1877652 L/Sjt. Sidney Charles Rupert JONES, 89 Special (M) Field Coy. RE: 09/06/1944

I am researching information on Sidney Charles Rupert Jones, who was a Lance Seargeant in the 89th Royal engineers. His no: 1877652. He was killed on 9.6.1944 and information given by his brother's sister was that he was wounded in the jungle and when they got back to him he had gangrene and died.

His name is on the Rossington Memorial and he has been attributed to being in the chindits. I am trying to find out what group, section, unit (not sure what they are called) that he was attached to and if and when he became involved with the Chindits. He is buried in the Gauhati War Cemetery.
https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/f...-details/2222316/sidney-charles-rupert-jones/

Any information greatly appreciated. As I was born in Australia in 1952 after my Mum and Dad travelled out from England in 1949 I have never met any of my uncles.

I have attached a copy of his photo. Any group photos of his unit etc would be wonderful. Lorraine Hall

 

Hi Lorraine,

I am very pleased to read your post about Sidney Jones. I have been researching the men who served on the first Chindit operation in 1943 and Sidney was one of these soldiers. This is what I know about his service on Operation Longcloth:

He was an attachment to the 142 Commandos for Chindit Column 2. Joining the unit from the 89th Special (M) Field Company R.E. on the 8th September 1942 at the Chindit training camp in Abchand, India. I would hesitate a guess that he had worked in Special Forces before this, possibly involving the use of explosives and that type of thing.

Each Chindit column comprised around 350-400 men. There was a Commando Platoon of about 20 men in each column.

Column 2 was made up of mostly Gurkha troops and so Sidney would have been one of very few British soldiers in this unit. The column had a very difficult time in Burma and was ambushed by the Japanese on the 2nd March 1943 at a place called Kyaikthin. The column suffered heavy casualties here and many of the men turned about and returned to India, however, it is suggested that the Commando Platoon joined up with its sister column (column 1) and continued on into Burma.

I have a website devoted to the men from Operation Longcloth and rather than me explaining everything here, please use the following links to read about Column 2 and its journey through Burma in 1943:

General overview of Column 2:
http://www.chinditslongcloth1943.com/lieutenant-colonel-la-alexander.html

Column 2 Commando James Boyce:
http://www.chinditslongcloth1943.com/lance-corporal-james-boyce.html

Column 2 Commandos Albert Barnes and Ernest Bradley:
http://www.chinditslongcloth1943.com/-roll-call-a-e.html

If Sidney teamed up with Column 1 after Kyaikthin, then he stayed behind enemy lines for well over 3 months, before returning to India in early May 1943. It is possible that he picked up a wound or disease during this time (most men did), but he would certainly be in a very poor state of health by the time he reached the safety of India.

Some men never recovered enough to serve again during the war. But, the fact that he perished so long after Operation Longcloth, well over a year, makes me wonder if he went in again with the second Chindit operation of 1944? With his specialist knowledge, commando skills and experience gained in 1943, he would be a prime candidate for further service. This of course is pure conjecture on my part.

The most sensible thing you could try, is to apply for his Army service records from the MOD offices at Glasgow. You have his Army service number and proof of death from his details on the CWGC website:

http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2222316/JONES,%20SIDNEY%20CHARLES%20RUPERT

Here is a link which explains the procedure:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/requests-for-personal-data-and-service-records

I'll leave it there for now. Please find attached the composition of the 142 Commando Platoon for Chindit Column No. 2, which includes Sidney as the single R.E. attachment.

Best wishes

Steve

 

Date of death ties in with the second operation but without any idea of who his unit was attached to it may not be possible to find out anything, even with his records, but without them it will be very difficult to be certain of anything...
Another caveat...
The date of his death may be inaccurate... a death "in the jungle" may not have been accurately recorded and it was not unusual to have multiple "deaths" recorded with an arbitrary date, for the sake of "good order" ...

 

Hi Steve, It was amazing to read the information that you have given me about Sidney. It was really difficult to get any information on him as I only had that he was a member of the 89th Royal engineers. I had read much of the website that you have put together about the Chindits, but as I didn't' know which regiment etc. Sidney had been attached to it was hard to follow his movement. I will try to apply for his military records and see if this helps at all. I did have some world from his brother Albert's daughter that he had been shot in the jungle and when they were able to get back to him he had gangrene. She didn't say when or where. So sad for all the families who really didn't know much of what was going on at the time. My Mother Edith May Tyler (Nee Jones) was the eldest sister of the four brothers, sidney, Jack, Frank and Albert. She basically raised them after her mother and father separated and her mother went back to Wales. She was devastated when he died particularly since her father did not see fit to give her details until much later, and she never saw any of his medals or service records. It sat really hard with her and she mentioned it again just before she died at 84. Once reason I am trying to find details so that our family can continue to remember his sacrifice. Mum and Dad came out to Australia in 1949 and I never got to meet any of my three uncles (who all served in the war) or as yet travel to England or Wales. I was born in 1952 the only one of my brothers and sister to be Australian born. Thanks for your information. Lorraine Hall

 

That is a good point HC. It was simply the length of time elapsed between Sidney leaving the jungles of Burma in 1943 and then sadly passing away in June 1944, that made me wonder if he had gone in again.

It could well be that he never regained his strength and remained in hospital all that while, and then contracted gangrene as a complication.

 

Hi Lorraine,

I'm very pleased to be able to help out with what I know. Column 2 has probably received the least attention in terms of books and memoirs written about it. I have never been able to find anything about the Commanding Officer of Column 2 (Major Arthur Emmett) and his subsequent career for instance. All I know is that he was a tea planter from Ceylon.

Sidney's time in Burma during 1943 centres around the ambush at Kyaikthin and whether he returned to India straight away afterwards, or joined up with Column 1 and continued on with the operation. There is one book that you could read, which would at least, give an overview of the early stages of Operation Longcloth in terms of Column 2 and which describes the horrors of Kyaikthin extremely vividly. The title is 'Safer than a Known Way' by Ian MacHorton. It should be fairly easy to pick up from eBay or Amazon.

I would like to add the photograph of Sidney to one of my Galleries on the website and eventually, write up what we know about him for his own story. I will send you a pm message later to confirm you are happy for me to do this. In the meantime, I am including here, a photograph of his grave from Gauhati War Cemetery, just in case you and the family have never seen it.

This image is courtesy of another member of our forum (Bucklt) who travels all over SE Asia, visiting these cemeteries and photographing the various memorials and graves. He has done a remarkable service for many hundreds of families who would never have the opportunity of visiting these places themselves.

Best wishes

Steve

 

Thanks Steve, I do not have problem with what you have asked. It's great that people take the effort to find out the information and share it with others. Unfortunately we as a family have been a bit remiss int following up things. Mum and Dad didn't talk a lot about England and by the time I started to be interested in following things up I had left it a bit too late. So now having to do lots of research on line etc. Lorraine

 

Thanks Lorraine,

I will let you know when Sidney is featured in one of the Galleries. If you think of any other details about him, please let me know.

Best wishes

Steve

 

Steve, any idea what age Major Emmett was? I've found one birth & death entry for an Arthur Emmett in Scotland.

Have you ever looked at the Sri Lankan files at familysearch.org? If I remember correctly there are Catholic and Dutch records there and goodness knows what else they may have added since I last looked. Just a thought.

Lorraine, the best of luck with your search - Maria

 

Hi Maria,

I think that Emmett was one of the original Gurkha officers with 3/2 GR in 1942, when they travelled from the North West Frontier to join Chindit training. For this reason, I have always thought of him to be one of the older members of the 77 Brigade, possibly in his late thirties. I have his Indian Army List entries, showing his commission to Captain, but these do not show his age unfortunately.

There was another officer in India/Burma of the same name who went on to have a very fine Army career. A post several years back on the Burma Star Forum (sadly defunct) clarified that this A. Emmett was not my man. He has always been a bit of a mystery character from Longcloth.

Thanks for the tip with the Sri Lankan files.

Steve

 

Steve

Have found this guy on a passenger list with his family going back to Bombay from Torquay, I can upload the passenger list page if you think it necessary. On the passenger list he is noted as a Tea Planter

Name: Arthur Alfred John Emmett
Gender: Male
Age: 32
Birth Date: abt 1915
Departure Date: 1 Aug 1947
Port of Departure: Southampton, England
Destination Port: Bombay, India
Ship Name: Strathmore
Search Ship Database: Search for the Strathmore in the 'Passenger Ships and Images' database
Shipping line: P and O
Official Number: 164521

TD

 

Just found another for him:

Name: Arthur Albert John Emmett
Birth Date: abt 1914
Age: 12
Port of Departure: Bombay, India
Arrival Date: 27 Oct 1926
Port of Arrival: London, England
Ports of Voyage: Colombo
Ship Name: Malda
Search Ship Database: Search for the Malda in the 'Passenger Ships and Images' database
Shipping line: British and Indian Steam Navigation Company
Official Number: 146286

This shows him born in India, in fact his father is a Sgt Major in the Assam Police and they are going to an address in Torquay - possibly his grandmother on his mothers side

TD

 

Thanks for those TD. That is the man I believe to be my Arthur Emmett. As I mentioned above, there was another man by that name. I wish I had saved the information on the Burma Star Forum now, I was not expecting it to be removed from the internet.

To keep Lorraine's post clear and just for information about Sidney Jones, I will start another thread in regards to Major Emmett, so any new details can go on there.

Cheers

Steve

 

Lorraine,

Sidney's photo is now in the Gallery for Other Columns on my website. You can view it here:

http://www.chinditslongcloth1943.com/gallery-other-columns.html

Click on the image and it will come forward on the page with a caption.

Best wishes

Steve

 

Sidney's full story, as much as we know in any case is now up on my website.

Here is the link, please scroll down alphabetically to view his details:

http://www.chinditslongcloth1943.com/roll-call-f-j.html

Thanks again to Lorraine and all you others for your help and assistance.

 

Well done Bamboo - a fitting tribute

Lorraine - thank you for letting this information be written in public

TD

 

It is good to see that sidney is finally being recognised for the the sacrifice that he made. Hopefully I will eventually find out more about him in future. Amazingly through scrolling on the internet i also came across a world war 1 medal that "Medals Gone Missing" site was trying to return to the family it belonged to. We have now paid for this medal, belonged to My husband's side of the family, his great great uncle who was killed in the First World War. We haven't had it handed over to us yet as they want to have a special get together for it. It will be treasured. Perhaps one day we will find out what has happened to Sidney's medal as well. Thanks everyone for all your help Lorraine.

 

Hi Lorraine,

That is another wonderful piece of serendipity for your family. Along the same lines, a number of years ago I returned a set of WW1 medals to the recipients family. We exchanged at a meeting at the National Archives in London, whereupon the very same day I found my grandfather's name on the 13th King's nominal rolls, my first clue as to his fate in Burma.

Good luck with the hand over.

Steve

 

Hi Lorraine,
I am also related to Sid Jones and I have found this site when looking for more information about my great uncle as he has not been forgotten over this side of the world either.
I am trying like you to find out more about the events surrounding his death as the story I was told was the same as yours. ie returning to find him and him dying of gangrene. I had already worked out that he must have been one of the commando units as the engineers were not present other than as individual sappers in each commando unit attached to each column.
I am William 'Albert' Jones's Grandson, Mildreds son.

Regards
Dean.

 

Welcome Dean,

Fantastic to think that two relations of Sidney have found their way to the forum this summer. Everything we know about Sidney is now featured on the website Chindit Chasing, a link can be accessed on post 15 of this thread. Scroll down alphabetically and you will find the short piece I've written.

Thanks and best wishes

Steve