1st Bn The King's (Liverpool) Regiment, Chindits.

According to the latest (and final issue) of Dekho magazine, we have lost William Francis Hull in this last period of 2020. He was recorded as still living in the Liverpool area at the time of his death.

RIP.

 

RIP...

 

William Francis Hull must have been one of the very last of the 1/King's Regiment Chindits, there really cannot be many left now. May he rest in peace.

 

With regard to the above, certain names appear on the database and are almost completely untraceable. They may, or may not, still be alive.

Take for example 5885179 Pte Hasler. W L, who was reported in the 1944 Casualty lists, as having been wounded on the 24th May . His service number indicates that he enlisted into the Northamptonshire Regiment and he was reported as serving with them when wounded. This was later corrected to 1/ King's Regiment.

W L Hasler being an uncommon combination of surname and initials should be easy to trace and there are indeed two candidates.

William L Hasler. Birth registered 1920 Chelmsford, Essex.

Walter L Hasler. Birth registered 1922 at Edmonton.

The strange thing is that neither man appears again in any online record, neither appears to have married in the U.K. and neither appears to have died in the U.K., they do not appear in any electoral rolls or in any newspaper reports that I can find.

Either man could have emigrated or changed their name by deed poll and I have spent some considerable time trying to identify which one was a Chindit.

If still alive, they would be 100 and 98 respectively.

 

The dates that both 5885179 Pte Hasler and 5885419 Pte Pyne were wounded would suggest that they were at the Blackpool Stronghold just as it fell.

There is an interesting remark attached to Hasler's entry which states:

Wounded entry deleted in M.C. & L1508 rough used for fresh entry as "missing believed killed"

 

I will check my lists tonight HW. But off the top of my head, I believe there are now just two left that we know of.

 

Is this one of them

Walter Leonard Hasler
1922–2012
BIRTH 1922 • Edmonton, Essex
DEATH 2012 • Enfield

London, England, Electoral Registers, 1832-1965
Name: Walter L Hasler
Electoral Date: 1964
Street Address: 82 Carterhatch Lane
Ward or Division/Constituency: Enfield East
County or Borough: Enfield, England
Reference Number: LCC/PER/B/2908
His mother Lillian is also on the record

Lilian Maud Hasler
1890–1972
BIRTH 24 NOV 1890 • Wereham, Norfolk, England
DEATH MAR 1972 • Enfield, Middlesex, England

Looks like he was still alive in 2010
UK, Electoral Registers, 2003-2010
Name: Walter Hasler
Residence Date: 2004
Address: 19, Forty Hill, EN2 9HT
Residence Place: Enfield, Middlesex, England

So his death in 2012 Enfield is a good possible

TD

 

TD,

yes, that is definitely one of the two possible candidates. Did you find the information on ancestry?

Impossible to say which one of the two was in Burma without further information.

Many thanks,

Simon.

 

Private Edward Jackson, aged 20, of Everton Road, Chorlton-on-Medlock, formerly of Ardwick. Missing. He attended St. Thomas's School, Ardwick and was employed by Milson's Chorlton-on-Medlock, as a motor driver.

Manchester Evening News 29th April 1944.



14242804 Pte Edward Jackson, killed in action between 28th & 30th March 1944. Son of Edward and Mary Elibeth Jackson of Ardwick, Manchester.

 

The other one is shown as
England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916-2007
Name: William L Hasler
Registration Date: Jul 1920
[Aug 1920]
[Sep 1920]
Registration Quarter: Jul-Aug-Sep
Registration District: Chelmsford
Inferred County: Essex
Mother's Maiden Name: Collins
Volume Number: 4a
Page Number: 1403

But as you say his trail seems to run dry - however there is one possible and it assumes he changed his fore and middle names around and he started calling himself Leonard W Hasler

England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005
Name: Leonard W Hasler
Registration Date: Apr 1959
[May 1959]
[Jun 1959]
Registration Quarter: Apr-May-Jun
Registration District: Chelmsford
Inferred County: Essex
Spouse: Patricia Shorthouse
Volume Number: 4a
Page Number: 835

A copy of this marriage cert should let you know his age at marriage in 1959, its rather late in life but maybe its NOT his first marriage

TD

 

That is an interesting idea and swapping forenames is often done unofficially. I have checked the FreeBMD and there are no births registered in the name of Leonard W Hasler, or deaths, for that matter.

The late marriage might be something to do with his recovery from his wounds, not that we know how severe they were. Sadly, the wedding wasn't reported in the local paper, or if it was, it isn't available on line.

Patricia Shorthouse does not seem to have been a Chelmsford girl, unless of course Shorthouse was her name from a previous marriage.

 

According to the membership lists, we have seven 1st King's still with us. That being that the families involved have not told us otherwise.

 

B43, that is brilliant news and leads me to ask a couple of questions. Firstly, are they all on my list? Secondly, can any of them contribute to this thread as it would be wonderful to have their contribution.?

Many thanks,

Simon.

 

I havent chased this down any further or verified this in relation to your man - just found this possible

England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005
Name: Thomas Shorthouse
Registration Date: Jul 1946
[Aug 1946]
[Sep 1946]
Registration Quarter: Jul-Aug-Sep
Registration District: Chelmsford
Inferred County: Essex
Spouse: Patricia Oakley
Volume Number: 4a
Page Number: 1145


TD

 

Hi Simon,

They are all on your list for sure. I will see what I can do, however, not all of the veterans involved are regular attendees of Chindit Society functions so it might be a challenge. It is quite intriguing that of the remaining known veterans, those who served with the 1st King's and 1st South Staffs on Chindit 2 seem to have the longevity gene compared to the other units that took part.

 

The Ashton Brothers.



Pte Gerard Ashton (19) King’s Own Scottish Borderers, of 55 Lancaster Street, Kirkdale, Liverpool, has been killed in action.

His brother Lance Corporal Matthew Ashton (25) King’s Regiment (Liverpool) is posted Missing on active service.

A third brother, Stoker John Ashton, (20) was lost on H.M.S. Prince of Wales.

Liverpool Echo 27th November 1944.


14550637 Pte Gerard Ashton. 6th Btn. King’s Own Scottish Borderers. Killed in Action 27th September 1944, aged 19. Uden War Cemetery, Netherlands.

3771349 L/Cpl Matthew Ashton. 82 Column. 1st Btn. The King’s Regiment (Liverpool). Reported Missing between 19th – 20th May 1944. Captured 19th May 1944. PoW. Rangoon Gaol.

D/KX 127078 Stoker 2nd Class. John Ashton. R.N. H.M.S. Prince of Wales. Killed in action 10th December 1941, aged 20. Plymouth Naval Memorial

 

More regarding Sgt, Harry Rowson.


Entertainment on highest gun site.



Among those who recently climbed 8,000 feet up a Burma border mountain to entertain soldiers on the highest gun site in the world was, Sergeant Harry Rowson, aged 22, of Scarisbrick Drive, Norris Green, Liverpool. He belongs to the Bengal Entertainment Services Association, which is India’s equivalent to E.N.S.A. and before the war, he was a Territorial member of the King’s Regiment (Liverpool).

Sergeant Rowson is a versatile amateur artiste, and in addition to singing, plays a one string fiddle and is a ventriloquist. He is an old boy of the Leamington Road School.

Liverpool Evening Express. 9th May 1944.

 

Another glider casualty. I wasn't aware of him and I wonder which glider he was in.

Journalist killed.

Major Gerard Dunn, commanding the Public Relations Unit at Advanced Head Quarters on the Burma Front, who was a Fleet Street journalist, was killed when the glider in which he was flying into Japanese held territory crashed in the jungle.

Major Dunn, who was about 30, had been in India less than two months. His one desire was to be first on all missions in to enemy territory, and it was while going with the most advanced party on one sector that he was killed.

The Liverpool Echo. 27th March, 1944.


Casualty Details | CWGC

 

An interesting find HW.

 

Jungle exploits.

Liverpool Footballer in Glider Landing.

Former Liverpool University rugby player, Lieutenant Frederick Jary, is one of the Special Force (The Chindits) which has done much valuable work in helping to drive the Japanese from northern Burma.

He is serving with a battalion of the King’s Regiment (Liverpool). Before going to this unit, he was with the Lancashire Fusiliers and was commissioned into the South Lancashire Regiment.

His home is at 54 Springfield Lane, St Helens, and for a few days before joining the Army he was school master at St Thomas’s School, St Helens.

Among the more famous exploits in which his battalion took part was the historic glider landings, 200 miles behind the Jap lines, the defence of the Special Force stronghold called Blackpool, the evacuation of the wounded by Sunderland Flying Boats from a lake in enemy territory, and the storming of a Jap stronghold. For the last of these tasks, the King’s sent a company to assist the battalion of the Lancashire Fusiliers whose job it was to take a vital village.

Lieutenant Jary missed most of this excitement.

When the small armada of gliders began to land on an airstrip in the jungle one of them crashed. Lieutenant Jary, who had landed safely, pushed across to help in getting injured men out of the glider, when another glider struck it, and he was injured. He was evacuated by plane the following day.

He is now back with his unit, among whom are several other St Helen’s men.

The Liverpool Echo. 16th December 1944.

132419 Lt. Frederick William Jary. South Lancashire Regiment, attached 1st Bn. King’s Regiment (Liverpool).