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

Discussion in 'Burma & India' started by High Wood, Mar 28, 2016.

  1. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    Hi Pat,

    Great to see that you have picked up some more information about your Dad from Jack Lindo's book. To answer your question: The witness statements I sent over are mainly focused on men who went missing in action during the second Wingate expedition and had little recorded about the last known whereabouts. If a man was killed outright during an engagement his death would have been recorded by the senior officer present and if possible the burial location. These casualties rarely form part of the WO361 series.

    That is why the majority of King's casualties in the file tend to be from Blackpool and the interim movements between Broadway and Blackpool, where soldiers simply disappeared from their units and were never seen again. Men killed during the march to and fighting in Mogaung, tended to be recorded at the time and therefore did not require further witness statements after the expedition was over. Of course, as with everything in Burma, this was not an exact science.

    I have never looked through the 1st Lancashire Fusiliers WO361 files, but it is possible although unlikely that King's casualties could be included in that file.
     
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  2. High Wood

    High Wood Well-Known Member

    "Still have to work out where he went back into concessional area for 2 days after coming out of hospital!! That is for another day!".

    This might be a technicality. If the hospital was in the concessional area, he wasn't strictly speaking on active service but on being discharged from hospital, would have been again for the two days before being reposted.

    If, on the other hand, you are asking, where did he re-enter the concessional area, then I haven't a clue.
     
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  3. PatsyM

    PatsyM Member

    Thank you for explaining that to me. I wasn't aware thst this was the case but would explain why there are relatively few names on the statements. One day I may get to Kew and tackle the 77 brigade diaries out of interest.
    Kind regards
    Pat
     
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  4. PatsyM

    PatsyM Member

    Thank you for your reply which does make sense. He was in hospital in Assam which I believe constitutes the concessional area. 77 brigade were sent from Tinsukia in Assam to Dehra Dun between 19 July and 6 August so that would tie in with my info. Another mystery laid to rest! That would also explain another item I was confused about regarding his award of Burma Star. It stated it was for service in Assam and Burma even though he wasn't on active service as such in Assam.
    Kind regards
    Pat
     
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  5. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    I remember the first family I assisted using the WO361 files. It turned out that their man had been on a patrol checking out the perimeter of the Blackpool block. He simply disappeared that day and was never seen again. At least I was able to tell them where he had been serving at the time, as previous to that they had known next to nothing.
     
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  6. impala_ood

    impala_ood Junior Member

    Pat, I’m so happy for you that you’ve been able to make this wonderful breakthrough! What a delight to find your Dad mentioned in he book and have so many pieces fall into place. It just goes to show these elusive nuggets can be out there just waiting to be discovered.
     
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  7. PatsyM

    PatsyM Member

    It is a lovely thing that you are able to help people with that information. I passed on some of the info you sent me to two relatives of the MIA. They really appreciated being able to have some idea where the relative died. One said it brought her peace knowing he didn't die alone.
    Best wishes
    Pat
     
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  8. PatsyM

    PatsyM Member

    Thank you Richard and I hope one day you will also find some nugget about your great uncle George. Although I was delighted to find that information in the book I felt very emotional and haven't been able to stop thinking about it. I ended up shedding a lot of tears! The whole journey to this point has been an emotional roller coaster in fact. I have found some of the articles in the books quite harrowing as well as reading about all the poor young men that didn't make it here and on facebook. Not your average bed time reading! I realise I only ever heard a very sanitised version from my dad.
    Best wishes
    Pat
     
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  9. High Wood

    High Wood Well-Known Member

    Mark Baldwin, another 1/King's Regiment Chindit who does not appear in any official lists.

    500 mile march. Lived on roots.

    Before completing a 500 mile route march behind the Japanese lines, a band of Chindits were reduced to living off wild roots, bamboo and banana shoots. The food situation became so desperate that the commanding officer ordered five mules to be shot to feed his malaria stricken column. One of the band was Private Mark Baldwin, of the King’s Regiment, of MacDonald Street, Lamberhead Green, Wigan. He was one of the heroic band who defended “Blackpool”, near Hopin, in Mogaung Valley, the famous Chindit stronghold. Casualties were evacuated from “Blackpool” to a neighbouring lake, and from there flown to safety in Sunderland flying boats.

    Private Baldwin’s strength failed as the long and terrible march continued. Often knee deep in mud, he found it daily more difficult to keep up with his comrades. On one occasion he lost touch, but caught up with the column to find that arraignments were being made to evacuate casualties. He was flown out the area next day. Now fit and well, he looks forward to having another crack at the enemy.

    Manchester Evening News. 2nd January 1945.
     
    Last edited: Nov 11, 2020
  10. High Wood

    High Wood Well-Known Member

    The first part of the same article. It is possible that Granville Horton was a Lancashire Fusilier.

    Stories of Northern Fighters.

    Several days before Mogaung, the vital Japanese stronghold in Northern Burma was taken, an Oldham soldier was in the town by mistake.

    He is Pte Granville Horton, of Roebuck, Low Shiresdale, a Chindit, who was leading a patrol sent out to probe Japanese defences. “We had been out some time”, he told a military observer, “When I heard voices. I thought they must be our own lads, but took cover just in case. Then firing broke out, and I knew that we were right in the middle of enemy positions. We managed to get out all right. It was not until we found that we had walked right into the town of Mogaung itself. As the town only fell several days later, I reckon that I can claim to have been the first to enter it”.

    Pte Horton formerly worked as a coal merchant with the Oldham Equitable Stores.

    Manchester Evening News. 2nd January 1945.
     
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  11. High Wood

    High Wood Well-Known Member

    Davis 002.JPG

    Prisoner of Japs returns.

    Pte, Leslie Robert Davis, The King’s Regiment, whose home is at Charlton Kings, has just returned home after 15 months as a prisoner of the Japanese. He is the first Cheltenham soldier to return from Japanese captivity.

    Sick with Beri Beri, and septic sores, and without any medical assistance, the prisoners in Rangoon Gaol, he said, experienced the worst of hardships under their Japanese captors.

    Taking part in Gen. Wingate’s “Chindit” operations in 1944, the glider in which Pte. Davis was flying, crash landed before it reached the landing strip, and for 20 days the men marched until they came to a Burmese village. The Burmese promised them food and aid and said that they would give them a boat to continue the journey. However, when they had rested, they found that the villagers had sold them to the Japanese, and they were taken prisoner.

    No medicine.

    The treatment they received from these soldiers was as good as could be expected under the conditions, but, said Pte. Davis, “when we reached Rangoon Gaol things were different and a bit rougher”.

    Medical treatment was unheard of except from the British doctor, who was also a prisoner, and for the monthly examinations held by the Japanese Medical Officer. There were no medicines.

    “Every meal I had for 15 months”, he said, “consisted of boiled rice, and more boiled rice”. “We were put on every sort of labouring imaginable. We had to mend roads, tear down walls and put others up. In fact, before I was taken prisoner, some of the captured men were made to dig up unexploded bombs”.

    “We had to bow to every Japanese, every time we saw one, and any mistake we made was followed by a slap with a bamboo stick”, he said.

    Language Problem.

    “The language was the greatest problem. The guards used to babble at us, and if we didn’t understand, they used to get angry and hit us”.

    Pte Davis said that this hitting was not extraordinary, for the way discipline is kept in the Japanese army is by striking a man instead of giving him C.B., as in the British army.

    “They definitely had it in for American airmen who were captured”, he said. “Some of them were kept in solitary confinement for 18 months at a stretch”.

    Speaking of the mentality of the Japanese soldier, Pte. Davis said that they were not over educated, and the believed every last bit of propaganda which was fed to them.

    Left behind.

    Asked how he was released, Pte Davis said, “I was sick with Beri Beri at the time. About 50 of us, who were ill were left behind when the Japanese left. They took 400 “fit” men with them. These were later set free at Pegu. The civilian Japanese were left in charge of us, and after three or four days they left in the night. We immediately set up the Union Jack that we had previously used for burials, and wrote on the roof that the Japanese had left, and that we were British. The Air Force spotted the flag and the message but ignored it, thinking it was a Japanese trick. Soon, however, the Navy, which was lying in the bay, sent a launch up the river, and we were released. The prisoners were removed to a hospital ship, and taken to Calcutta. From Calcutta they left for England”.

    All nationalities.

    Among the prisoners in the gaol were Chinese, Indians, Australians and Americans. The captors tried to make the Indians join the India National Army, which had been instituted to fight in India, but the majority would have nothing to do with it. The confinement to which the prisoners were subjected was in a small cell, nine feet by six feet, and into which were cast three men at a time. Pte Davis himself had been in these conditions for 38 days.

    The last communication which his parents received before he was released was a letter in March 1944.

    Aged 30, Pte Davis lives with his parents, Mr and Mrs W.R. Davis, at “Barry”, Croft Road, Charlton Kings. Before joining the army in 1940, he was for 11 years at the Lower High Street branch of the Co-operative Society.

    Gloucestershire Echo. 20th June 1945.

    Davis.JPG

    Leslie Robert Davis.jpg
     
    Last edited: Jan 6, 2021
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  12. High Wood

    High Wood Well-Known Member

    Leslie Davis flew into Burma on glider 22 P.

    Glider 22 P.JPG
     
  13. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    The Davis info is a great find HW. Something there for my Rangoon Jail research. :)
     
  14. Hebridean Chindit

    Hebridean Chindit Lost in review... Patron

    Good Grief... that's a 50% jump in the names of those known to have flown out on Gert and Daisy... I now know three of the 500 odd... :D
     
  15. High Wood

    High Wood Well-Known Member

    I cannot find my original notes about the source of this photograph, so if it is yours I apologise for posting it with out permission. If you have given permission, I am sorry that I have not been able to give you a credit, but I will happily amend the post.

    The photograph shows a group of soldiers waiting for the Dhobi Wallah to return their newly washed shirts, what makes it interesting is that it has names and addresses on the back.

    Burma photo (2).png

    Burma photo names.png
     
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  16. High Wood

    High Wood Well-Known Member

    I have managed to identify all of those named although some of the home addresses are not the same as those on the 1939 Register.

    W. Graney. 121 Nelson Road, Crouch End, London. N.8. (Top right).

    (1939 Register. William Graney. 144 Nelson Road, Crouch End, London. N.8. Born: 16/02/1915. Carpenter).

    The road is the same but he has clearly moved house.

    E. Leigh. 30 Brushes Road, Stalybridge, Cheshire. (Top left).

    (1939 Register. Ernest Leigh. 30 Brushes Road, Stalybridge. Cheshire. Born: 11/05/1920. Apprentice painter).

    A. Malee. 104 Edge Green Lane, Golborne, Nr Warrington. (Top centre).

    (1939 Register. Albert Malee. 104 Edge Green Lane, Golborne. Born: 19/01/1917. Farm Carter, Heavy Worker).

    Albert Malee.png

    (Our Gang) (1st & 2nd Supply?)


    J. Bradburn. 114 Marsh Lane, Erdington, B’ham 23. (Bottom right).

    (1939 Register. John H. M. 114 Marsh Lane, Erdington, Birmingham. Born 13/11/1923. Cutter & sewer to sack and bag merchant, (Father’s business.). The M of the initials is a mistranscription and should read W.

    B.S.A. Membership Form. John Henry Wallis Bradburn. 7 Bonsall Road, Erdington. Birmingham. Service number. 14356911.
    Clearly John Bradburn had moved house between 1939 and the time that he joined the Burma Star Association.


    J. Bartlett. 27 Brook Street, St Neots, Hunts. (Bottom left).

    (1939 Register. John P Bartlett. 9 South Street, St Neots. Born: 18/08/1923. Butcher’s apprentice).

    Bartlett John P.png

    As can be seen on the full page, South Street, St Neots is very close to Brook Street, St Neots.

    Bartlet full.png

    John Philip Bartlett.
    Born 18/08/1923. Died 1996. Huntingdon.

    14288231 Pte Bartlett reported missing 06/03/1944. Later reported not missing.

    Bartlett J P Missing 6344.png

    Bartlett J P wounded DNR.png
     
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  17. High Wood

    High Wood Well-Known Member

    Whilst trawling through the Burma Star membership forms for the umpteenth time looking for anyone who might have fallen through the net, I have come across this little anomaly, 14407280 Brian Conolly who served with Wingate's Chindits, 77th Brigade, 1944.

    download (2).png

    So far so good, so I thought that I would check the Casualty Lists to see if 14407280 Pte. Conolly. B. makes an appearance and, therefore find out which particular unit of the 77th Brigade he served with.

    Sure enough, he does appear as being wounded in Burma on the 25th May 1944, which coincidentally, was the day that the Blackpool Block was evacuated with great difficulty and a long casualty list.

    However, the casualty list states that he was serving with the Royal Norfolk Regiment, whose 2nd battalion, as part of the 2nd Division, were fighting at Imphal on the same date, attempting to take Naga Hill.

    So where was Pte Conolly on the 25th May 1944 when he wounded? Was he at Kohima or, had he transferred to the 77th Brigade but the Records Office had not yet caught up with his movements?

    Connolly CL.png

    Note the different spelling of his surname.
     
  18. High Wood

    High Wood Well-Known Member

    Glider casualty notifications taken from the Liverpool Echo

    Local casualties.

    News of our men in the forces.

    Liverpool Echo. 4th April 1944.

    Mr and Mrs John Collins, of 4B, Blackstock Street, Liverpool, 3, have been notified that their son, Corporal James Collins, has been killed in action in the Indian theatre of war. Aged 24, he was an old boy of St Mary of the Angels school, Fox Street. Joining the army at the age of 16, he was sent out to India about six years ago.

    Glider cas reps 008.JPG

    3770598. Cpl. Collins. James. (Lottie). KiA 6th March 1944.


    Reported Missing.

    Pte Thomas Faulkner is reported missing in Burma on March 6th, 1944. He has been serving in India for five and a half years. Any information welcomed by his parents and family at 78 Station Street, West Derby Road, Liverpool 6.

    3771425 Pte Thomas Victor Faulkner. Reported Missing 6th March 1944. PoW 11th March 1944. Glider 20B.

    Faulkner.JPG


    Mrs A. Tye, 40 Fernside Street, Liverpool 7, has been notified that her eldest son, Pte Sidney John Tye, is missing in the Indian theatre of war, (Burma). Aged 26, he has been in the Army since the outbreak of war, and had been nearly a year in India. He has one brother who is in the Navy.

    3777028 Pte Sidney John Tye. Reported Missing 6th March 1944. POW. Rangoon Gaol. Glider 21P.


    Liverpool Echo. 8th April 1944.

    Reported Missing.

    Pte James Herbert Peers is reported missing in the Burma theatre of war. His wife, Mrs Jessie Peers, 2 Eldon Terrace, Neston, Cheshire, will be glad of further information.

    3778761 Pte Peers. James Herbert. KIA 5th/6th March 1944. Glider 20B.



    Mrs P Daley, 45 Allington Street, Aigburth, Liverpool has been informed that her brother, Lance Corporal Edmund Henry Hill has been posted missing in the Indian theatre of war. He joined the army seven years ago. Mrs Daley will be glad of further information.

    3771467 Cpl Edmund Henry Hill. KIA 5th/6th March 1944. Glider 20B.


    Sergeant Albert Tarbuck is reported missing in Burma. Well known in sporting circles, he has been in the Indian theatre of war for more than two years. He has one brother in the Fleet Air Arm. Any information welcomed by his parents and family at the Bungalow, Radnor Avenue, Heswall.

    3774856 W/Cpl Tarbuck. Albert. KiA 5th/6th March 1944. Glider 20B.


    Mrs A Shaw, 8 Manser Grove, Walton, Liverpool, has been officially notified that her husband, Pte John Shaw, has been reported missing on the Burma Front. He had been in the army four years, of which, three years were spent in India. Mrs Shaw would be glad of any news from her husband’s colleagues.

    3778067 Pte Shaw. John. KIA 5th/6th March 1944. Glider 20B.


    Liverpool Echo, 14th April 1944.

    Mrs L. Tyrer, of 19 Derby Square, Prescot, has received word that her husband, Pte Leslie Tyrer, has been posted as missing in Burma since March. He was employed at Tushingham’s Brick Works, Huyton Quarry. His parents reside at 19, Elm Street, Huyton Quarry. Any information gratefully received at either of the above addresses.

    Tyrer.JPG

    3716946 Pte Leslie Tyrer. Glider 4B. Reported missing 6th March 1944. Captured 10th March 1944. POW Rangoon Gaol.

    Mrs H. Higginbottom, 34, Rowland Street, Birkenhead, has been informed that her husband, Lance Corporal Tom Higginbottom, is reported Missing in Burma. He has been in the Army for four years and was previously a printer at the Birkenhead News. Any information will be gratefully received by his wife, who would like to get in touch with his pal, Danny Coleman.

    Higginbottom.JPG

    3775124 L/Cpl Tom Higginbottom. Glider 21P. Reported Missing 6th March 1944. Captured 11th March 1944. POW Rangoon Gaol.

    Liverpool Echo. 21st April 1944.

    Mr and Mrs Small, 37 Greig Street, Liverpool 8, have been informed that their son, Sapper A.C. Small, was killed in action in Burma in March. He was an old boy of Wellington Road School, and of the Florence Institute, Mill Street, and joined the Territorials prior to the war. Any information gratefully received.

    Small 001.JPG

    2079522 Spr. Albert Samuel Small. R.E. KIA 6th March 1944.


    Mr and Mrs John Carney, of 1 Gladville Road, Aigburth, Liverpool 17, will welcome any information from any comrade of their son, Pte Leslie Carney, officially reported killed in action in Burma. Aged 24, and educated at St Austin’s R.C. School, Grassendale, he volunteered for the Army shortly before his 20th birthday, and has served for two years in the India Command.

    3775270 Pte. Leslie Carney, Killed in action 5th March 1944. Glider unknown.


    Mrs E. Wood, 40 Bismarck Street, Liverpool 5, is notified that her husband, Sgt Hugh Wood, age 27, is posted missing in the Indian theatre. She would welcome any information from comrades.

    Hugh Wood 001.JPG

    3770154 Sgt Hugh Wood. Glider P21. Reported missing 6th March 1944. Captured 25th March 1944. PoW Rangoon Gaol.

    Wood.JPG


    Pte W. Albert Paxford, of Leigh Road, Hindly Green near Wigan, is missing in the Burma theatre. He is 21, was called up at the outbreak of war, and joined the Territorials at the age of 16. His parents have been informed.


    3531905 Pte William Albert Paxford, Glider 19B. Reported missing 6th March 1944. PoW Rangoon Gaol.

    Liverpool Echo 3rd November 1944.

    Private John Hible, aged 24, son of Mr and Mrs J. Hible, 16 Ruskin Street, Liverpool 4, is missing believed a prisoner of war in the Indian theatre of war. An ex scholar of Westminster Road, Council School, he was employed by the Liverpool Co Operative Society before joining the Territorials five years ago.

    Hible.JPG

    3772565 Pte. John Hible. Glider 22P. Reported Missing 6th March 1944. Captured 15th March 1944. PoW Rangoon Gaol.
     
    Last edited: Feb 21, 2021
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  19. High Wood

    High Wood Well-Known Member

    Liverpool Echo. Casualty Reports May 1944.

    4th May.

    Mrs P. Brown, of 7, Adderley Street, Edge Lane, Liverpool 7, has received notice that her youngest son, Private Walter Stanley Brown, aged 21, has been killed in action in the Indian war theatre. He had been in the Army for two years, was a former pupil of Rathbone School, and had been employed by the Liverpool Gas Company. Two of his brothers are serving in the Australian Army and a third is in the Royal Air Force.

    Glider cas reps 015.JPG

    3718949 Pte Walter Stanley Brown. Killed in Action, 28th March 1944.


    Mrs S. Deakin, 48 Harlow Street, Liverpool 8, has been informed that her eldest son, Private John Deakin, aged 22, was killed in action in Burma on March 28th. An ex pupil of Harrington Council School and Beaufort Street Council School, he was an assistant cook in India Buildings before joining the Army in June 1940.

    4131924 Pte John Deakin. Killed in Action, 28th March 1944.


    Mrs E. Wright, Beacon Hill, Denbigh, has been notified that her son, Walter Wright, has been killed in action when serving in Burma.

    3776343 Pte Walter James Wright. Killed in Action, 28th March 1944.


    5th May 1944.

    Pte Henry Gallagher, aged 24, youngest son of Mr and Mrs R. J. Gallagher, 31 Arkle Road, Birkenhead, was killed in action in Burma on March 28th. He went to India in January 1942, and formerly was with the L.M.S. Railway at Birkenhead South, and was known as “Hughie” to his workmates.

    Glider cas reps 013.JPG

    3770337 Pte Henry Gallagher. Killed in Action, 28th March 1944.


    12th May 1944.

    Mr and Mrs J, Forden, 127 Moss Lane, Liverpool 21, have been informed that their son, Private James Forden, was killed in action on March 28th in Burma. He was an old boy of St Elizabeth’s School, Litherland, and was 25. His parents will be glad of further information from his comrades.

    Glider cas reps 010.JPG


    3773805 Pte James Forden. Killed in Action, 28th March 1944.
     
    Last edited: Nov 14, 2020
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  20. High Wood

    High Wood Well-Known Member

    Liverpool Echo casualty reports June 1944.

    23rd June 1944.

    Mr and Mrs W. Foster, of 8, Tiverton Street, Liverpool 15, have been notified that their son, Private William Foster, The King’s Regiment, single, 28, was posted as missing on May 25th, in Burma. He was in the service of the L.M.S. before he joined up five years ago.

    3777018 Pte. William Foster. Killed in action 23rd May 1944. Blackpool.

    On the 23rd May 1944 at approximately 0630 hours my platoon were going up to a ridge at “Blackpool” when the enemy opened fire with mortars and hit the centre of the platoon. The platoon was proceeding in single file at the time. Ptes Roe and Foster cried out that they had been hit, in the back and the feet respectively. I was ordered to carry on up the track and so continued. Ptes Roe and Foster were unable to carry on and were left where they had been hit. That was the last time I saw or heard of them.

    When we eventually reached the ridge, I checked the platoon and found that Ptes Bellamy, Cogley, Reynolds, McCann and L/Cpl Fazakerley were all missing. What happened to them I do not know. I have not seen or heard of them since.

    The path up to the ridge was under mortar fire the whole time and three enemy snipers were at the top of the ridge while we were climbing”

    Statement made by 3774949 Sgt. John Joseph McQuillen. Clement Town. 19th September 1944.



    After serving overseas continuously for five years, Sergeant Frank Williams, King’s Regiment, (Liverpool), has been killed in action in Burma. It is believed that he was one of the volunteers behind Japanese lines. His mother, Mrs A. Owens, lives at 103 Kempston Street, Liverpool. Sergeant Williams was an old boy of Bishop Goss School, Liverpool.

    KLR 003.JPG

    852930 Sgt. Frank Joseph Williams. Killed in action 23rd May 1944. Blackpool.


    Mrs Hanning, of 32 Salisbury Road, Liverpool 5, has been informed that her husband, Pte William Hanning, of the King’s Regiment (Liverpool), aged 29, has been killed in action in Burma. He had been in the Army four years, two of which were overseas. He leaves a widow and one child.

    KLR 006.JPG

    3778000 Pte. William Samuel Hanning. Killed in action 23rd May 1944. Blackpool.


    30th June 1944.

    Mrs E. Sweeney, 39 Gloucester Street, Cooperas Hill, Liverpool 3, has been informed that her son, Private, William Sweeney, is reported missing in Burma. He had been in the Army for six and a half years, serving in India for the whole of the time. Any information gratefully received by his mother.

    3771094 Pte. William Sweeney. Killed in Action between the 23rd and 25th May 1944. Blackpool.
     
    Last edited: Nov 25, 2020
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