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All the Information in the ‘FEPOW Family’ belongs to the writer and are not ‘Public Domain’. Permission must be obtained before any part is copied or used.
Killed in Action
148 Field Regiment
(The Bedfordshire Yeomanry)
Royal Artillery
History
Compiled by Ron Taylor
Thailand-Burma Railway
Working parties had increased, and many of the 148 Field Regiment were on the roll to be transported overland to Thailand with the June Mainland Party on the 24th June 1942. They were told conditions and food would be better at the new camp as Changi was suffering from overcrowding and a very poor supply of food. Rice and green leaves were their diet at Changi, the water had to be boiled and the sanitary conditions were terrible, so the PoWs were glad to get away.
With a party of 600 under the command of Major P.D. Weir of the 118 Field Regiment, RA, and Major M.T. Read, 196 Field Ambulance, R.A.M.C., the 18th Division party were herded into cattle trucks and driven up Malaya and into Thailand.
Cattle trucks to Thailand
by Charles Thrale
The route in cattle trucks to Thailand:-
2nd Day - Kuala Lumpur (0300 hrs), had rice and dried fish at Ipoh (1600 hrs)
3rd Day - Reached Pai (0200 hrs), arrived Haadyi (1700 hrs)
4th Day - Water in cattle trucks very short, heat stifling in trucks all day..
5th Day - reached Ban Pong, Thailand
After five days in those cattle trucks, which were very cold at night and stiflingly hot during the day, they were very grateful to arrive at Non Pladuk and were treated very well, the food was a lot better then at Changi.
Atapi Shelter
Picture Supplied by Helen Elliott
Their first job was to clear a large area of trees and put up our atapi shelters, they were told a Japanese workshop was to be built there, then word got around that it was to be the start of a railway line to go 415kms to Burma.
By October the now infamous Death Railway was under way and the guards now arriving were Koreans and Sikhs, they were a lot more sadistic then the Japs, being held under by the Japs for a long time, it was now their turn to serve out the punishment and this they did with gusto. A large bamboo cane was carried by the guards, this was nicknamed the 'bamboo interpreter', if they wanted to get the message across, you would feel it on the most sensitive parts of your body.
The Japanese Railway Engineers had a time deadline as the Japanese wanted their troops supplied in Burma for an assault on India and deaths had been very high, therefore limiting the workforce, so in April 1943 the many sick from Changi were also forced on trains to Thailand, this group was known as ‘F’ Force.
After the long five day route to Thailand in the cattle trucks, the PoWs were ordered off and had a nearly a mile walk to a transit camp where they were then informed they would be marching North West along the railway route in 14 mile stages. Many of the PoWs tried to sell their possessions to the Thais but not at a good price as the Thais knew the the PoWs from ‘F’ Force were already in bad shape and could not carry their baggage for long.
After two days of walking through the night, as it was too hot in the daylight sun, they reached the small town of Kanchanaburi. Many who tried to carry their possessions left them at this staging camp.
Walking at night caused many problems as the track was uneven with bamboo shots cutting into their feet, in time tropical ulcers would form.
After one month in these appalling conditions they reached Songkurai, with many of the PoWs dropping out along the almost 300km route.
‘F’ Force had the most deaths on the Thailand Burma Railway.
‘F’ Force Summery
|
|
British
|
Australian
|
Total
|
|
Departed April 1943
|
3336
|
3664
|
7000
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Returned Dec. 1943 - Sime Road
|
175
|
165
|
340
|
|
Returned Dec. 1943 - Changi
|
835
|
2060
|
2895
|
|
Returned Apr. 1944 - Changi
|
295
|
411
|
706
|
|
|
1305
|
2636
|
3941
|
|
Less Died at Changi
|
17
|
32
|
49
|
|
|
1288
|
2604
|
3892
|
|
I.J.A. Custody (Including Changi Hosp.)
|
11
|
|
11
|
|
Alive as at 30th Apr. 1944
|
1299
|
2604
|
3903
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Died Thailand Burma Railway
|
2013
|
1014
|
3027
|
|
Died Changi
|
17
|
32
|
49
|
|
Missing
|
7
|
14
|
21
|
|
Total Casualties
|
2037
|
1060
|
3097
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Casualty Percentage
|
61.03%
|
28.95%
|
44.21%
|
|
The railway tracks from Burma and Thailand were joined at Konkoita in October 1943.
The price paid 12,614 Allied deaths
Plus an estimated 80,000 Romusha (Native Labour) deaths.
Death Roll
Thailand-Burma Railway
Please click on the  next to each date below to extend information
| |
Died
|
Name
|
Service/No
|
 |
1942/11/14
|
Farrington, Percy William
|
962506
|
|
1942/11/19
|
Spary, Albert Arthur Mons
|
2031600
|
|
1942/12/12
|
Wells, William Henry
|
873318
|
|
1942/12/12
|
Phillips, Bernard Power
|
1087687
|
|
1942/12/15
|
Bell, David Dunwoody
|
140727
|
|
1942/12/23
|
Mason, Ronald
|
943509
|
|
1943/01/07
|
Wood, Kenneth Albert William
|
901388
|
|
1943/02/03
|
Carter, John James
|
1059473
|
|
1943/02/26
|
Boyd, George Edwin
|
1087616
|
|
1943/03/08
|
Hughes, Robert William John
|
1104278
|
|
1943/03/29
|
Hughes, Hugh Frederick
|
1123342
|
|
1943/04/02
|
Blount, Charles Eric
|
1104265
|
|
1943/04/11
|
Chambers, John Lytton
|
1104268
|
|
1943/04/13
|
Page, Sidney Lewis
|
869451
|
|
1943/04/14
|
Penrice, George
|
1115990
|
|
1943/05/06
|
Smart, Walter
|
1083922
|
|
1943/05/23
|
Butten, George Henry
|
1104267
|
|
1943/05/30
|
Blakeborough, George Richard
|
1057341
|
|
1943/06/01-1943/06/30
|
Butler, Harold
|
1103030
|
|
1943/06/02
|
Hillman, William Major
|
892417
|
|
1943/06/04
|
Fountain, William
|
877321
|
|
1943/06/10
|
Pearson, Walter Leonard
|
913799
|
|
1943/06/11
|
Egginton, Howard
|
943507
|
|
1943/06/11
|
Mcilroy, James Mellon
|
1096582
|
|
1943/06/11
|
Turvey, Frederick George
|
885194
|
|
1943/06/13
|
Mccleary, Albert
|
996224
|
|
1943/06/14
|
Innes, Walter Robb
|
1096565
|
|
1943/06/14
|
Wood, James
|
935940
|
|
1943/06/16
|
Williams, Arthur
|
1094359
|
|
1943/06/17
|
Heppenstall, Harold
|
941935
|
|
1943/06/19
|
Maclure, George Richard
|
991711
|
|
1943/06/21
|
Lamb, Cyril Edward
|
855583
|
|
1943/06/21
|
Fossey, Henry Thomas
|
5946042
|
|
1943/06/29
|
Shaw, Fredrick John
|
941954
|
|
1943/07/02
|
Webber, John Henry
|
1087721
|
|
1943/07/03
|
Hunt, Arthur George
|
924158
|
|
1943/07/05
|
Pollard, Leslie Arthur
|
927417
|
|
1943/07/05
|
Smith, John Thomas
|
1055553
|
|
1943/07/06
|
Denton, Aubrey Ronald
|
921496
|
|
1943/07/07
|
Millward, Francis Edwin
|
1123164
|
|
1943/07/10
|
Gauntlett, Glyndwr
|
904426
|
|
1943/07/12
|
Saville, Ernest
|
913740
|
|
1943/07/14
|
Musk, George Arthur William
|
996229
|
|
1943/07/16
|
Jackson, James Woodruff
|
993691
|
|
1943/07/18
|
Evans, Ronald Charles
|
1088797
|
|
1943/07/23
|
Gordon, Lionel David
|
998222
|
|
1943/07/23
|
Harrison, Ronald Charles Frederick
|
996218
|
|
1943/07/24
|
Smith, Patrick Clare
|
1056061
|
|
1943/07/26
|
White, Eric Charles
|
917852
|
|
1943/07/28
|
Adams, Percy Murray
|
922398
|
|
1943/08/01
|
Gilbert, Harold Kenneth
|
900696
|
|
1943/08/03
|
Brown, Ernest
|
921534
|
|
1943/08/03
|
Cane, Frank Charles
|
993909
|
|
1943/08/06
|
Scales, Henry Percy
|
924167
|
|
1943/08/07
|
Tarry, Reginald
|
921531
|
|
1943/08/08
|
Davey, Henry Heber Thomas
|
5122402
|
|
1943/08/10
|
Proctor, James Arthur Edwin
|
918243
|
|
1943/08/11
|
Manning, Henry Walter
|
1104284
|
|
1943/08/15
|
Leno, Ronald
|
887488
|
|
1943/08/15
|
Redfern, Eric
|
1113706
|
|
1943/08/17
|
Collett, Arthur Henry
|
1094173
|
|
1943/08/18
|
Allen, John Herbert William
|
898752
|
|
1943/08/18
|
Gualton, Percy Frederick
|
1094203
|
|
1943/08/19
|
Overell, Frederick William
|
849361
|
|
1943/08/19
|
Toyer, Ronald
|
903805
|
|
1943/08/20
|
Wheatley, Richard James Henry
|
917851
|
|
1943/08/28
|
Hancox, Leslie
|
941933
|
|
1943/08/28
|
Clarke, James Frederick
|
845739
|
|
1943/08/29
|
Golding, George
|
922116
|
|
1943/08/29
|
Wright, John William
|
1104300
|
|
1943/09/02
|
Purcell, Percy Chandos
|
1088810
|
|
1943/09/04
|
Darby, James Harold
|
941926
|
|
1943/09/04
|
Johnson, George Sidney
|
1094232
|
|
1943/09/04
|
May, John Lacey
|
1098248
|
|
1943/09/06
|
Lawrence, James
|
903858
|
|
1943/09/08
|
Adams, Neville
|
915467
|
|
1943/09/11
|
Smith, David Paul
|
925387
|
|
1943/09/11
|
Moore, Daykin
|
996226
|
|
1943/09/16
|
Wilson, Arthur George
|
948850
|
|
1943/09/21
|
Fawcett, Frank
|
924162
|
|
1943/09/21
|
Miles, Arthur George
|
1032404
|
|
1943/09/22
|
Tite, Jeffery
|
956443
|
|
1943/09/22
|
Wibling, Charles William
|
895423
|
|
1943/09/23
|
Crump, Basil William
|
967213
|
|
1943/09/25
|
Butcher, John Edward
|
1121255
|
|
1943/09/26
|
Stanley, Lawrence
|
941956
|
|
1943/09/30
|
Salter, Henry Ernest
|
904424
|
|
1943/10/01-1943/11/30
|
Petty, Harry
|
1090817
|
|
1943/10/03
|
Bone, Gordon Henry
|
1544950
|
|
1943/10/07
|
Moore, George
|
1094263
|
|
1943/10/08
|
Heward, Harry
|
996278
|
|
1943/10/11
|
Brand, Cyril Frank
|
962463
|
|
1943/10/12
|
Moore, Alfred Kenneth Sedgwick
|
996327
|
|
1943/10/12
|
Keeble, Harold Ivan
|
1088802
|
|
1943/10/13
|
Slater, Cecil Frederick
|
904409
|
|
1943/10/16
|
Slimmon, David Lockerbie
|
991759
|
|
1943/10/16
|
Fitches, William
|
922100
|
|
1943/10/18
|
Winter, Ronald
|
1088927
|
|
1943/10/24
|
Cavalier, Albert William
|
861758
|
|
1943/10/25
|
Daniels, Lawrence Rufus
|
948856
|
|
1943/10/26
|
Cooper, Leslie
|
867238
|
|
1943/10/28
|
Ross, William Edward
|
1096549
|
|
1943/10/30
|
Crook, William Daniel
|
899822
|
|
1943/11/02
|
Curtis, Albert Edward
|
5947145
|
|
1943/11/02
|
Rock, Dennis Graham
|
1116363
|
|
1943/11/04
|
Saunders, William
|
941916
|
|
1943/11/05
|
Janes, Ronald Edgar
|
922101
|
|
1943/11/10
|
Whitehead, Roy
|
4983015
|
|
1943/11/13
|
Allen, Jonathan William
|
854440
|
|
1943/11/17
|
Rayner, Eric George
|
941951
|
|
1943/11/20
|
Robinson, Herbert Alfred
|
962441
|
|
1943/11/24
|
Southgate, Bernard Philip
|
1088456
|
|
1943/11/27
|
Frost, Leslie Harold
|
927335
|
|
1943/12/01
|
Waugh, Maurice Bertram Arthur
|
962462
|
|
1943/12/05
|
Brawn, Eric Jack
|
945029
|
|
1943/12/05
|
Clark, Frank
|
962447
|
|
1943/12/11
|
Murdy, Frederick Charles
|
996228
|
|
1943/12/11
|
Dobson, Harry
|
956452
|
|
1943/12/12
|
Mccracken, James
|
900897
|
|
1943/12/24
|
Casswell, Howard John
|
1119460
|
|
1943/12/27
|
Askew, James Arthur
|
891310
|
|
1943/12/31
|
Smart, Harold Alfred Stephen
|
894928
|
|
1944/01/30
|
Simpson, Samuel William
|
1425561
|
|
1944/01/31
|
Caffell, Gordon Walter Joseph
|
924778
|
|
1944/02/02
|
Dolan, James
|
911927
|
|
1944/02/28
|
Finn, Edward
|
1092728
|
|
1944/03/17
|
Isaacs, William Henry
|
864027
|
|
1944/04/09
|
Hucklebridge, Frank Haworth
|
858909
|
|
1944/04/17
|
Bowler, Ronald
|
943435
|
|
1944/05/09
|
Grotrian, Charles Herbert Brent
|
40336
|
|
1944/12/08
|
Read, Frederick George
|
900693
|
|
1945/03/28
|
Sinfield, Ronald John
|
921537
|
|
1945/05/01
|
Stuart, Cecil Herbert
|
948867
|
|
1945/06/04
|
Bird, Edward Frank
|
921530
|
|
1945/06/14
|
Martin, Pat William
|
1119581
|
|
1945/07/15
|
Mccann, James John
|
1054050
|
|
1945/07/23
|
Blair, John
|
1096599
|
|
1945/07/30
|
O'Rourke, Herbert
|
864809
|
|
1945/08/02
|
Bracewell, Ezra
|
874900
|
|
1945/08/09
|
Caggan, Leon
|
998880
|
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