Australian Archives Revised

Who are the men at rest in 55 Unmarked Graves at the CWGC Kranji War Cemetery in Singapore?

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The little-known story of fifty-five (or more) unarmed British and Australian POWs massacred soon after capture by the Japanese at Pulau Bintan Island, near Singapore, during 21st – 25th February 1942. Particularly men of the 9 Coast Regiment, Royal Artillery and AIF.

In the files of the Australian National Archives in Melbourne, Australia lies a largely ignored file (item 144/14/118; series B3856) which holds some of the answers to the possible identities of British and Australian men in 55 graves at Kranji War Cemetery, Singapore (known locally as Kranji Memorial) inscribed only with the words “Known unto God’.

The British Archives at Kew also hold affidavits and witness statements provided at the end of the War as to the last sightings (and therefore the fate) of men of the 9 Coast Regiment, Royal Artillery, from the Penggarang Battery site on Pulau Tekong and adjacent Batteries near Singapore - many of whom were murdered along with Australian and other British troops on the island of Pulau Bintan ( an Indonesian island near Singapore) at ‘Tanjong Pinang’ and ‘Tanjong Bulan’ by the invading Japanese Army , after being taken as POWs.

Through research, the final resting place of these casualties – many of whom are now identified in this document - has been narrowed down to a section of graves in two rows at Kranji War Cemetery. Also there, are men of the British Army (particularly Royal Artillery, Royal Engineers, and possibly RASC, RAOC and others (who were only able to be broadly classified by the post war ‘War Graves’ search parties as “Empire Soldiers”); together with Australian (AIF) soldiers, and even possibly a few men of the Malayan Volunteer Forces. There is, however, nothing in many cases to tell the solemn visitors to Kranji War Cemetery as they walk past these immaculately kept graves and headstones in Plot 29 (Rows A, B, C, D) and Plot 30 (Row E) i.e. the immediate first two rows in the photo below - either the Regiment of any of these men or, in many cases, even from which country they hailed . Which is a shame because there is now a lot more known (but it appears almost certainly not by the CWGC) of the specific identities of a large group of those who rest there for eternity.

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​To unravel the complexity of the tragedy and the atrocities which took place on Pulau Bintan immediately after the final chaotic week of the invasion of Singapore, we need to turn the clock back to February 1942 on the island of Singapore, to when tens of thousands of Allied ( British, Indian, Australian and local (‘expat’, Malay and Chinese) Volunteer troops had retreated from the Malayan peninsula after seven weeks of brutal fighting - only to be trapped in an ever-diminishing piece of territory focussed on the bombed, burning Singapore CBD where bodies were strewn in the streets a a few offshore islands.

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With the Surrender of the British to the Japanese on the evening of 15 February 1942 thousands of those servicemen on Singapore Island, Pulau Blakan Mati (now named Sentosa island), Pulau Tekong ( the second largest island after Pulau Jurong) and other small islands surrounding Singapore (on which were located men of the Royal Artillery manning large guns and supporting troops) were given or decided upon the freedom of choice to make an impromptu escape across the sea through hundreds of tiny islands towards Sumatra.

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Only a minority of the troops on Singapore Island – probably a couple of thousand men in total – followed the departure of thousands of civilian men, women and children during the previous week and chose this high-risk gamble for freedom from capture and boarded hundreds of small craft. The last minute ‘evacuation’ or escape of troops involved everything from water tankers, launches, lifeboats, sail boats, canoes, sampans and junks during the night of 15/16 February 1942 trying to leave under cover of darkness and then a continuing trickle of craft during the day and night after the surrender.

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[Hundreds of these men were lost without trace in the escape/evacuation journey and were classified as “Missing” by the Allied authorities and as a result their names were only able to be recorded on the Columns and Panels of the Kranji War Cemetery in Singapore, along with others who were “Missing” during the Battle for Malaya and Singapore. Also, about 850 (out of the almost 4,500 graves at Kranji) of the “Missing” whose remains were finally located and reinterred after the war were laid to rest in graves at Kranji – but with only the epitaph “Known unto God” and, if evidenced, were noted as being either British or Australian forces soldiers.]

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A launch escaping bombed, burning Singapore mid - February 1942    

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The objective of the escaping soldiers, sailors and airmen was almost always to reach ‘safety’ in either Java ;or the more accessible big island land mass of Sumatra (both were still held by the Dutch at that point) and then cross Sumatra to the port town of Padang on the western coast where Allied evacuation ships – both Allied naval and merchant - were destined to call in and rescue the majority of those who reached the town. The escapees took various sea routes, mostly either a direct south westerly course with ‘island hopping’ for a week or two to the Sumatran mainland, or a more central southern route firstly via the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesian) Riau territory islands of Pulau Batam and Pulau Bintan which were quite close to Singapore, and from there south through the archipelago to Sumatra.

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What we now know of the awful events specifically involving newly captured POWs on the island of Pulau Bintan during the first week after the Allied Surrender of Singapore on 15th February 1942, and specifically within the main town of Tanjong Pinang on the island, officially starts from the investigation begun in October 1945 following the surrender of Japan and the arrival in Malaya and Singapore by Allied forces. This picture is also able to be filled out by the wartime knowledge shared in affidavits by several European residents of Pulau Bintan, plus the post war statements of men of the Royal Artillery as to what/where/when they last recalled was the location of those of their comrades reaching the Riau Islands of Pulau Bintan and nearby Pulau Batam not far from Singapore.

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The main town on Pulau Bintan is named Tanjong Pinang (or in Malay language ‘Tanjung Pinang Riau’ since it is the capital of the Riau islands).

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These events would have initially become known, albeit very secretly, ( i.e. from the Japanese guards to protect the Interned witnesses) during 1942-43 to a small, selected group of European internees in Changi Prison Internment camp and Sime Road Internment camp ( possibly also to a few of the adjacent POWs in Changi POW Camp) because - almost unbelievably - three European ‘witnesses’ to atrocities by Japanese troops during February 1942 from Pulau Bintan were sent into imprisonment in Changi Prison Internment Camp in 1943 ,and then later moved to the Sime Road Internment Camp. An ‘oversight’ on the matter of ‘witnesses’ not usually made by the Japanese when covering their tracks after committing atrocities.

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After the war a Singapore policeman and Intelligence Corps member by the name of Lt. H. W. Wylie also related a story told to him by another policeman, by the name of Inspector Freer of the Singapore Police, who had met a Father Meijer (the Catholic priest in Tanjong Pinang on the island of Pulau Bintan in 1942) in Changi Prison internment Camp when he arrived there in February 1943. Meijer had related to Freer his story of soldiers escaping Singapore and arriving on Bintan, and Lt Wylie’s assessment was that “… the escapees mentioned formed part of a large number of Royal Artillery personnel who escaped between 13th and 16th Feb. from islands close to Singapore (e.g., Blakan Mati etc) and who are, as far as I am aware, still missing. This opinion is confirmed from records made in Changi, original of which accompanies this statement (See books 1, 2 and 3) …”

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So far, very few records have been found of this knowledge by POWs and internees - they may be in the ’Bureau of Record and Enquiry’ papers compiled in Changi POW camp under the leadership of Captain David Nelson and now held in the Imperial War Museum, London, but the researcher has not had the opportunity to cross check the NAA files against this source.

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The atrocities, carried out by Japanese troops in the massacre of Allied POWs on Pulau Bintan immediately after the Surrender of February 1942, firstly began to unfold to the “HQ 2 Australian PW Reception Group (SEAC)” in October 1945 when it sent Lt. Col. J. Buchanan, 2/14 Australian Hospital Group, together with Lt. L.G. Palmer, RANR., and some thirty troops to Pulau Bintan to disarm the Japanese garrison and also ascertain whether there existed, or had existed, any POWs on the island . It was soon clear that there were no POWs on Bintan island, which is situated across the sea in a south easterly direction from Singapore, and the natives were positive that “… no white men have been reported as living on the main island for the past three years…”.​

However, a few local Chinese and Malay living in Tanjong Pinang began to relate their accounts of atrocities carried out by the Japanese troops in February 1942.

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As the investigation probed deeper the 3rd Australian Prisoner of War Contact & Enquiry Unit “... made contact with several Europeans who had been living on Pulau Bintan at the time the Japanese arrived...” and the full horror of the murder of unarmed POWs by the Japanese was revealed.

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Key to the investigation was Father Augustine Meijer, Parish Priest of Tanjong Pinang with corroborating evidence on some of the events from Mr. L. Parlevliet, Acting Dutch Controller for Tanjong Pinang. There were also valuable witnesses amongst the local Chinese and Malay population although their statements which are held on record in Australian Archive files are brief – not surprising since they were taken almost four years after the events.

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Using all the accounts in the Australian Archive files we can determine that the events occurred along the following timeline.

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• During the period 10th – 20th February 1942 small parties of Australian and British troops who had escaped by boat from Singapore and nearby islands arrived at Tanjong Pinang on Pulau Bintan (which is about 35 km southeast across the sea from Singapore) to obtain food and small sea craft to continue their journey. The troops usually obtained the necessary assistance from local inhabitants and then moved further south to other islands.

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• Specifically (according to Father Meijer) on 18th Feb. 1942 a British officer named Lieut Bateman, and a small party of other ranks landed at Tandjong Pinang. His affidavit includes” … The last time I saw Lt Bateman was on the evening of 19th February 1942. I cannot say whether he was successful in leaving the island safely … At about 6.30 pm on the evening of 19 Feb. 1942, I met three British captains at the SOCIETEIT SEMPERTENE Club in Tanjong Pinang. At about 8 pm I accompanied the three British Captains to the house of Mr. L. Parlevliet where they partook of a meal. I left them there and went to the house where I was living at the time, to prepare sleeping quarters for them. I went back to the house of Mr. L. Parlevliet and escorted the British captains back to my residence, where they stayed the night… When I left my house early in the morning of the 20th 1942, the officers were still there; but when I returned from church they had gone. As far as I remember the name of the senior captain was Brandon. I do not remember the names of the other two captains…”

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• ​Mr. Parlevliet adds “... in addition to the three British captains there were … one Indian Army Officer and a party of British other ranks …” who arrived on the afternoon of 19th February.

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Dutch administrative buildings and residence of Dutch Controller -

the two large white arched buildings - as they are today.

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• · Between the time of 2.00 pm and 3.00 pm on the 20th of February the Japanese landed at Tanjong Pinang with a body of troops under two officers by the name of ‘Tomiwo Oka’ and ‘Shiraishi’. This body of troops were responsible for the initial killings but left the island around the 24/24 February 1942. The Allied investigation team concluded in 1946 that at the time of the Japanese landing on 20th February there were on Pulau Bintan “… a party of approximately 35 British and Australian soldiers preparing for their journey south … “- this proved to be understated against the actual remains of men disinterred by a War Graves party later in 1946 when the total reached 55 men for reinternment in Singapore, others present at that time suggest the number was more like 100 Allied servicemen.

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• Other witnesses amplify on the newly arrived Allied servicemen on the island.

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•  from a servant boy, by the name of Djongos, at the house of a Mr Stuk who was the Inspector of Police in Tanjong Pinang “… In the latter part of February 18 Australian soldiers came to the house, Mr Stuk ordered me to feed them. I fed them for a day or two, then the Japanese soldiers came to TP on 20 Feb. 1942 and captured these 18 Australian soldiers… “
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• One Charlie Chew Eng Hock, Assistant on the motorboat ‘Senggarang’, stated “…on 19 February European soldiers landed at TP. As the soldiers were looking for food and as I could speak English, I spoke with them and supplied them with food. During my association with them, they all claimed to be Australians; one stated he was a shipbuilder in civilian life, another, an engineer, and another that his father was a farmer in Queensland. These soldiers were trying to obtain a boat so that they could escape to islands further away. Before a boat could be made available to them the Japanese landed, this was in the afternoon of 20 Feb. 42. These soldiers were captured by the Japanese and were concentrated on the public tennis court…”.
   

• Both Father Meijer and Mr Parlevliet were arrested by the Japanese down at the beachfront at Tanjong Pinang and interrogated soon after the Japanese landed in the early afternoon of 20th February. Father Meijer recorded “… whilst I was sitting on the beach waiting to be questioned. I noticed a party of about 20 British soldiers being marched under Japanese escort along the pier. The soldiers had their hands tied behind their backs ….” Mr Parlevliet added that this party of soldiers were marched by Japanese soldiers into the public tennis courts which were in front of his house “… later I noticed that they were all sitting down, and they were still in this position at about 1900 hrs … “. Father Meijer recorded that at about 8.00 am on 21st February the party of British soldiers were still on the public tennis court.
  The Dutch witnesses related how the Japanese troops included a unit of the military secret police ‘Kempetai’ under the command of a 2nd Lt. Hasegawa / Hashegawa, who commandeered the Roman Catholic priest’s house (which still stood there in the same form in 2007 when this researcher visited Tanjong Pinang) as an interrogation centre. The Kempetai unit remained on Pulau Bintan for about ten days. An Indian soldier, said to be a Captain in the Motor Transport division from Singapore, was detailed by the Japanese to assist their interrogations.
   

• At 10.00am on the 21st of February a ‘young British soldier’ appears to have arrived on the island walked up the hill from the beach to the priest’s house and surrendered to the Kempetai. He was detained at the house and then 2nd Lt. Hasegawa/Hashegawa told Father Meijer that he had to send the young British soldier to Singapore. Father Meijer recorded in his post war statement “… but I believe he was taken to the beach near the pier and shot. His body was left where he was shot. ... the soldier told me he had been a gunner on Blakan Mati island…”.

• Father Meijer then records “… the party of British soldiers on the Public tennis Court were still sitting on the ground at 5 pm [21st February]. Shortly after this they were marched away in parties of four, with their hands tied behind their backs, and a Japanese sentry in charge of each party. I never again saw any of the British soldiers. My servant told me that the British soldiers had all been murdered, but I did not see the massacre myself …’. Witness Charlie Chew Eng “...they were taken from the tennis court and were executed at kampong Jawa…”.

• Djongos, another witness, stated that he thought this group of soldiers were Australian [Researcher note - by then the soldiers on the tennis court holding area could very likely have been an intermingled group of both British and AIF troops from the accounts in the file] “… these soldiers were taken to the fortress and then Kampong Djawa. On the afternoon of the third day after the Japanese arrived, I opened the door of my house and saw one of the soldiers kneeling, with his hands tied behind his back, a Japanese soldier drew his sword and beheaded the soldier. The Japanese soldier then pushed the body into an air raid shelter with his foot. I was so horrified that I closed the door and remained inside the house. While in the house I heard shots. After the Japanese soldiers left, I looked into the air-raid shelter and saw the bodies partly covered with soil. Later the shelter was filled in by my friends. My house is in Kampong Djawa…”.

• Father Meijer further recorded “... Early on the morning of 25th February 1942 another party of six British soldiers arrived at my house i.e. Kempetai HQ. The same day the Kempetai moved from my house to the house of a native doctor in Goldman Straat… I went to the Kempetai HQ that evening and I saw the six British soldiers sitting outside the house. The last time that I saw the soldiers was at about 6 pm on the evening of 26 February 1942… On the morning of 27th Feb. 1942, when I again visited the Kempetai HQ, I saw the helmets and luggage belonging to the soldiers; but the soldiers I could not locate. Later I was told by Chinese that the soldiers had been murdered on the beach …’
  
  The ‘3rd Australian Prisoner of War Contact & Enquiry Unit’ investigating report of February 1946 also notes that at around this time - in February 1942 - one European woman had also been executed and thrown in a ditch along with two European men believed to be civilians – this is corroborated by the eyewitness statement of one Mrs Rose Jumeni who lived at 886 Kampong Jawa, Tanjong Pinang at the time.
   

Local Malay witnesses also stated that some of the soldiers had two identity discs around their necks – one red and one white. Later exhumation also found that a group of the soldiers wore the same two identity discs made of a fibre compound issued to Australian Soldiers - but these disintegrated in the tropics, and it was not possible for the post war grave parties to make individual identifications amongst the Australian remains. The eyewitnesses to the killings at Kampong Djawa were shown articles of Australian uniform [in 1946] and they said that the victims had been wearing identical clothing. They believed that most of the victims were Australians.

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In addition – but quite separately it seems – a variety of statements were also being gathered in the United Kingdom soon after the War from the survivors of the 9 Coast Regiment, Royal Artillery of their knowledge of any last sightings of men from that Regiment who had escaped from Pulau Tekong, Penggarang, Pulau Sajahat etc (see Maps below in this document) and other locations of the Artillery Batteries scattered in the islands located northeast of Singapore, after the Surrender to the Japanese in Singapore. [Note: This researcher is particularly grateful to Helen Bedford for sharing transcripts of these UK Archive document on the website ‘WW2 Talk” from where they have been sourced for use in this document.]

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It seems that the Japanese had effectively ‘bypassed’ the Pulau Tekong and Penggarang sites during their invasion across the Johore Strait from Malaya into Singapore on 8/9/10 February 1942.

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Pulau Tekong was a pair of islands, Pulau Tekong Besar (Big Tekong) and Pulau Tekong Kechil (Small Tekong), before extensive land reclamation in the mid-1990s. Just to the southwest there was even smaller Pulau Sajahat – also now ‘disappeared’ in reclamation by Singapore.

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Singapores defences 1937

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Map showing Pulau Tekong/Pulau Tekong Basar (at right), Luau Tekong Kechil and Pulau Sajahat prior to reclamation.

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Key amongst the various 9 Coast Regiment records is that of,

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• Lt. Eric Innes Pocock, 22nd Bty., 9 Coast Regt., R.A., # 47120. He firstly lists (presumably in his MI9 Liberation Questionnaire) the names of,

Ø Blackstock - Bdr 22 Bty 9th Coast REG R.A. – Sphinx Fort

Ø Spokes – Bdr 22 Bty 9Th Coast REG – R.A. Sphinx Fort

Ø Hood – GNR 22 Bty 9th Coast REG R.A. -Sphinx Fort

Ø Sprouting – GNR 22 BTY 9th Coast REG -Sphinx Fort

Ø McDermott – GNR ‘M’ Bty 9th Coast REG – Ladeng Fort

Ø Brown – GNR 22 BTY 9th Coast REG R.A. – Tekong Fort

Ø Morley – L/Cpl Attached “M” 9th Coast Reg - Ladeng Fort

Ø Cameron – Spr 41st Fortress Coy R.E. Attached “M” - Ladeng Fort

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and then Lt. E. Innes- Pocock expands with an explanation on the list he has provided, “All Dead I witnessed their capture on 20/02/42 at Tanjong Pinang Rio N.E.I. Reported Executed on 21/2/42 by Chinese patriots (since killed) who helped me escape from Tanjong Pinang Rio

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Note:

They were members of the party which I led out of Singapore on the night of 16/II/42 [presumably his way of writing 16 Feb 1942] in an attempt to link up with the Dutch Forces on Tanjong Pinang Rio. We arrived there on 19/II/42 without casualties to find the Dutch Garrison had withdrawn. We were attacked by the Japanese Force on the 20/II/42 before we had organised our further journey to Sumatra. The whole party were taken prisoner as also were about 100 other British and Australian troops marooned on the island 7 waiting to be taken off by me in the Pulau Batam Motor vessel which had been given to me by the Dutch Controller for that purpose. Local Chinese patriots organised a number of escapes and land about 8 other British and Australians succeeded in making our way independently to Sumatra where we were finally captured on 17/03/42.

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Regarding 2nd Lt A.C. Bateman 9th Coast Regiment [ this is 2nd Lt. Arnold Charles Bateman, 9 Coast Regt., R.A.], The above-named officer was last seen by me on February 19th, 1942, at Tanjong Pinang Rio on the island of Bintan N.E.I. Singapore and spoke to him on the morning of the 19th. From his own account he along with Lt. Jones [ this is Lt. Cecil Hugh Eversley Jones, 11 Coast Regt., R.A.] and the entire personnel of Sajahat fort Nr. Tekong, escaped and reached the North coast of the island of Batam. Here their boats were damaged on the rocks, and the force was unable to proceed further. Lt. Bateman, accompanied by a Bdr. Parker who spoke fluent Malay, left in a native craft to try and secure another vessel in which to take the remainder of the force to Sumatra. They reached Tanjong pinang Rio and were able to secure a Dutch police patrol launch, but insufficient petrol for the task in hand.

On the afternoon of the 19th, I gave Lt. Bateman a considerable quantity of petrol from my own supply, and he left for Tanjong Uban [ Tanjung Uban is another town on Pulau Bintan about 35 km northwest of the town of Tanjong Pinang – see map below] on the island of Bintan, saying he intended to call in there on his way, to pick up a few of his men whom he had left there on his way to Rio. At this time, he and Bdr. Parker who went back with him, were well, and confident of getting at least some of the troops away.

I have subsequently met a gunner, whose name I can unfortunately not remember, who was at Tanjong Uban and spoke with Lt. Bateman had given up the idea of trying to take man off Batam, and left Uban, presumably for Sumatra, at about 2pm on the afternoon of February 20th. The Japanese must have been near Uban at this time for they landed at Tanjong Pinang Rio at about 3 pm that afternoon, whilst their planes had been flying over the area since 2pm.I was under the impression that Lt. Bateman had reached India, but if this is not so, then it seems likely he was killed by the Japanese force..... I have no further firsthand information, but from all accounts, mostly Chinese, Malay and a few British Personnel who passed through the island of Bintan after its occupation, all Military POW on this island were executed shortly after being taken. I estimate that 500 British and Australian troops were affected, and I have personal knowledge that about 100 were captured at Tanjong Pinang Rio, and according to an Australian escapee who was recaptured and taken back three weeks alter via Rio to Singapore, there were no POW in the town at that time. Besides myself, I have met only five men who escaped from Rio and reached Sumatra....”

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Note : Sifting through the statements, affidavits and miscellany of records we now know that the Japanese War Crimes of summarily executing groups of British and Australian POWs who had escaped Singapore between 14-16 February 1942 very soon after their capture in this area during the week from 20 February 1942 – and just five days after the formal Surrender by the British in Singapore - were carried out at Tanjong/Tanjung Pinang and Tanjung Uban on Pulau Bintan, and on the small outlying islands of Pulau Sore/Soreh ( 2 km west from Tanjong Pinang), Pulau Mapoer/Mapur ( 1o km east of Pulau Bintan), ‘Pulau Kalas’ and Pulau Penyangat( 1 km west of Tanjong Pinang on Pulau Bintan).

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• in a later letter Lt Innes -Pocock amplified “... From the information I received, the prisoners were used as ‘coolies’ for a day or two in true Japanese style and then shot and/or bayonetted. I regret I do not know the names of any of the Chinese concerned in helping us. The two who helped me, also accompanied me as far as the island of ‘Punkis’ where we were attacked by Malays, and they were killed ... I might add that a considerable number of men are believed to have met a similar fate near the town of Tanjung Uban on the same island...”.

• additional information was provided in a wartime (2.1.45) statement from Bdr. J.W. Jewell, 1086731 (with witness W.O. H. Newton, 14275059) who after deciding with a group of men from another ‘island Battery’ to escape said “... At 3.00pm the same day (16/2/42) we left by rowing boat ...arrived at NONGSA [ a village at the time on the northeast coast of Pulau Batam , which island is situated to the west of Pulau Bintan] on the other side of Singapore Straits, where we boarded a sailing ship and eventually landed at Tand Joeng Pinang. We met Bdrs. Parker and Blackstock and Gunners Knowles and McDermott they were all fit. Bdr Parker advised me that the Sagarhat battery were on the island and were in a bad way, so we procured a ‘San Pan’ [sic ‘Sampan’] motorboat and compass and left it with Bdr Parker, who was going back to try and evacuate them. We left Tang Joeng Pinang on the 28th of February 1942 on a small steamer and arrived at Ringit [sic Rengat in eastern Sumatra] in Sumatra we proceeded overland to Penang [ sic the port town of Padang on the western coast of Sumatra] where we were evacuated by steamer to India, arriving at Bombay on the 16th of March 1942...”. Bdr. Jewell then provided a list of men he saw at the Tekong Battery before he left Singapore which included R.A. men who eventually died in horrendous POW situations like Ballale Island ( four men), others who were shot for escaping from Changi POW Camp, several who died (presumably of disease) in Changi POW camp, and then some who are either known (or surmised by this researcher) to have reached either Pulau Bintan or adjacent Islands and were executed by the Japanese (it is important to understand that very often the CWGC ‘Dates of death’ are based on when a person was ‘last seen’ , rather than ‘known to have died’ by a witness reporting to the CWGC) – this includes J.T. Jessop ( 851141) on 21.2.42, E. North (835481) on 1.3.42, E.K. Blackstock ( 838358) on 21.2.42, Gnr. T. McDermott (1045495) on 15.2.42, Sgt. R.H. Hudson (812399) on 21.2.42, and, possibly given his ‘date of death’, Gnr. D.R. Baird (984137) on 19.2.42.

• another statement dated 1943, by a ‘D. Richey’ states “... I left B/Mati [the island of Blakan Mati, now Sentosa island joined by bridge to Singapore] early on Monday 16th [ it would have been 16.2.42] the day after the Surrender] and arrived at Pulau Batam at dawn - I hid all day and in the evening when walking along the beach met Cecil Jones [Lt. Cecil Jones, 11 Coast Regt.,] and his men - that was about 6pm Monday 16th, the approx. position is marked X [ on a hand drawn map he attached to his statement] - I left with my chaps about 11pm that night and following the line [ he means the official ‘escape line’ from Singapore to Sumatra set up with provisions before the Surrender on 15 Feb] , reached Sumatra on 21st. Before I left we had a long chin wag and he told me he had sent an officer and some men off to get assistance in the one around boat and he intended to wait 4 days and if no assistance came he would try and march south in the hope of collecting boats on the shore of Batam, and from there hop on to Sumatra – I haven’t met anyone who heard of his party, tho Pickard met the officer at a place named Tanjong Pinang who was preparing to go back. Cecil had about 80 men British and Indian – I knew several of the Indians but only one of the British, a Sgt. Major – I’ll send his name on to you later on, I’ve forgotten it at the moment – you may be able to get news of Cecil thro the Sgt Major if he is a prisoner...”. He then listed many R.A. men who had lost their lives on Ballale Island, in POW camps, hospitals, escaping from Changi POW camp and during the latter stages of the Singapore fighting - but started with nine names of men who are now known to have been executed on Pulau Bintan “... 1786867 Meakin A.E.; 851141 Jessop J.T.; 1786730 Hampton C.; Bowden B.S.M.; Lees SGT; Hall SGT; Harvey SGT; Hudson 22BTY; James Sgt 22 BTY...” together with the names of “... 808865 Harvey F.; and 812399 Blackstock E.K. as having been rumoured to have been executed in Sumatra after escaping Palu Tekong...”.

• another sighting was by Sgt Hughes, T 1474006 “... last saw and spoke with Lt. Bateman A.C. in the company of two Dutch officials [this correlates to the above affidavit of Father Meijer] at REO [sic Tanjong Pinang Riau] , one of the islands of the Dutch East Indies, I was in the company of two other B.O. Rs Gnr. Connor 1481036 and Gnr. Allen 5726421. We asked them if they would come with us, but 2/Lt Bateman replied that he did not think the boat we had was seaworthy. The Dutch officials said they could not leave because they were waiting to hand over to the Japs but advised us to leave immediately. Date 18 Feb 1942. ...” He then lists “L/Bdr (art) Bryant J.O.F. 828276 [ who died at Ballale Island on 5.3.43], Gnr McIntyre [ in fact this would have been MacWilliam] J 1547502 [he also died on Ballale Island on 5.4.43], Gnr Payne 1427597 [ it is possible he was another victim on Pulau Bintan, the CWGC has his DOD as 16.2.42], Gnr McCormick E.W. 868763 [killed on Pulau Bintan, DOD was 19.2.42], and Gnr Jessop J.T. 851141 [killed on Pulau Bintan , DOD was 21.2.42]... The a/m BORs were at Tekon [sic Tekong] Bty when I left on 16th Feb...”.

• Statement by 4388397 Bdr. Parks H. “... I saw 2nd Lieut A.C. Bateman and 843546 Bdr. Parkes W.E [ he meant Bdr. William Edward Parker, 9 Coast who died on 1.4.43, possibly Ballale Island? ] at Tekong Penang [ sic Tanjong Pinang] in Rhio Island of Singapore on 16th Feb 42, I spoke to them for about five minutes, and they were all in good health and attempting to reach territory by small boat which they had in their possession. Bdr Parkes was very fluent in the Malay language, and it is possible he could pass as a native.... 2/Lt Bateman A.C. and another officer were in command of a detachment of men on an island called Pula Sajahat. The other officers name I do not know, I believe he formally [formerly?] had been stationed at Paenang [ Penang?]. On 13th or 14th Feb 42 no life was seen on Sajahat, which could be seen from Ladong [ Ledang?] Bty which was at the west end of Pula Tekong. On the Sunday afternoon someone went across to Sajahat and found that it had been deserted and no guns had been blown up.... There were only about twenty men at Ladong, and about twenty of us were sent there as reinforcements. The following are some of the men when I can remember being there.... he follows with the names of seven 9 Coast men who are now known to have been killed on Pulau Bintan, plus 2nd Lt Innes -Pocock [who escaped to Sumatra], and L/Bdr Enoch Charles Wright, 840436, 9 Coast Regt (aged 25 years) whose date of death of 19.2.42 suggests very strongly that he was also a victim on Pulau Bintan. He then states that the following “... were sent to Sajahat to blow up all equipment. They were not seen again... “- Gnr Heed [sic Hood], Gnr Hall, Sgt Harvey, and Sgt Hudson. Then “... 1419112 Sgt Lees G.F. [ also killed on Pulau Bintan] was either at Ladong or the other fort on the east of the island...”. Plus “... Gnr Huitsen [ Gnr. Norman Huitson, 1426855, 9 Coast, CWGC date of death 15.2.42 which leaves open the very high probability he was also killed on Pulau Bintan] was at Sphinx Bty along with the following...” - he gives a list of the names of thirty-one ‘9 Coast Regt’ men of whom four died in the Burma railway camps, two on Ballale Island and three who were killed on Pulau Bintan (Bdr. Blackstock, Gnr. Sprouting and Gnr. Ernest William McCormick, 847280, 9 Coast who died 19.2.42 aged 24 years) ... Then my party arrived at one of the Dutch Islands, we came in contact with some of the others who managed to get away, we all got together and made our party. While we were there, we met 2/Lt. Bateman and l/Bdr. Parker W. they told us that there[sic] party was stationed on a smaller island and that they were trying to get them some food. The party that we joined told us another party had made a break for it, but no one knew which way they had gone, but thought they may have headed for Australia.

• Finally, a statement by Gnr. T. Bell 872581, 9 Coast confirms the sightings by others “... 2/Lieut. Bateman and 843546 W/Bdr. Parker were last seen at Tan Jong Pinang on 18/2/42 going back to enemy held territory to pick up more of their men. I gave them petrol for a launch to see them through, I never saw or heard of them again...The following men [indecipherable word?]the island of Pulau Tekong by boat, I have not seen them since... [ he lists Blackstock, Hall, McCormick, Redpath, Sprouting, Hood and three others who presumably survived, another who later died in the Burma Railway Camps and a Gunner G.W. Pritchard 843640 of 9 Coast Regt [who the CWGC has a date of death of 16.2.42] plus Gnr John Joseph Ryan, 863298, of 9 Coast Regt [whose date of death is recorded as 19.2.42] ...]” .

So, these records tell us, with almost complete surety, that the following twenty-four

men (in a few instances ‘highly probably’) of 9 Coast Regiment were killed on Pulau Bintan at Tandjong Pinang over the days 20 -25 February 1942,

​​

1. 2nd Lt, Arnold Charles Bateman, # 153556, 9 Coast Regiment.

2. Bdr. Edward Kenneth Blackstock, # 838358, 9 Coast Regiment.

3. BSM /W.O.2 Francis George Bowden, # 1053936, 9 Coast Regiment.

4. Gnr. John Brewster, # 1787337, 9 Coast Regiment.

5. Gnr. Thomas Brown, # 872327, 9 Coast Regiment.

6. Gnr. Charles Royston Davies, # 837579, 9 Coast Regiment.

7. Gnr. Ronald Gibbs, # 1427565, 9 Coast Regiment.

8. Sgt. Ralph Hall, # 1062169, 9 Coast Regiment.

9. Gnr. Charles Hampton, # 1786730, 9 Coast Regiment.

10. Sgt. Frederick Harvey, # 808865, 9 Coast Regiment.

11. Gnr. Charles William Hood, # 844593, 9 Coast Regiment.

12. Sgt. Ralph Herbert Hudson, # 812399, 9 Coast Regiment.

13. Lance Sgt. Robert Henry James, # 856663, 9 Coast Regiment.

14. Sgt. George Forbes Lees, # 1419112, 9 Coast Regiment.

15. Gnr. Edward William McCormick, # 847280, 9 Coast Regiment.

16. Gnr. James McIntyre, # 872539, 9 Coast Regiment.

17. Gnr. Thomas McDermott, # 105495, 9 Coast Regiment.

18. Gnr. Albert Edward Meakin, # 178667, 9 Coast Regiment.

19. Gnr. George William Pritchard, # 843640, 9 Coast Regiment.

20. Gnr. John Robert Redpath, # 872393, 9 Coast Regiment.

21. Gnr. Eric Scott Soden, #832161, 9 Coast Regiment.

22. Bdr. (L/Bdr.) F.E. Spokes, # 842057, 9 Coast Regiment.

23. Gnr. Albert William Sprouting, 3# 5670320, 9 Coast Regiment.

24. Gnr. George Thompson, # 5771941, 9 Coast Regiment.

​​

- Also killed were,

• § L/Cpl. Albert Jesse William Gerald Morley, # 1868253, 41 Fortress Coy, Royal Engineers.

• § Sapper Leonard John Cameron, 3 5183097, 41 Fortress Coy, Royal Engineers.

The “3rd Australian PW Contact & Enquiry Unit”- acting as a War Graves Unit - in February 1946 made an early assessment of the location of the following graves in Tanjong Pinang.

• Three mass graves in Kampong Java [ NB: this kampong still exists today as a close cluster of houses in Tanjong Pinang with what look like its original kampong layout]

• One double grave at Kampong Java

• Two single graves at Kampong Java

• One mass grave on the seaward side of the Wireless Station in Tanjong Pinang [ NB: still located today on the hill above the kampong]

• One single grave on the beach (near rest house) – this appears to be a reference to either the “young British soldier from Blakan Mati “or a British officer” amongst the troops who was taken down to the beach and shot on 23rd February 1942

• One single grave outside the wall of Tanjong Pinang cemetery

• Also recorded is that “… the natives believe that two bodies were cast down the well in the Hospital grounds, the well is now [i.e.1946] filled with rubbish…”

The War Graves cards which are held in the Melbourne National Archives show that 45 of the men disinterred were British and at least 11 were AIF.

​

Based on the eyewitness accounts from locals of Allied troops arriving on Pulau Bintan it is probably realistic to assume that there were an even higher proportion of Australian soldiers (AIF) in the overall group buried now at Kranji, but they could not be identified beyond being “Empire Soldiers” (which means simply that they were not Japanese, but could be any of British, Australian, Malayan Volunteer or Indian troops).

​

The fifty-six men now lay at rest in Kranji War Cemetery – specifically in the following graves;

• Identified only as ‘Empire Soldiers,

  • Plot 29, Row B.4 to B.9 – six men found in the well at the Hospital grounds at Tanjong Pinang

  • Plot 29, B.10 to 20 and C.1 to C.12 – twenty-five men found in the garden of 796 Kampong Djawa

  • Plot 29, C.15 to C.16 – two men from near “…the house of Venneker” …” Kampong Djawa

  • Plot 29, C.17 to C.20 and D.1 to D.6 – twelve men “… from the garden of the house of Sapon, Kampong Djawa …”

​

• Identified as Australian (AIF),

  • Plot 30, Row E.10 and 11 – two men “… from the garden of the house of Sapon, Kampong Djawa …”

  • Plot 30, Row E.1 to E. 9 – nine men “… from near the Military barracks at Tanloeng Oeban, Pulau Bintan …”

​

The conclusion therefore is that the remains of thirty-two men of the 9 Coast Regiment, R.A. and the two men of the 41st Fortress Coy., Royal Engineers listed above as dying on Pulau Bintan are now amongst graves of the forty-five ‘Empire Soldiers’ men buried in Plot 29, Row B (graves 4 – 20) and C ( graves 1 – 20) and D ( 1 – 6) with anonymous headstones at Kranji War Cemetery Singapore.

Of note is the fact that many (but for an unknown reason not all of them) the men of who escaped from the Royal Artillery emplacements on the offshore islands near Singapore were posthumously awarded ‘Mentioned in Despatches’ by The War Office and publicised in ‘The London Gazette’ soon after the end of the war (5 December 1946) against the Japanese. The citation reads “... The KING has been graciously pleased to approve that the following be Mentioned in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in the field...”. The researcher can only assume that this award was for men who had ‘escaped’ and were then executed by the Japanese as POWs. Any clarification on this honour awarded would be appreciated by this researcher. The phrase ‘Killed for Escape Activities’ appears to be also used for this MID award.

​​

In modern times, in the town of Tanjong Pinang, the sites referred to in the 1945/46 investigation were remarkably well preserved when visited in 2007 – the beach near the ‘Rest House’ remains as it was in 1942 , the Public Tennis Court slightly up the hill past the old official Dutch Controller’s residence remains exactly as it was when the soldiers sat in the tropical sun during 20th /21st February 1942 and the Roman Catholic priest’s house (commandeered by th

he ‘Kempetai’) still exists as a shabby grey weatherboard house on the corner of a road near Kampong Djawa with the steps down to the road where the soldiers sat and waited for their fate.

​​

Further up the hill is the Hospital where the locals now have a vague legend that the area of the old well is haunted by the spirits of people killed during the war. Even the wireless station with its transmission tower (no doubt a new one) remains on the top of the hill above kampong Djawa.

​​

The researcher of this document has travelled to Tanjong Pinang on Pulau Bintan in search of the truth, but also to gain an understanding of these events and seen for himself the incredibly peaceful little area of the town where so much cold-blooded murder took place in February 1942.

The locals know almost nothing of these events anymore according (in 2007) to the gentle, elderly French Catholic priest – leading the same church as the original Father Meijer - who made extensive local enquiry on behalf of the researcher of this document.

​​

History and the world move on.

----------o---------

This document has been written to assist anyone who may be searching for a family member listed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission as ‘Missing’ after the fall of Singapore – it certainly has meaning for this researcher who found during the course of research that his father and grandfather who were incarcerated in Changi and Sime Road internment camps would have been mingling with Father Meijer, Mr Parlevliet and a British electrical engineer from Pulau Bintan, who were all interned progressively during 1942 and 1943. The researcher’s New Zealand grandfather and British father in Changi were at the time searching for their missing son and brother-in – law, ‘Jack’ Clark, a nineteen-year-old Private from New Zealand serving as a machine gunner in the Selangor Battalion, Federated Malay States Volunteer Forces and last seen escaping from Blakan Mati (now Sentosa) with other FMSVF and Royal Artillery. The Changi internees came home only with the understanding that ‘Jack’ was listed as ‘Missing’ and they had learned he had been “… captured on an island near Singapore and taken down to the beach and shot in the back…”. Nothing more than this brief comment was ever related within the wider family it seems. The search for the truth of the fate of ‘Jack’ continues.

​

Michael Pether

2/23 Sanders Avenue,

Takapuna,

Auckland.

New Zealand.

( June 2025)

​

mncpether@gmail.com

​​

​

Credibly identified Casualties from Pulau Bintan. Thirty four men [including six men – listed in Italics - who were in the view of the researcher highly likely to have also been with the 9 Coast Regiment escape group on Pulau Bintan] now lie amongst forty-five graves of the men identified only as ‘Empire Soldiers’ and buried in Plot 29, Row B (graves 4 – 20) and Row C (graves 1 – 20) and Row D (1 – 6). These graves all have anonymous headstones engraved with ‘Known unto God’ and are located at Kranji War Cemetery Singapore.

​

• ACTON – Bdr. James Benjamin Acton, #843833, 9 Coast Regiment, R.A., died 19.2.42 aged 27 years. Also remembered on Column 11, Singapore Memorial, Kranji War Cemetery. Despite the absence of personal or family information on the CWGC website we can learn from the UK Census 1921 and the ‘Calderdale Companion’ in Halifax that James was born in Halifax in 1914, son of James Acton (b. 1872) and Elsie May Acton (b. 1888 and had two siblings Evangeline and Percy. He was employed at the ‘Economic Stores’ in Halifax and lived at 7 Highroad Well Court in that city. He enlisted in 1935 so was a career soldier.)

• ADAIR – Gunner Matthew Adair, # 1427087, 9 Coast Regiment, R.A. died 19.2.42 – no information on his family via the CWGC or the UK census of 1921 – he is remembered on Column 11, Singapore Memorial, Kranji War Cemetery.

• BAIRD – Gunner David Richie Baird, # 984137, 9 Coast Regiment, R.A. died 19.2.42 – no information on his family via the CWGC or the UK census of 1921 – he is remembered on Column 12, Singapore Memorial, Kranji War Cemetery.

• BATEMAN –2nd Lieutenant Arnold Charles Bateman, # 3153556, 9 Coast Regiment, R.A., died on 20.2.42 aged 32 years, son of Mr and Mrs C. W. Bateman of Southend – on – Sea, Essex. Recorded also on Column 3, Singapore Memorial, Kranji War Cemetery. The 1921 UK Census tells us that Arnold was born in Ilford, Essex - where he still lived when he was 11 years old in 1921 when the census was taken - and it is possible he had a twin brother Leonard. His parents were Charles William Bateman and Rose (Hockaday) Bateman, the latter was born in 1877.

• BLACKSTOCK - Bdr. Edward Kenneth Blackstock, # 838358, 9 Coast Regiment, R.A. ‘M.I.D.’ died 21.2.42 aged 22 years, son of John Edward and Mary Ann Blackstock (nee Taylor) of Tonbridge, Kent. Recorded also on Column 7, Singapore Memorial, Kranji War Cemetery. Edward was born in 1911 in West Derby. A Statement by W/Bdr J. Jewell, # 1086731, in the British Archives specifically states that Edward was at ‘Tand Joeng Pinang’. Another Archived record – a letter from one D. Richey states that Edward Blackstock and Frederick Harvey were “... rumoured to of been exicuted [sic] in Sumatra after escaping Palu Tekong...”.

• BOWDEN - CSM /W.O. II, Francis George Bowden, # 1053936, 9 Coast Regiment, R.A. ‘M.I.D.’ died 21.2.42 aged 39 years (born in Plymouth), son of Henry Hettis Bowden and Annabel Evelyn Bowden; husband of Evelyn Dora Bowden (nee Steggall) of Stowmark [Sic – Stowmarket], Suffolk. Recorded also on Column 4, Singapore Memorial, Kranji War Cemetery and the Memorial Gates in Stowmarket. Francis Bowden had been an Engine Driver prior to enlisting. Prior to the invasion of Malaya and Singapore the family of CSM Bowden had been living with him in Singapore at ‘Roberts Barracks’ ( later part of Changi POW Camp) - according to the 2021 obituary of his daughter Ruth in America, and there was noted in a 2010 newsletter of the ‘Malayan Volunteer Group’ (Edition 26) that Evelyn Dora Bowden and her daughter Ruth (aged 9 years) evacuated Singapore on the ‘Aorangi’ to Australia , then travelling on the ‘Narkunda’ to Adelaide, where they lived for three years ( source Ruth’s granddaughter Christine Clarke). [Australian shipping records show a ‘Euiline Bowden’ (presumably a misspelling by the shipping company) aged 36 and Miss Ruth Bowden aged 9 years arriving on ‘Narkunda’ at Fremantle, W.A. on 24 January 1942. The ‘Narkunda’ and the ‘Aorangi’ had both departed Singapore, independently, destined for Australia, on 16 January 1942.]
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Stowmarket Memorial Gates.
   

• BREWSTER - Gunner John Brewster, # 1787337, 9 Coast Regiment, R.A. ‘M.I.D’ died 15.2.42 (presumably this is the CWGC applying their usual practice of using the last date a person was seen in the absence of anyone confirming where that person died) aged 37 years, husband of Helen Brewster of Prinlaws, Leslie, Fife [Prinlaws appears to have been a small hamlet of flax growers and weavers that has been absorbed by the growth of the small town of Leslie in Fife]. Recorded also on Column 14, Singapore Memorial, Kranji War Cemetery.

• BROWN - Gunner Thomas James Brown, #872327, 9 Coast Regiment, R.A. ‘M.I.D.’ died 16.2.42 (CWGC ??) aged 29 years, son of James and Florence C. Brown of Angle, Pembrokeshire (a village on the southern banks of Milford Haven Waterway). Thomas is remembered on the plaque in St. Mary’s Church, Angle as well as on Column 14, Singapore Memorial, Kranji War Cemetery.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   

• CAMERON – Sapper Leonard John Cameron, #5183097, 41 Fortress Company, Royal Engineers ‘M.I.D.’, died 21.2.42 aged 24 years, son of Violet Elizabeth Woodman of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. Remembered also on Column 40, Singapore memorial, Kranji War Cemetery. Leonard was born in London in 1917 to Violet Elizabeth Cameron (Violet was born in 1894 in Inverness, Scotland - source 1921 UK Census) and in 1921 they were living in Frant, Sussex (a village in the Wealden District of East Sussex).

• DAVIES – Gunner Charles Royston Davies, # 837579, 9 Coast Regiment, R.A. died 19.2.42 aged 29 years, born 1912, son of William Thomas Davies and Gertrude Hester Davies of Saunders Foot, Pembrokeshire, Wales. In the 1921 UK census the family including siblings Julia and Mary, were living at St. Issells, Pembrokeshire – which is a tiny settlement very close to the coastal beachside village of Saundersfoot (near Tenby) in Pembrokeshire. Charles is remembered on the Saundersfoot War memorial and on Column 16, Singapore Memorial, Kranji War Cemetery.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   

• GIBBS – Gunner Ronald Gibbs, #1427565, 9 Coast Regiment. R.A. died 19.2.42 aged 22 years, born 1920, when the family lived at Walsall, Staffordshire, he was the son of Ronald Charles Gibbs and Alice E. Gibbs of Pelsall, Staffordshire. Pelsall was a small village on the outskirts of Walsall. He is remembered on Column 19, Singapore Memorial, Kranji War Cemetery.

• HALL - Sgt. Ralph Hall, #1062169, 9 Coast Regiment, R.A. ‘M.I.D.’ died on 21.2.42 aged 35 years, son of George and Beatrice Hall, husband of Hilda May Hall of Redfield, Bristol. Remembered also on Column 5, Singapore Memorial, Kranji War Cemetery.

• HAMPTON – Gunner Charles Hampton, #1786730, 9 Coast Regiment, ‘M.I.D.’ died 1.3.42 (??) aged 34 years husband of Hilda Hampton of Shelton, Stoke- on – Trent. Remembered also on Column 19, Singapore Memorial, Kranji War Cemetery.

• HARVEY - Sgt. Frederick Harvey, #808865, 9 Coast Regiment, R.A., ‘M.I.D.’ died 21.2.42 aged 25 years son of Albert Edward Harvey and Henrietta Louisa Harvey of Copnor, Hampshire [Copnor is an area of Portsmouth located on the east side of Portsea Island. It was damaged by bombs quite badly during 1940 and not repaired until the 1950s]. Remembered also on Column 5, Singapore Memorial, Kranji War Cemetery.

• HUDSON – Sgt. Ralph Herbert Hudson, #812399, 9 Coast Regiment, R.A.’M.I.D.’ died 21.2.42 aged 25 years. There is a notation in a list in the British Archives in a Statement made by W/Bdr J. Jewell (# 1086731) that Ralph was seen in a “... Rowing boat leaving Tekong Island...” and “Heading for Sagarhat Island...” which was where the RA Battery was located near Singapore. Despite the lack of family connections for Ralph being all the CWGC have publicly recorded on him, a look at the 1921 UK Census indicates that in that year he was living as a small boy with his family [Father Ralph Hudson born 1877, Mother Mary Hudson born 1878 and sister Jane Hudson born 1903, in Throston, Hartlepool, County Durham – plus a couple of other people]. Throston is an area of North Hartlepool. Ralph is also remembered on Column 5, Singapore Memorial, Kranji War Cemetery.

• HOOD – Gunner Charles William Hood, #844593, 9 Coast Regiment, R.A. ‘M.I.D.’ died 21.2.42 aged 25 years, son of Thomas and Mary E. Hood of Blackheath, Rowley Regis, Staffordshire (in the area west of Birmingham known as the ‘Black Country’). Remembered also on Column 21, Singapore Memorial, Kranji War Cemetery. [This serviceman’s name was mentioned on ‘WW2Talk’ by a Hayley David, but to reply has been received to an email to that person].

• HUITSON – Gunner Norman Huitson, # 1426855, 9 Coast Regiment, R.A. died 15.2.42 aged 25 years, son of Ernest and Georgina Huitson of Easington Collery, County Durham. Also remembered on Column 21, Singapore Memorial, Kranji War cemetery. He is reported as having been at ‘Sphinx battery’ near Singapore with Bdr Blackstock and many others before their escape.

• JAMES – Lance Sgt. Robert Henry James, #856663, 11 Coast Regiment, R.A. died 21.2.42 aged 24 years, son of Mr. & Mrs. H. T. James [ Henry Thomas James 1887-1950 and Jane Ellen Kimble James 1894 – 1967] of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire. Robert had two siblings. Remembered also on Column 6, Singapore Memorial, Kranji War Cemetery.

• JESSOP – Gunner J.T. Jessop, 851141, 9 Coast Regiment, R.A.,’M.I.D.’ died 21.2.42 aged 25 years, also remembered on Column 22, Singapore Memorial, Kranji War cemetery. He was either at Ladang or Padang(??) according to one statement in the British Archives. Despite the lack of family information from the CWGC we can understand from the UK Census of 1921 that James was born in Gravesend, London in 1921 – apparently the youngest child of Edward James Jessop (b.1882) and Mary Ann Elizabeth Jessop (b. 1883) and had many siblings including Daisy ((1902, Edward Charles (1908), George James (1910), Hannah Elizabeth (1913) , James Thomas (1916) and Lilian Annie ( 1919).

• LEES – Sgt. George Forbes Lees, # 1419112, 9 Coast Regiment, R.A., died 21.2.42 aged 42 years, son of Mr. & Mrs. James Forbes Lees, husband of H. (Helen) S. Lees, Aberdeen. It appears that George was born in Scotland in 1900 and married Helen Rose Marshall in 1933 they had one child. From enquiries on ‘WW2 Talk’ in 2015 their grandson Andy G.F. Lees has pursued the mystery of his grandfather’s death. George is also remembered on Column 5 of the Singapore Memorial, Kranji War Cemetery.

• MCCORMICK – Gunner Edward William McCormick, # 847280, 9 Coast Regiment, R.A. died 19.2.42 aged 24 years. According to one Sgt. T. Hughes, #1474006, Edward had been on Pulau Tekong as part of the Battery on 16th February and may well have been killed on Pulau Bintan. This is backed up by another statement in the Archives which includes a list of names and the name “... 847280, Mc(carmick)?) E...” together with the explanation “... They were seen at Tan Jong Pinang and they were in good health, they were retreating by boat to find if any more men stationed on the island of Bintang. The following men (left?) the island of Pulau Tekong by boat. I have not seen them since...”. Also remembered ...............

• MCDERMOTT – Gunner Thomas McDermott, #105495, 9 Coast Regiment, R.A., ‘M.I.D.’, died 15.2.42 aged 41 years, husband of B. McDermott of Chesterfield, Derbyshire. Also remembered on Column 24, Singapore Memorial, Kranji War Cemetery.

• MCINTYRE – Gunner James McIntyre, # 872539, 9 Coast Regiment, R.A., died 16.2.42 aged 23 years. A statement in the British Archives includes a list of names and the name “...872539, M (frgire? It was apparently hard to decipher) J...” together with the explanation “... They were seen at Tan Jong Pinang and they were in good health, they were retreating by boat to find if any more men stationed on the island of Bintang. The following men (left?) the island of Pulau Tekong by boat. I have not seen them since...”. Also remembered on Column 24, Singapore Memorial, Kranji War Cemetery.

• MEAKIN – Gunner Albert Edward Meakin, # 1786867, 9 Coast Regiment, R.A., ‘M.I.D.’, died 21.2.42 aged 33 years, son of Joseph and Elizabeth Meakin and husband of M.L. Meakin of Derby. Also remembered on Column 25, Singapore Memorial, Kranji War Cemetery.

• MORLEY – L/Cpl. Albert Jesse William Gerald Morley, # 1868253, 41 Fortress Company, Royal Engineers, ‘M.I.D’, died 16.2.42 aged 27 years, son of Albert James Morley (b. 1896) and Ivy Jessamine Morley (b.1899). Also remembered on Column 39, Singapore memorial, Kranji War Cemetery. Albert was born in Canterbury, Kent in 1915 and had three siblings.

• PAYNE – Gunner Edward Frederick Payne, # 1427597, 9 Coast Regiment, R.A. died 16.2.42 aged 25 years, son of Edward P. Payne and Elizabeth Sara Payne of Bethnal Green, London. According to one Sgt. T. Hughes, #1474006, Edward Payne was still on Pulau Tekong near Singapore as part of the Battery on 16th February and may well have been killed on Pulau Bintan but there is no definitive record to evidence that - but by association, he was very probably a casualty on Pulau Bintan.

• PRITCHARD – Gunner George William Pritchard, # 843640, 9 Coast Regiment, R.A., died 16.2.42 aged 23 years, son of George and Elizabeth Pritchard of Ludlow, Shropshire. Also remembered on the Ludlow War Memorial ( photo below) and on Column 28, Singapore memorial, Kranji War Cemetery
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   

• · REDPATH – Gunner John Robert Redpath, # 872393, 9 Coast Regiment, R.A. died 19.2.42 aged 23 years, son of Robert and Eleanor Redpath of Leicester. A statement in the British Archives includes a list of names and the name “...872393, Redpath J. R....” together with the explanation “... They were seen at Tan Jong Pinang and they were in good health, they were retreating by boat to find if any more men stationed on the island of Bintang. The following men (left?) the island of Pulau Tekong by boat. I have not seen them since...”. Also remembered on Column 28, Singapore Memorial, Kranji War Cemetery.

• RYAN – Gunner John Joseph Ryan, # 863298, 9 Coast Regiment, R.A., died 19.2.42 aged 24 years, son of John and Mary Ryan. A statement in the British Archives includes a list of names and the name “...863298(328?), Ryan J.....” together with the explanation “... They were seen at Tan Jong Pinang and they were in good health, they were retreating by boat to find if any more men stationed on the island of Bintang. The following men (left?) the island of Pulau Tekong by boat. I have not seen them since...”. Also remembered on Column 28, Singapore Memorial, Kranji War Cemetery,​

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