HI I am researching a soldier from 135 Field Regiment Royal Artillery, Gunner 1085384 Ernest GOODLAND who was captured at the fall of Singapore in February 1942. He remained a POW until he was killed in September 1944 when the ship he was being transported to Japan on, the Hofoku Maru was sunk by US aircraft off the coast of the Phillipines. I have received some fantastic information about the loss of the Hofoku Maru from this forum, have got hold of Ernest’s POW records and I am now trying to piece together his time between capture and being KIA. I believe that after capture he would have been taken to Changi and his records identify that his POW number was II:918. I think this means that he was prisoner number 918 in Group 2 and at some later point he was given a new number - II 41770. I think he was moved overland on the 24/06/1942 possibly to Camp E in Thailand? From here I believe he was made to work on the Burma Thailand Railway and I am trying to identify which camps he would have gone to and where he would have been forced to work. Can anyone help me with any information about this?I have attached a copy of his POW form for info. Thank you Mike
You may already have these but there are from a search on Ancestry. and I guess the file 2005 shows that he was in Thailand before being shipped to Japan. Hopefully other may be able to help you more UK, World War II Allied Prisoners of War, 1939-1945 Name: Ernest Goodland Rank: Gnr Military Date: 15 Feb 1942 Service Branch: A Service Number: 1085384 Description: 24: British Prisoners of War Held in Japan or Japanese-Occupied Territory: E - J Name: Ernest Goodland Rank: Gnr Military Date: 1939-1945 Service Branch: A Service Number: 1085384 Description: 2005: Prisoners of War, Far East: POWs sent to Japan from Thailand up to November 1944; Nominal Roll Name: Ernest Goodland Rank: Private Military Date: 1939-1945 Service Number: 1085384 Description: 2057: Prisoners of War, Far East: British POWs Missing due to Transport Ships being Sunk (I notice on this one he is ranked as a Pte instead of Gnr) Name: Ernest Goodland Rank: Gunner Birth Date: 15 Jul 1909 Birth Place: Tiverton, England Military Date: 1939-1945 Regiment: 135 Field Regiment, Royal Artillery Service Number: 1085384 Father: Charles Mother: Clara Description: 20: Japanese Index Cards of Allied Prisoners of War and Internees, World War II: Geach-Goodwill TD
Your best bet is to email the Thailand Burma Railway Centre. They have extensive data and are most helpful. TBRC Online: THE THAILAND-BURMA RAILWAY CENTRE Tim
The hospital records in WO347 are the essential place to search when looking for information about a POW who died in captivity on the Thai/Burma railway or Burma/Siam railway as it was then commonly called, and in Singapore before travel overland. In this case the index volume, which is a "block" of very flimsy sheets of paper about 6 inches by 4 inches, inside a cover, ( anything up to 600 sheets) held together by two long treasury tags, is filed at the National Archives under this reference: WO 347/105 Index volume 46: Gold, B - Gourley, M It is not certain there will be a record, but my uncle also died on the Hofuku Maru and I found a hospital record for him in the index then in the record books kept by the Allied medical staff in Thailand. Quite an interesting experience to handle the original books, to say the least. Or you could send a message to the TBRC, as Tim says, they'll probably know the answer.
WO 361/2185 BRE Roll of Royal Artillery FEPOWs confirms that he left Singapore for the Railway on 24/6/42: You may find this helpful in interpreting the entry from WO 361/2005 posted above by TD: Tim
I think I saw WO361/2005 at Kew before it was added to FMP and decided that "5 RAPWI" or unit 5 of the Repatriation of Prisoners of War and Internees working somewhere in 1945 ( presumably ) had got this list from the Japanese. 5 RAPWI would have been so much better served if only they could have used Captain David Nelson to explain it all. It may have been new to Captain Nelson, but he went back to his old job in Singapore, more's the pity. I only wish they had promoted him to Colonel at the very least and asked him to go to Tokyo to see what the Japanese Prisoner of War Information Bureau had achieved ( very little ) and to help the US oversee the work to get the records in a fit state. Fortunately I don't have to rely on WO361/2005 and it might prove useful to someone. Anyway, here's a transcription: "NOTES BY 5 RAPWI 1. Nothing against the name and crossed out in red: Dead. 2. A number before a name: transferred to Group so-and-so. 3. A character before a name: reached Japan or Formosa or Malaya. 4. A red line and same character means struck off Siam strength. 5. Blue Numbers : Groups in Siam, F.I.C., etc., as under: I UBON II CHUNGKAI III MOULMEIN IV TAMUANG V BURMA VI HINBATO ( SIAM ) VII KANBURI VIII SAIGON IX PETBURI X LONTAN ( F.I.C. ) "
The OP asked about Group II so I've started a new thread based on evidence from the British main prosecution case regarding the railway: there were others. See here: Group II in Thailand Working On The Thai/Burma Railway
Thank you all for your responses. I contacted the Thailand Burma Railway centre and they have said that the have a lot of information that they can share, so this looks like it could be exactly what I was looking for. Once again thank you and best regards Mike