WW2 researching my grandfather advice

Lisleowen

Active member
Hi I am new to this site; I am very interested in WW2 history and have been since a child. I collect WW2 memorabilia: movie props, artefacts etc and do regular battlefield tours. My main interest is D Day and I also have a good collection of art prints with veteran signatures. Only in the past year I have been researching my grandfather who was taken as a prisoner of war by the Japanese and subsequently died of malnutrition. I have found one of the camps he was in and I am trying to research his time from sailing from Britain. I have quite a lot of information but I am struggling to get the full facts. My grandfather was a gunner in the Royal Artillery, 242 battalion. I would appreciate any advice. I have found his grave and plot number and have pictures through the war graves commission. I am also trying to find a photo of him as I have no photos. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I have been told the Australian government hold a lot of information as it was the Australian army who initially went into Borneo to recover the dead etc. Cheers Paul
 
Hi I am new to this site; I am very interested in WW2 history and have been since a child. I collect WW2 memorabilia: movie props, artefacts etc and do regular battlefield tours. My main interest is D Day and I also have a good collection of art prints with veteran signatures. Only in the past year I have been researching my grandfather who was taken as a prisoner of war by the Japanese and subsequently died of malnutrition. I have found one of the camps he was in and I am trying to research his time from sailing from Britain. I have quite a lot of information but I am struggling to get the full facts. My grandfather was a gunner in the Royal Artillery, 242 battalion. I would appreciate any advice. I have found his grave and plot number and have pictures through the war graves commission. I am also trying to find a photo of him as I have no photos. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I have been told the Australian government hold a lot of information as it was the Australian army who initially went into Borneo to recover the dead etc. Cheers Paul

Are you sure it was 242 Battalion or 242 Battery?

As I recall 242 Battery was part of Sparrow force and there are several websites dedicated to them that you may be able to contact.

From the cofepow website...

The 48th LAA Regiment, 'Bofors Guns', had three Batteries, 49, 95, 242. We sailed from Gourock on the river Clyde the day Japan declared war, December 7th 1941. We and many other regiments were on the 'Duchess of Athol'. We thought we were going to Basra (where the problems are now). We stopped at Freetown, and had our Christmas dinner there, then on to Durban. We changed ships there and after about six days there we boarded the 'HMT Dunera' with the possibility of Singapore, but we and other ships were diverted to Batavia, Java, and docked at Tanjong Priok harbour.
http://www.cofepow.org.uk/pages/armedforces_48thLAA.htm
 
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Hi guys thanks I am really excited at the information I am getting back. My grandfather was in 242 battalion 48LAA. He apparently sailed from the river Clyde on the 7th Dec 1941 on the Dutchess of Athol heading for Basra. He apparently changed ships and diverted to Batavia, Java. He was captured on the 9th of March 1942 after being over whelmed by Japanese paratroops and they were ordered to lay down there arms. For some reason he went to Jesselton camp where he died on the 12th of March 1943. I've read Jesdelton wasn't the main camp POWs went to. My Auntie was told he was taken from a ship due to being so poorly and was told he was heading home. I am thinking maybe this is why he ended up in Jesselton and not one of the bigger camps. He was repatriated by the Australian army who done a fantastic job under the circumstances and conditions they found. He is now in the Labuan cemetery at peace. This is all I have. I am trying to fill in the gaps. Other sources have said he will have travelled from camp to camp and this is how he had fallen poorly. I also would love to understand the circumstances of his capture. His name was Gunner Hitchings army number 11052513. I would love to have contact with anyone from his battalion who may have served with him. Thanks for all your swift replies. My auntie will be delighted as she has always wanted to no about his army life. She had very little information up until I started the research. Thanks, anymore info would be appreciated.
 
I assume this is the guy here?
HITCHINGS, Gunner, ALEX LEONARD, 11052513. 242 Bty., 48 Lt. A.A. Regt. Royal Artillery. 12th March 1943. Age 31. H. A. 3.
 
I have searched various sites I have been told about and applied for his army records. Probably won't be much in his army records so not expecting much back. I no there won't be any photos in his file as I have already asked. I am busy trawling the Internet for pictures of his battalion but not having much luck. There is s picture of his battalion on the COFEPOW site, he may be in this picture but have no pictures to go off. I have researched all the obvious places with no luck. I have been advised as I previously stated to get in touch with the Australian authorities but not sure if there would be much mileage in this, I'm unsure. I purchased a book on the Royal artillery service overseas and it mentions my grandfathers unit in Java but not much else. But yeah that is my grandfather definately.
 
Hi that information is fantastic. Much appreciated. The article is interesting and gives me other lines of research I didn't no. I will be looking into antheas POW list. Hopefully this can lead to other things. I will also look at trying to contact this guy for information. To think his father may have known my uncle, could have even been his best mate, who knows.
Thanks for your help really appreciated, this has given me more to look at as I was at stalemate. Cheers
 
Hi that information is fantastic. Much appreciated. The article is interesting and gives me other lines of research I didn't no. I will be looking into antheas POW list. Hopefully this can lead to other things. I will also look at trying to contact this guy for information. To think his father may have known my uncle, could have even been his best mate, who knows.
Thanks for your help really appreciated, this has given me more to look at as I was at stalemate. Cheers

My uncle John was Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, he was also captured in Java. He ended up on the POW camp at Sandekan in north east Borneo where he was murdered by Japanese guards on the Sandekan Death March on 26th March 1945, He has no known grave. The Japanese gave the reason for his death as malaria, they forgot to add beatings, starvation diet and working till he dropped.

Out of over 2600 British and Australian POW's only 6 survived, because they escaped on the death march. Only 3 of those were fit enough to give evidence at subsequent war crimes trials.
 
Here is some information on 242 Battery's movements around the time of his capture written by another of 242's personnel.

http://www.mansell.com/pow_resources/camplists/fukuoka/moji_hospital/clarke-moji.pdf

Arthur George Clarke
Army Service and Death 1941-1943
George Clarke was conscripted into a locally raised regiment of the Territorial Army, Royal Artillery (RA) 48th Light Anti-Aircraft(LAA) probably in early 1941. Initially, the duties of the unit involved the defence of the Essex ports (mainly Harwich) from German air attacks. Late in 1941, the regiment was assigned to overseas service in the Middle East and, with Gunner George Clarke (242 battery), left Southend by train on a miserable foggy day in early December.
On arrival at Gourock (Glasgow) the regiment was to be embarked on a modern ex-Castle Line troopship but, because of engine trouble, the men were loaded onto "Duchess of Atholl" which already contained other units. The resulting overcrowding was sufficient to lead to threats of mutiny which was only prevented when promises of improvements in conditions were made.
The ship formed part of a convoy which eventually sailed on December 8th (probably around the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour). The "Duchess of Atholl" had a reputation for discomfort in heavy weather (she was variously described as the "Dancing Duchess" or the "Drunken Duchess" because of the excessive rolling). The situation was made worse by engine trouble which resulted in a decrease in speed (lagging behind the rest of the convoy for some time) which also made the rolling worse, with crockery and cabin furniture flying around and most of the troops suffering from severe sea-sickness.

The voyage included a brief stop at Freetown, Sierra Leone, (the troops did not go ashore) and instructions, at some point, for the convoy to be diverted to Singapore to support the defence of Malaya from the invading Japanese. The convoy reached Durban, South Africa, (on January ? 1942) and the troops were given shore leave, where they were well received by the South Africans who organised receptions and sight seeing. The regiment was then embarked on "Dunera", a much more comfortable troopship, and the convoy (DM-2) left Durban on January 13.

Nearly all of the convoy was rerouted to Batavia, Java, (now Djarkata) as the situation in

Malaya was considered to hopeless. The forces to be landed in Batavia consisted of 3(?) regiments of Royal Artillery together with 3 RAF fighter (Hurricane) squadrons.

The convoy landed at Batavia on February 3 and the troops were housed in the barracks of the
colonial Dutch forces where no provision had been made for food. Few preparations had been made by the Dutch for the defence of Java and life in Batavia carried on as normal, with bars and restaurants open. It was generally agreed that Java could not be effectively defended, and the decision to land the troops there (rather than send them on to Australia) was mostly political.
Any resistance would, however, delay the Japanese advance which, at the time, presented a major threat to Australia. The forces on Java also included some American sailors from the USS Houston, a cruiser which was sunk off the Java coast, and a battalion of U.S. troops.

The first Japanese air attacks began on February 3 and 5 and the RA LAA regiments were initially mostly used to defend the airfields from which the assembled Hurricanes were flown. The troops were initially under the command of the regional British Army chief General Wavell, but on February 21 he moved his command to Colombo, Ceylon, (now Sri Lanka) and all British and Australian forces then came under the command of the Dutch Governor-General Dr. van Starkenborghder. The forces on Java also included some American sailors from the USS Houston, a cruiser which was sunk off the Java coast, and a battalion of U.S. troops.
The main Japanese force landed on Java early on March 1 and was opposed by Dutch and Australian infantry. The Japanese advanced easily with the only effective resistance coming from the Australian troops ("Blackforce") under Brigadier Blackburn.

The RA regiments continued to defend the airfields and then withdrew with the intention of
possible continuing the fighting as infantry, with the possibility of evacuation from the south of the island.
During this time, we know of the movements of 242 48th RA and it is likely that the only fighting that George Clarke would have been involved in would have consisted of strafing by Japanese aircraft. Following a number of movements, the regiment was ordered to surrender on March 8 when the Dutch authorities decided that further resistance was pointless. The British and Australian forces were also obliged to surrender at this time as further fighting, it was believed, could have compromised their eventual status as Prisoners of War (POWs) under the Geneva Convention.
It is likely that George did not encounter a Japanese soldier until a few days after the surrender.
The allied forces on Java were held in a number of prison camps and George was in a camp in Batavia (probably the old colonial barracks known as the "bicycle camp"). It is likely that conditions in this camp were not too bad, with much of the organisation and discipline left to the British and Allied officers. There were probably isolated incidents of brutality by the Japanese but, for the most part, the Japanese had other priorities and mostly used the prisoners in work parties to construct or repair airfields.
Following the initial Japanese conquests in South-east Asia, the Japanese then made plans for the redistribution of POWs as slave labour on construction projects, which included the Burmese railway, and in the mines in Japan and Taiwan. The POWs were generally viewed with contempt by the Japanese who considered surrender (rather than fight-to-the-death) to be dishonourable and that they should be considered as no better than "coolies" (native labourers).

After around 6 months in the Batavia camp, George was included in a group of POWs who were destined for labour in the mines in Japan and left Java on October 21 bound for Singapore, the distribution centre for POWs.
Conditions of the ship to Singapore (possibly the "Yosida Maru") were reasonable comfortable.
The group was held in Singapore for a short time and it is likely that the men were tested for dysentery before the final stage of the long voyage to Japan, for which the group was loaded aboard an old ship, the "Dai Nichi Maru". The group would almost certainly have suffered a considerable amount of brutality while in Singapore and when embarking on the ship, when the men were crowded in the (3?) holds of the ship. Conditions in the holds were appalling, with the men crammed into the holds with no room to lie down, with virtually no sanitary facilities. The holds in the tropical climate of Singapore were extremely hot and suffocating with little water available and very small quantities of poor quality rice the only food. It is believed that some of the men drank water from ice loaded aboard the ship and this lead to the rapid spread of dysentery.
 
Thanks for all the information. Already I have a much better picture. So much information available it's just knowing where to look. The conditions must have been horrendous. It's good to see information from somebody who was in his battery. It's really fascinating trying to get all the facts. Thanks for all your help, really helpful. I will carry on with my research as I am going to put it altogether and present to my auntie as she was very young when her father went to war. She remembers as a small child him leaving one night never to return. One day I may find him in a photograph with his mates. You have all been a really big help as I have a much better picture, just need to put it altogether. Still waiting for my grandfathers service records but been told not to get to excited as they were very basic. I was hoping they would of had a photo. Through the information you have sent me I found an article about a camp called Boei Glodok camp where RA soldiers were held. I am going to look at this camp, as the only thing that doesn't make sense is why my grandfather ended up in Jesselton camp. Thanks again really kind you have put yourselves out to help me in my request. Fab.
 
I would suggest trying to contact the others sites about personnel from the same battery as they may have photos and if nothing else be able to rule out their relatives.

You can achieve some results simply by knowing who he isn't, I think you said you have a picture of his unit and a battery in a 1941 field regiment was about 200 all ranks, a medium battery was 253 so if you can rule a few out (ethnicity, age etc) and other people can rule a few more out then you are well on the way to identifying him and who knows of those remaining there may be one that "looks" a lot like a relative.

I am currently searching through my library for the few books I have on the Commonwealth at war with Japan to see how many of those mention Jesselton camp, I have a few books on the subject but the one I am looking for is "Kill the Prisoners’ by Don Wall" as that one apparently has a list of 51 Royal Artillery and R.A.F. Personnel who died at Jesselton, the remains were later taken to Labuan. It may be that he is mentioned in that book or that there is some further information in there for you.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kill-Prisoners-Don-Wall/dp/0646278347
 
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You have been so helpful. I will look into trying to get hold of the book. Thank you so much it is appreciated.

Paul
 
Looking around the net there appears to be several photos of 48 LAA 242BTY gunners, some of them are 1943 origin so it would appear the regiment was reformed later in the war but there are a few pictures that date from 1939-41 prior to leaving the UK.

Maybe those sites can help narrow down your search.
 
That's appreciated thanks. I managed to get hold of the book kill the prisoners and to my total and unexpected astonishment my grandfather is mentioned in a diary. It mentions gunner hitching was cremated after dying from malnutrition etc and he is on the roll of honour for those who died in Jesselton camp. I have bought a copy for my auntie also who will be overwhelmed. I am really glad you mentioned this book as I would never have come across it. It is eary to think the guy I believe an RAF pilot who kept the diaries mentions my grandfather and was in the same camp and possibly met him, so thanks for that. I will now cherish this book as will my auntie no doubt. I haven't give her it yet as she lives a few hundred miles away from me. I will certainly keep going with my research and now believe he was captured at garoet, Java so now looking into that. It's all coming together. Thanks for all your help, the photo would be the icing on the cake. Thanks again.
 
No problem, when I get some time I will try and look further but I really think at this stage you need someone that can start ruling out aspects and people from photographs which is probably best done by the reletives of other 242 Battery personnel.

But I will hunt around and see what pictures from the period are available.

Oddly enough I really enjoy doing these sort of searches as if nothing else it gives me a chance to learn about aspects of the war at a more personal level.
 
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Hi I no I keep thanking you but it really is appreciated. I am looking into speaking with other people to try and chip away at getting a photo. I have already sent quite a few e mails to people, relatives of POWs etc. I have just received my grandfathers service history. I was surprised to see he was actually recruited into the 234th, it looks like s/l regt, I can't really make the writing out, he is then re designated to the 234th LAA and again can't read the writing but looks like frg regiment RA. He is then re designated to 242 Bty 48 LAA when he is posted overseas possibly on 08/07/41 hard to make out as its all real writing and quite difficult to read. His casualty card shows Boei Glodock camp and Jesselton camp. I have also managed to download my grandfathers POW card held by the Japanese. Most of it is in Japanese but it does show he was captured at Garoet, Java on the I think 08/03/42 as on the card it displays 17 3 8 and as I have researched 17 is 1942 as the Japanese do there years on the number of emperors and start back at 1 when a new emperor takes over ??? I am going to try and get this translated. Anyway I now have another line of enquiry to try and find a photograph the 234th ?. I can't find much info on the the surrender at Garoet but will keep looking.

Thanks again
Paul
 
The very early part of the war with Japan is fairly confused due the rapid nature of the Japanese advance, the rushed nature of getting troops to the area to confront them (many mixed units thrown together with little or no planning) and the distance of the combat zone from Europe.
It will as such be very difficult get data on what were essentially small actions in the wilderness.
 
Okay thanks. Could you recommend any books to read on the subject. I already have the Far East theatre 1941-46, the sparrows, from Java to Nagasaki and of course as recommended by yourself kill the prisoners. I have also just noticed my grandfather is on the role of honour in the book the sparrows which will probably be repeated by many authors. Could you recommend anything or any good internet sites I may have missed.

Regards
Paul
 
I take it you have this photo of some 242 battery Gunners taken in 1941 prior to leaving the Uk?
some%20242%20gunners%201941_zpstyqw90vh.jpg


Alternatively you could look into the 234 S/L Battery connection as he must have been trained on Search lights at some point.

A somewhat longer shot would be the Imperial War Museum as they have a massive cataloged collection of photos and documents from the period.
For example:
http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1030015225

Private Papers of J Surr


Content description Wordprocessed memoir (52pp, plus appendices), written in (?) the late 1990s, describing his employment as a nineteen year old railway clerk at the Salford goods depot near Manchester (1939 - 1940), his conscription and basic training in the Royal Artillery in Carlisle (April - June 1941), his further training and service, eventually as a lance bombardier, in 242 Battery, 48th LAA Regiment RA in East Anglia and Somerset (July - November 1941) and his marriage, against his bride's parents' wishes, to his pre-war girlfriend while on his embarkation leave (September 1941), his Regiment's voyage on the troopships DUCHESS OF ATHOLL and DUNERA from the United Kingdom via South Africa to Java (December 1941 - February 1942), his Battery's deployment on airfield defence near Batavia until the capitulation of the Netherlands East Indies (February - March 1942) and his experiences as a prisoner of war in Java in the camps at the Koan School, Boei Glodok and Tandjong Priok, Mater Dolorosa and St Vincentius hospital camps, and Cycle camp, Batavia (March 1942 - June 1944), his transfer by sea to Sime Road camp, Singapore (July 1944) and then to Sumatra where he worked in various camps on the construction of the Pekanbaroe - Moero railway until Japan's surrender (July 1944 - August 1945), his liberation and repatriation, via Singapore, to the United Kingdom (September - October 1945) and his demobilisation and return to work for the railway (winter 1945 - 1946). The memoir offers some indication of his adjustment to the demands of Army life and of how a mixture of good fortune and resourcefulness enabled him to survive the privations and serious illnesses that he experienced during his period of captivity.
 
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