chindits website. However, he was originally buried at Sahmaw in Burma in grave 5.C.5 along with many on the same day. Perhaps searching the date + Burma may bring up a particular battle. Sahmaw is close to the Irrawaddy River which saw heavy fighting.

Could you please tell me if you have any information on a Leonard Harrison, a gunner in the Royal Artlilery, his number was 5193402

Thank you mike if you could send me any documentation you have?

Hi Nathan. Reference your Great Grandad, Reginald Hardy. 1094715, Gunner R Hardy, 125th Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery. He embarked at Avonmouth onto SS Oransay on 28.10.1941. They arrived at Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada and transferred to USS Joseph Dickman, and sailed to Trinidad to refuel. They then sailed for Capetown arriving 09.12.1941. Resailed 13.12.1941 and arrived Bombay 27.12.1941. They then entrained for camp at Ahmednagar, and remained there until 23.01.1942. Entrained back to Bombay they boarded the Empress of Asia, along with the 9th Royal Northumberland Fusiliers. On the 5th February on the approach to Singapore she was attacked by a formation of 27 Japanese dive bombers, and the ship was hit and ablaze. The ship ran aground on a sandbank and all men abandoned ship. Most were saved and landed in Singapore, but most men now became infantry as their weaponry was not recovered. The men became active in the war on February 8th 1942. They took positions on Singapore around Serangoon in N.E.Singapore and Bukit Timor. The capitulation occurred on February 15th, so they only had a week since landing. Reginalds regimental file shows the entry of CHA..Hosp…F. against his name. I believe this means he remained in Changi and was a Hospital worker carrying out general fatigues for the benefit of those who were suffering injury or disease. The Liberation Questionnaire that he completed himself after the war, states he was in Changi 15.02.42 – 15.08.45. In the section asking whether he was able to escape or make an attempt to escape, he replied ‘No’. To have a family story that has become ‘enhanced’ over the years, is not unusual. I you want some documents showing his name, let me know.

Further to my previous request i have reason to believe it was John Joseph Reilly b 1917 Ireland who was a Japanese POW. He was in the Royal Marines and lived in Hampshire England. I"m hoping this will help with his search. regards Phyl.

Hi Jonathan, thank you for the reply and information. It appears that there must be two people named Reginald Frank Heath. Whilst my grandfather definitely served in the S.S.R.N.V.R. He returned to the UK before 1948 and died in 1956 in England.

Thanks for your help. Further research has revealed Herbert married twice - firstly to Molly Isabel Britter, then to Elsie G Baynham (the wife of his I knew).I assume Molly was disvorced, as it seems she remarried and did not die until 1996.

David, I can only give you the facts. A paid researcher might be able to establish more for you. This Herbert that I am detailing was born on 21st September 1906, in Garforth, Leeds, Yorkshire, England.

Herbert"s wife/partner was Elsie G, so I do not understand why Molly Isabel is listed. Is there another Herbert Pratt born 1906 in Garforth listed as a POW?

Hello, I"ve just found out that one of my Uncles" (either John or Martin) O"Reilly/ Reilly was a Japanese POW. I know nothing regarding this. John and Martin were both born in Ireland but lived in Bristol UK growing up. Hope you have some info for me.
regards Phyl.

David Pratt, to clarify Molly is listed as "Destination for Reports", and she is Molly Isabel Pratt.

Is this your grandfather, Ryan? if so, not a Sumatra POW but a very interesting wartime career relating to Special Operations, Far East. HEATH R.F.[Reginald Frank] Assistant, Nestle&Anglo-Swiss Milk Products Ltd, Cantonment Rd, Singapore as early as 1935.Sub Lt SS RNVR 3.40; 2nd Lt, 238265 9.41General List then Major then Honorary Colonel i/c Inter Services Liason Dept [ISLD], Calcutta. To Kenya post war. Died Lausenne, Switzerland 19.11.1965.

Hi I"m researching my great grandad Reginald Hardy who escaped from changi jail and didn"t arrive back in the UK until 1948/49 presumed dead I was lost somewhere in the jungle.
All I know is he was from Derby and was one of the oldest soldiers being in his 40s

Hello. I"m currently researching my grandfather"s navy records. Reginald Frank Heath.

He was a sub-lieutenant aboard HMS PAHLAWAN in the S.S.R.N.V.R 1939-1945
From the records I"ve pieced together, he was stationed in Singapore up until 1942 before PAHLAWAN was captured by the Japanese on the 15th February 1942 near Muntok.
I"m wondering if anybody has any information to confirm this and if there are any records of him being taken prisoner at this time.

Thanks for your help

I am surprised that a Molly is named as NOK. Herbert"s wife/partner was called Elsie.

David, Lieutenant Herbert Pratt, service number 188300, was with the 135th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery.
He was quartermaster for the regiment. Herbert shows NOK, Molly, living in Bexley Heath, Kent, but he was originally from Leeds. Captured on 15.02.1942 at the capitulation of Singapore. Imprisoned Changi until 29.10.42, when he left by train in Overland Party ‘T’ for the Burma Railroad. He was with the Group 2 men who slaved on the first part of the railroad at the Thai end and would have included the bridge on the river Kwai. His liberation document shows he remained in Thailand and was liberated on 04.09.45. The TBRC at Kanchanaburi would probably have his individual camps and what he did after the railroad opened.

I am trying to find details of my uncle (Herbert Pratt) who was a POW of the Japanese

Mike, thank you for clearing up the faulty memory of a geriatric nephew.  I stumbled on this website when reading about Laurens van der Post , who I remember one of my uncles saying he was imprisoned with.  That must have been John Lambert.
One for the family archive.  Very many thanks for this.

Peter, you have the story of your two uncles the wrong way round. 2nd Lt. John Lambert, 189930, 21st Light Anti Aircraft, Royal Artillery, was on Java and became a prisoner on 08.03.1942. He remained in Java for the whole duration of the war, and is shown as being liberated on 25.09.1945 from Batavia District.
Lt. Esmond Sowerby, 89183, HQ RA 11th Division, was taken prisoner on Singapore on 15.02.1942, and would have been in Changi. He sailed on the hellship England Maru on 24.10.42 and arrived in Formosa on 14.11.42. He was enslaved in Taihoku Camp 6 and remained there for the duration of the war. He was liberated from Keelung Harbour on 06.09.1945 by an American destroyer and taken out to sea to board the aircraft carrier USS Block Island, and then taken to Manila, Philippines. He remained there for just 5 days before sailing for Vancouver on 14.09.45, and arrived 03.10.45, on USS General Langfitt.
The paperwork trail stops there, but others from the same ship are known to have journeyed across Canada by train for 5 days to either Halifax or New York. His final ship would have been either Ile de France, Queen Elizabeth or Queen Mary.

My 2 uncles were both Japanese POWs but I don’t know how long for.
John Lambert was from Preston and I think ended up in Changi?  Esmond Sowerby, also fro Preston, was a gunner who survived Dunkirk and then finished up as a POW in Java.
He gave evidence at the War Crimes Trials.  Both survived into old age and I saw a lot of them but neither of them  mentioned the war.

Stephen. Sorry, but very limited information. Major Frederick Bradshaw, 148th Field Regiment. (Bedfordshire Yeomanry). Sailed on October 31st 1941 from Liverpool on SS Andes, to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Transferred to USS Wakefield, . (note: USS not in war), sailed to Trinidad and then Capetown.
Arrived 8.12.1941, the day after Pearl Harbour attack, so USA now in war. Sailed to Bombay, stay for 2 weeks. Sailed for Singapore and arrived 29.01.1942. (so just 2 weeks before capitulation). Taken prisoner on 15.02.1942 and remained in Singapore for the duration of the war. Although initially in Changi, I believe he was probably in one of the other Singapore camps at the end of the war as he does not appear on the Changi list. I believe he remained as a TA Officer after the war as the Gazette lists him retiring and holding the rank of Captain.