Guestbook

My Father, Richard Roy WARRY was a POW taken by the Japanese when Singapore fell in 1942. Dad got sick a number of times and worked on the Burma railway and again got sick and was forced to return to camp on foot, a very long trip. He made it back to the hospital at Changi and recovered to help out in the hospital. Dad past away10 years agonot talking about his experiences until the end.

My Great Uncle now deceased and buried Charleville was a POW in Changi, Charles Neil Collins, I have his nominal roll entry for WW2 he was born Blackall, he had the nickname of Bruiser...He was forced to dig his own grave and was bayonetted and hit over the head with rifle buts, but survived and was nursed back to health by Sir Edward Weary Dunlop..I have his battalion details too..

My uncle, Patrick Breen QX13575 was in the 2/26 Battalion AIF. He was a member of F Force and died at Shimo Sonkuri on 22.8.1943. He was born in Ireland and came to North Queensland where he cut cane with his brothers. Paddy was actually too old to join the army but changed his birth date so he could join up. He is buried in the War Cemetery in Burma. I would love to visit his grave one day.

My Uncle, Joseph Martin Dekreon was on the four stacker destroyer U.S.S. Pope when it was sunk off of Java in early March of 1942.
He was one of the crewmen rescued by a Japanese cruiser after the men spent over two days in the water and life boats. He spend the next three and half years in the Japanese prison camp in Mankassar, on the island of Celebes. Looking for any survivors of this camp or other crew members of the USS Pope. It was part of the Squadron of Navy ships, along with the English and Dutch who was the last defense of the Dutch Indies including Java and the surrounding islands.

my father wa s a rdily with 13agh and was in chani
pr ronald felsenthal

My Fathers name is Ronald Jolly he was a prisoner of war in Japan He was with the2/20th 8th division , He turns 90 this November and was wondering if there is many of the fellow POW left ...

I so recall how Uncle Casey's face lit up, on his recalling his liberation by the Americans ! he was so happy, as if it was all happening again. i asked him about the a-bomb. He said they knew or heard nothing, but the Japs were on edge very much, and had started slashing and stabbing the Americans. eventually he said -'We'd heard a bomb had gone off, and it was a perpetual bomb, one that would not stop.... " great man, unique, God bless you -

Uncle Casey, keen on fitness. generous and encouraging. Plenty of stories on the Jap maltreatment of humans. He eventually showed me a Bible he had kept for 4 years ! In it was the names of all his party who died. As he used to say, as if things were not bad enough.. it was 4 whole years. he said the Japs were fanatics for cruelty, not just with us, but among themselves. I recall EVERY WORD he said to me.

My late Uncle was a Jap POW, I think he was a sgt in the Manchester rgt. was an instructor in malaya. fled to singapore, captured. Then Changi briefly, then the infamous Railway. Miraculously survived unbelievable odds. In his 80's was more open to talk. Sgt Casey Hoyle, a unique man. Shipped to Japan, I think near Nagasaki, or so he said. What camp would that be ? He mentioned Americans were there too, and it was they who shipped him to the philipines, then hong kong, canada and UK. He ended up still in the army, I thing the Ordnance Corps. Bless him.

Thank you to all the contributors it makes it a lot easier to track our lost relatives. My grandfather VX57841 Lindsay Bass was with the 2/1 heavy battery whom went to Koepang Timor he was a M.I.A one day i hope they find him and bring him home not that it will happen. I am hoping to track down serving member families as i have photos to share.

Peter, this site is excellent. It is very interesting to read comments posted by people around the world. It is greatly appreciated. My father was Warren David Howitt Steven, QX 12683 and was a Driver in the 2/3rd Motor Transport Company and he was stationed in Malaya, Singapore and East Java. He worked on the Burma Railway. I would realy like to hear from anyone who may have known him. I do not know which camps he was in.

Looking for info on uncle Charles, capture Corrigdor and spent wwll as prisoner, survided. Any info please.

My late Father Dirk den Baars, was a former P.O.W. of the Japanese during WWII. He passed away in nov. 2003 . His Father was a Dutch postmaster and his Mother was Indonesian from Java. He was a senior in h.s. when the Dutch East Indies surrendered in March 1942. His family was quickly imprisoned in a civilian camp but he hid, and was a Resistance fighter for 3 months until capture by the sadistic Kempeitei on June 6th, '42 In Jakarta. He was spared a firing squad by only minutes but forced at bayonet-point to watch dozens of victims be de-capitated! He was imprisoned, tortured, starved, and nearly worked to death in 3 different camps til the end of the war. The last and worst camp he was in was Ambarawa, where he was on burial detail. He weighed maybe 80 lbs. when he finally escaped from a work detail a full month after the war had ended. His family had been told he had died years earlier, and his Mother almost fainted when she saw him walk in the door after a long journey to re-unite with his Family! My Family still has a small pencil sketch portrait of him that was drawn by a Belgian Priest on his 21st Birthday in Jan. '45 who was a fellow P.O.W. that was soon executed... (Father Noyaans was his name i believe) It is truly one of the most excellent pencil drawings i have ever seen, almost like a photo... i can see the fear, & starvation but also hope in my Father's eyes in that sketch! That drawing and a few post-cards that have a few lines censored by the Japanese which he was allowed to mail to his family in the first few months of his imprisonment are the only mementos we have of his terrible experiences besides the oral stories he told my family. And now it is up to my Brothers and i to keep the truth remembered in his honor... I found out only recently, that there was a massacre of many Prisoners at Ambarawa only a few days after my Dad and a friend escaped. That was carried out by angry mobs of Indonesian gangs who wanted all foreigners out! My Dad was awarded the Royal Dutch Resistance Cross Medal in 1984 by Prince Barnhard of the Netherlands for acts of sabotage he committed against the Japanese, which included blowing up airplane fuel at the Jakarta airport so the enemy couldn't use it. My Family can forgive... but we can never forget!

My father was a Gunner in the 88th Field Regt. RA. That fought in Malaya and was a POW at Singapore. He worked out of River Valley Road Camp on the docks and went up to Thailand to work on the Railway. He mentioned being in Tonchan & Tarsoa Camps and the famous 'Tiger' as one of the guards. He went back down to Singapore and ended up on the Rakuyo Maru which was torpedoed by the US sub Sealion. He was one of the men that were eventuly picked up by the Japs and ended up on the Kibitsu Maru and went on to Moji in Kyushu, Japan. There he went to work in a carborundum factory from the Fukuoaka -25B Shinkai Camp. The Americans dropped the bombs and he was released and sent home via San Francisco (Fort McDowell) up through Canada and down to New York before being shipped home to Southampton in November 1945.
My fathers name was Gunner Thomas Paton 1537256 from Glasgow.

My father Bob Pullen was in the Btitish Medical Corp and was captured by the Japanese in singapore. He was in the Medical Group 'K' Force and was in Nikhe for 2 years.Dad is now 90 and in an old folks home. I am sure he would like to hear from other similar Vets. feel free to contact me and i can put you in touch.

I am looking for a friend of my Mothers (Machtalina Ceelen) they were in Ambarawa prison camp together. Her friends name is Johanna Swart. My Father (Adrian Ceelen) was a engineer aboard the MS Oranje while it was a hospital ship during the war. If any one remembers my Dad or knows anything about Johanna Swart I would really like to communicate with them.

My Grandfather was a P.O.W in Japan. I have found some details on him His name is Robert Adam Mackenzie (RAM) on this

my grandfather henry vincent
PRIVATE 3532875. 1st Bn. Manchester Regiment;
I WOULD LIKE TO FIND ANY INFORMATION ABOUT HIM IF ANYBODY KNOWS THIS REGIMENT

My late father NX35419 Allan Howard (Wimpey) Bye served in 2/19 Battalion.He served on the Railway Line and then was moved to Japan to mine coal at Nakama.He passed away on 1/1/2000.He never forgot the terrible time he endured as a PoW.Nothwithstanding this he made many lifelong friends.I hope to visit Singapore,Malaysia and Thailand in the near future and visit some of the places that he often talked about.

My uncle Douglas Gordon Geddes was a sapper with 2/11 Field Coy RAE with Sparrow Force . He was taken prisoner in Timor and died from Cholera on the Burma Railway. I have tried to find info on Dougs fellow sappers in Timor and how they were moved as POW,s to Thailand.

I would like to hear from anyone who may have known my grandad. He was on the Burma railway and died at sea. He has a memorial at Singapore. His name was William Robert Wright. He was a gunner. I would like to trace his history for my mum. Any help would be much appriated. thaks June

I grew up surrounded by WW1 soldiers. Among my Father's numerous army friends was Michael Bevan. I was quite a small child the last time I saw him and his sister. He was in a wheelchair and was cared for by his sister, who I remember as being tall. I distinctly remember being told that he had been tortured as a prisoner of war in Japan. I remember being told that a bayonet had caused his paralysis when he asked for water. I also remember my mother saying he was a descendant of Bismark. Years have gone by since then but I have fond memories of the Bevans and would like you to know your suffering and bravery lives on in the memory of younger generations, both in my writing and in my storytelling.

please note my earlier post has the wrong e-mail

it should read Show email address

http://www.veteranprograms.com

We keep coming back to this website again and again. Great work! And millions from around the world continue to visit the Award Winning U.S. Veteran Compensation Programs website. It is a great source where veterans learn how to secure benefits, increase benefits, and get the latest information about compensation, pension, and benefits for veterans - FIRST. Visit Today!

http://www.veteranprograms.com

Thanks for putting all this information up for everyone. My great uncle Colin Percival Juttner is mentioned and it is with great pride that I read about him here. I was lucky enough to know him well in life as he is one who made it home.

So thank you for this wonderful resource and it has given me some directions for further research.

Good on you.


Cheers,

Michael Juttner