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Killed in Action

Cambridgeshire Regiment

2nd Battalion

History

Compiled by Ron Taylor

In Memory of David Langton

Liberation

15th August 1945 - 1st January 1947

‘Private 5776807’ by Frederick Noel Taylor

I couldn't believe it, freedom at last. British and Dutch paratroopers came into the camp and they soon got us organised. We were taken by plane to Bangkok, then onto Rangoon, where hospital beds awaited us.

One of the first planes out crashed killing all on board which included a Yarmouth lad from the Norfolks, J. Ferrow .

Surviving the horrors of the Japanese Camps and then dying after liberation without making it home is the saddest end to their story.

God Bless them.

Epilogue

By David Langford

After the long years came the liberation, and the survivors began the journey home from the furthest corners of the Far East. Some by plane, to Rangoon and India, some by ship to America, and others to Australia and thence to Southampton and Liverpool. It was perhaps fitting that one of those ships which carried them home again should be our old friend the M.V.”Sobieski” on which the 2nd Battalion had set sail for Halifax so long ago in 1941.

It was a very wonderful homecoming and it was made even happier by the deputation from  the Territorial Army Association of Cambridgeshire, which, dodging back and forth with great rapidity, met every ship at both ports to welcome home each member of the Regiment and arrange transport to his own doorstep.

Regimental offices were at once established at Cambridge, Ely and Wisbech and survivors of the headquarters staff of the two battalions volunteered to spend their leave compiling records and answering inquiries. With the help of the T.A. Association this work was soon well under way. Each returning group of ex-prisoners as they reached home sent in their casualty lists to one of the regimental offices, and within a few weeks complete returns for both battalions were supplied to the Infantry  Record Office. Part Two Orders were published up to date and plans of the various cemeteries in Malaya and Siam submitted to the War Office. Many hundreds of enquiries were dealt with.

Throughout the days of captivity a plan had been maturing in the mind of several members of the Regiment, and had been discussed at length in Chungkai in 1944. On the 17 February, 1946 this plan was put into execution; a ‘Cambridgeshire Weekend’ was held, to which everyone who had served in either battalion during the recent war was invited, they came in their hundreds. On the Saturday, a separate reunion took place for each battalion, the 1st in Cambridge Drill Hall, and the 2nd in the Wisbech Corn Exchange. In each town, as the men arrived, they were registered at a battalion office, allotted accommodation in the town if they needed it, and presented with a souvenir book containing the history of the Regiment in the 1939-45 war. Record were prominently displayed so that everyone might know what had happened to his friends and give such information about the missing as he might have. There was a vast supply of food and an equally  vast supply of beer. The Commander of the East Anglian District and the Mayors of the two towns welcomed their battalion home on behalf of the county, and this was followed by a first class ENSA concert at each reunion, and then of course, everyone renewed old friendships and talked far into the night.

On the following day, the two battalions were brought by special trains to Ely, together with members of the Old Comrades Association and the relatives of many of the fallen, and marched up to the Cathedral for a Service of Thanksgiving and Remembrance to which many guests and friends of the Regiment had been invited. The address was given by Padre Duckworth and the Bishop of Ely delivered a charge to the Regiment. Over three thousand people were gathered in the great Cathedral, which made a magnificent setting for a very memorable and moving service.

After the service the two battalions marched through the streets of the city and the salute was taken by the Honorary Colonel of the Regiment; it was a day of brilliant spring sunshine, and the rout was crowded with spectators from the towns and country.

Mobile canteens supplied the entire parade with food and drink,and special trains and buses began the task of returning the members to their homes, some lay as far afield as Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The organisation and expense entailed by this weekend reunion was considerable, and the project could never have been attempted without the generous assistance given by the Lord Lieutenant, the Mayors and citizens of Cambridge and Wisbech, the Old Comrades Association, the W.V.S., the T.A. Association and many others throughout the county.

A second opportunity for a reunion occurred on 29th September, later in the year, when the Honorary Freedom of the Borough of Cambridge was ceremonially conferred upon the Regiment in recognition of its services over many years in the cause of freedom. Every member of the Regiment since 1908 received an invitation to attend the parade, and some 1,500 were able to take part. Three uniformed parties as escort to the Colours, which were followed by the Singapore Drums in the place of honour. The remainder of the parade , to the number of 1000, were in mufti, wearing their decorations, Led by the drums of the Cadet Battalions affiliated to the Regiment, the parade marched through Cambridge to the Market Place, where the silver casket containing the scroll of the Freedom was presented by the Mayor to the Honorary Colonel. The flag of the 1st Battalion, concealed from the Japanese during captivity, flew proudly from the tower of Great St. Mary’s church during the ceremony. When the Honour had been conferred, the Regiment, led by its Colonel with ten of its past commanding officers at the head, marched past the Mayor and through the principal streets of the town. The entire Regiment was then entertained to tea by the Mayor, Aldermen and Burgesses of the borough of Cambridge, and the proceedings ended with a party arranged by the Old Comrades Association in the Drill Hall.

Liberation Deaths

Please click on the next to each date below to extend information

Date Name Service/No 1945/08/18 Burder, Robert George 5833779 1945/09/15 Rees, Howell John 6026955 1946/03/27 Willis, Arthur Charles 5182811

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