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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
287 Field Company
Royal Engineers
History
Compiled by Ron Taylor
Information from ‘Towards the Rising Sun’ by James Bradley
Into Captivity Singapore
15th February 1942 - 15th August 1945
Eight of the 287 Field Engineers were taken prisoner in Malaya and imprisoned at Puda Jail, Kuala Lumpur, those who had managed to return to Singapore were marched to marched to Singapore City and told to disable their guns which were left for the Japanese.
As no Japanese were seen, there was a chance to escape in the small craft left at Singapore Harbour, but orders were given that officers had to remain with their men.
On 16th February orders to move to Changi were given and a 17 mile march took place though crowds of the local population waving Japanese flags, the PoWs were completely unescorted with their own officers in control.
On arriving at Changi the area was deserted and the buildings, although looted, were in good order. As there was poor sanitary and no water supply, the sappers were put to work as the camp was to house about 47,000 PoWs. Bamboo frames were built and covered with canvas, tarpaulins or anything to provide cover.
After a week the British food which was salvaged by the camp began to run out, so the men were put on short rations. Fear of disease was a major problem for the medical staff, so orders were given that all water was to be boiled before drinking.
After two weeks working parties were sent into Singapore City to clean it up as there were dead bodies everywhere. Twelve bodies at a time were placed in lorries and it was not just those killed in the fighting and bombing. The Japanese trucks were full of Chinese bodies, who had been made to march down towards the sea and machine-gunned. It is believed about 7000 Chinese were massacred by the Japanese in the ‘Sook Ching’, which is a Chinese term meaning "purge through cleansing".
By the end of month dysentery was breaking out as the sanitary conditions were poor and signs of Beri Beri were seen.
The Japanese with so many prisoners at their disposal, started using the PoWs as slave labour in Singapore City, clearing it up from the after affects of the Battle of Singapore. Then in May rumours were being turned into reality when PoWs were being transported to farther away destinations. Many of the 287 Field Company were to be entrained to Thailand in June with the promise of more food and better accommodation, this group was part of the June Mainland Parties.
Lych Gate
Lych Gate
Designed by Captain Cecil Pickersgill
Captain Cecil Pickersgill of the 287 Field Company, Royal Engineers designed a Lych Gate, to mark the resting place of those who died as PoWs and Internees at Changi. The design was based on his own church in Startforth, County Durham.
The 18th Division Royal Engineers, who were PoWs at Changi, built the gate in 1942 at the entrance to the graveyard. A rose, thistle, daffodil and shamrock were carved by Sergeant Mercer into the four corners of the eves to commemorate the prisoners of the four British Isles countries buried there.
Captain Pickersgill died of malaria in 1943 while in Thailand working on the Thailand-Burma Railway.
The Lych Gate was re-erected at St George’s Garrison Church at Tanglin Barracks, Singapore in 1952. but after the British withdrew from Singapore in 1971, the Lych Gate was transported to Bassingbourn Barracks, Cambridgeshire. After being refurbished it was re-erected at the Arboretum by the 39th Engineering Regiment.
Death Roll
Singapore PoWs
15th February 1942 - 15th August 1945
Please click on the  next to each date below to extend information
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Died
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Name
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Service/No
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1942/02/23
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Smith, Malcolm
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1909687
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1942/02/26
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Staveley, Jesse James Carroll
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2025966
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1942/02/26
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Lister, Alfred Paul Sutton
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2072253
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1942/02/26
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Doncaster, James Robert
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2092574
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1942/02/26
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Brown, Eric
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2091744
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1942/02/27
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Hall, William Walter
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2091267
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1942/05/12
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Bateman, Thomas
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2139764
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1943/12/26
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Burrell, Albert Edward
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2092573
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1943/12/29
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York, Dennis George
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1922868
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