MORTON, WILLIAM WEDGWOOD,2352248, Royal Corps of Signals 21 Lt. A.A. Regt., R.A., Sig. POW card help

I am wondering if any body can help me decipher a Japanese POW Card please.

MORTON, WILLIAM WEDGWOOD,2352248, Royal Corps of Signals 21 Lt. A.A. Regt., R.A., Sig.

Regards Michael.

 

Hi Michael,

If it were a Rangoon Jailer I could do more, but in terms of date of capture you read 17/3/20 as 20th March 1942.

The Japanese Showa year corresponds to the reign of Emperor Hirohito, so in WW2 terms:

17 is 1942
18 is 1943
19 is 1944
20 is 1945 and so on.

Sorry I cannot be of much use.

 

Thanks for looking anyway Steve someone may be able to help.

Regards Michael.

 

I'm sure they will. :smile:

 

The last date on the card is 4th December 1945 which will refer to the destination of the mortal remains or ashes.

By using the Dutch Archives search engine and searching for "JA298" a number of cards and transcriptions and translations come up but I cannot figure out what the code is.

Search for "www.gahetna.nl › Collectie › Catalogus › Indexen" in a search engine and put the "JA298" in the search box.

John

 

Thanks again John I will follow this search up cheers.

Regards Michael.

 

Hi John I have done as you say but I can't find my man any more tips please just in case I am doing it wrong.

Cheers Michael.

 

Michael,

The card you put on the thread has the letters and numbers "JA298" on it, which is found on many cards. The Dutch Cards are viewable online, but a British member of the RCOS will not appear.

I thought it would be useful to try and work out what the "JA298" meant, but I have come to no firm conclusion !

I found that the phrase "JA298" appears on many cards in the Dutch collection. It seems to mean "foreign cemetery" or a cemetery reserved for foreigners in Japan but I have not looked at many of the example cards to discover how many different cemeteries existed.

John

 

I have had the cards translated, I am well pleased.

William Morton was initially in a camp in Java, then was moved to 福岡 (Fukuoka, red writing at top).
Back of the card shows that he was transferred to Fukuoka, 17th Nov 1942, became ill on the 24th of November, and died of acute colitis on the 30th - 8.45am.
Place of death/burial both somewhere in Kumamoto City (熊本市), which was close to the Fukuoka camp
The last date is in December 1945 - "same place" and 引渡ス - his remains may have been moved (probably to Yokohama War Cemetery, where he is commemorated on the CWGC website)

A big thanks to Nekojita.