1st Cameronians 1942

Thank you! I hugely appreciate you taking the time to pass on this info. the Robert Sharpe you’ve posted the card for is def. the same man, the address on the letter matches the same address on the index card. Pieces of the puzzle falling into place!
It seems almost certain that Bertie would’ve been taken to Moulmein and passed away there, as Mr Sharpe writes:
"I regret that there is very little more I can tell in regard to Bertie Parkin. All I can say is that along with some other fellows of my own regiment and of his own, they were brought into the same jail as I was already confined in.
He was badly wounded and hardly had the strength to talk but he did tell us his name was Bertie Parkin and that he was from a place not far from Durham (he was from Butterknowle).
The records of deaths at the time of his death had not been taken owing to the fact that nothing had been organised at all in the camp.
I never forgot his name seeing that he was a Durham lad like myself and as soon as I saw his name in the paper I was convinced it was him as the date of his capture was the 19th April which coincides exactly with the date given in the paper when he was reported missing”.
He goes on tho say he will contact other friends who were in his regiment and also POWs and try and find out more information and offers his condolences..
I think, bar paying to access Berties army records, I’ve pretty much exhausted the amount of info I can gather on his war experience. Obviously, I’d love to know where he’s buried but I think any marker will be long gone if there was any at all. I’m amazed at the details I was able to find through some online research and with the help and advice of fellow interested parties such as yourself. Once again, huge thanks!

 

Hi Andrew

Bertie Parkin is commemorated on the Rangoon Memorial which is because he has no known grave. That is not uncommon for casualties of the 1942 Burma Campaign.

 

Hi, thanks, I had researched his entry on the Rangoon Memorial (see attached shot), but I presumed his actual remains must’ve been buried somewhere when he died, presumably in the area of the holding camp at Moulmein or Rangoon Jail. I wondered if that grave was ever marked for a time with a rough cross or headstone now lost in time. Sadly, I suppose I’ll never know.

 

Thanks for posting Robert Sharpe's letter. The family was fortunate that someone took the trouble to write and give them at least some idea about what happened to Bertie.

The aftermath at Yenangyaung oilfields and the retreat in general was a very confused picture. Robert Sharpe could be referring to either Moulmein or Rangoon jails in his note, although I would favour the former I think because of the timeline (19th April).

Bertie's service records would always be worth having, but it is unlikely that they would contain any information greater than what you know already in regards his capture or death. As I mentioned in my first reply, the two missing reports I posted were given to me a few years ago and come from file WO361/200 held at the National Archives at Kew. It could be possible that there are other pages within this document that mention Bertie.

Although I am not aware of any books about the Cameronians specifically during the retreat, there are two books I have read that are written by officers of other units who become prisoners at that time, one who begins his captivity at Moulmein and the other who is captured around the Yenangyaung area and is sent down to Rangoon. These might be of interest as background reading, although both books only describe these specific moments over a chapter or two in each case.

Operation Rangoon Jail, by Colonel K.P. MacKenzie
All Hell on the Irrawaddy, by Major John (Tim) Finnerty.

 

Thanks for the advice and suggestions for further reading, I’ll certainly look these up. I may, as you also suggest, track down Berties service records at Kew to complete the picture but, as you say, they’re are unlikely to contain any personal info. or details about his final days. It’s hard to imagine the complete confusion that would have surrounded the retreat with men being separated from their units and the sheer panic and horrors had they had to face.
My initial journey in discovering Berties story began after discovering his letters sent home from India among my late fathers papers (Bertie was his favourite Uncle and my father was just 16 when Bertie joined up). I spoke to my Aunt who unearthed a biscuit tin filled with Berties photos and his boxed campaign medals. I posted these on WW2 talk and was contacted by a collector who also had a set of Berties medals plus the letter from RH Sharpe, he’d bought these from an auction website - the description on the site read: “3252568 Private Bertie Parkin, 1st Battalion Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), died on 19 April 1942, aged 26 years. His name is commemorated on the Rangoon Memorial. Sold with card forwarding box to ‘Mr S. Parkin, 9 Woodlands Terrace, Dipton, Newcastle on Tyne’ and condolence slip named to ‘Rfmn. Bertie Parkin Sco. Rif.’ £120-£160
I was unable to discover who the S Parkin was as by this time my Aunt had passed away, clearly it’s the same Bertie Parkin but I was puzzled as to why there were 2 sets of the same campaign medals issued. Any ideas on this?
The collector was grateful to receive some info and pictures from me so he could put a face to his purchase but had no further clues. Very intriguing!
I’ve attached the letter from RH Sharpe and will also post Berties letters from India which make great reading and go into some fascinating details about daily life.... just a case of digging them out!
Thanks again, Andrew

 

Hi Andrew,

Since researching my own grandfather's WW2 pathway, I have become interested in collecting medals of all types across the last two centuries of British military campaigns. Of all the medals to collect, WW2 examples are the most problematic. This is generally because the campaign stars and medals were not named officially to the recipient before being sent out to families.

I know that this upset many surviving veterans on their return to the UK, discovering that their medal entitlement was being sent out unnamed, unlike those sent to their forefathers who had fought in the Great War.

As a collector I would only be interested in acquiring WW2 medals that come with both the correct box of issue and what has become known as the condolence slip. I also would look for one more piece of provenance that connects the medals to the soldier (in this case) in question.

I can't answer why there might be two sets of medals to Bertie Parkin. I am aware that families do sometimes split up medal groups to surviving relatives as mementos. For example giving one medal each to a soldier's children or siblings. But this wouldn't explain there being two complete groups in existence.

 

A great colourised version the shot posted by David Hewson of the 1st Battalion Cameronians in India circa1942 before they shipped out to Burma.

 

'C' Coy 1st Bttn Cameronians taken at Gough Barracks Trimulgherry Deccan India abt 1939/40. Some names from back.

 

Nice colourisation job done on that photo.

 

Hi Andrew,

Another small coincidence here. The 13th King's Liverpool, the men who went on to become the first Chindits in 1943, took up residence at Gough Barracks immediately after the 1st Cameronians vacated in early 1942.

Here is a page from the 13th King's war diary and a photograph (dated March 1942) of the King's HQ Company taken in almost the exact same position as your image.

 

I’ve just started reading your “Chindit Chasing” website... really great stuff and brilliantly written, the personal angle really makes all the difference to other more ‘academic’ WW2 books I’ve read.

 

Thanks Andrew, really appreciate that. It started out as simply finding out what became of grandad and quickly got out of hand.

 

I hear you! Mine started by finding my Great Uncle Bertie's letters and then my 11 year old son and I visited Berties home village of Butterknowle on Remembrance Sunday 2 years ago (also where my Dad was born) and laid a wreath on the memorial there along with some info on Bertie for anyone who wanted to know about him. We were then contacted by the local school who wanted to do a project on the 'local heroes'. Nice to know these guys who gave so much will be remembered in such a way. Thats said, I think your interest has gone into way more depth than mine, good news for the rest of us who have an interest though. Keep it up!

 

I came across this account of the wounding of WO Victor Albert Edward Pepperell who was a Warrant Officer (No. 3238363) in 1st Cameronians during the retreat in 1942. He went on to be commissioned but it may not have been in the Cameronians. The Casualty List says this was on 7 March 1942 and the account says it was in the Pegu area. Whilst I have the Missing Personnel File from Kew I don't have the War Diary so one for my next visit.

 

Pepperell went onto become Captain (EC 13557) Quartermaster at the 88th Indian General Hospital according to his Burma Star Association membership (see attached). London Gazette has him down as promoted Special List of Quartermasters, announced 19th July 1945:

 

Two accounts of the incident in which Pepperell was wounded: