I am researching uncle who was a pow in thailand and japan I have only recently found his regiment and service number as he didnt talk about thingsand died some time ago. What puzzles me at moment is that as far as I knew he had always lived in Sunderland Co Durham but joined the East Surrey 2nd Battalion 11th Indian Division can anyone tell me was there an alliance between a NE regiment and the east surreys or offer me an explanation? help would be appreciated thanks pat mccoy
If he was a conscript, he could have simply been posted to the battalion which needed him. If he was taken prisoner in Singapore, then this was less pronounced at the time, but later in the war the connection between place of residence and regiment was far from automatic.
The other issue is that the battalions in Malaya in 1941 were a mess. They had been "milked" of their best men to supply British and Indian units in the Western Desert, so he may have simply been posted to the battalion to fill a hole, based on his rank or speciality.
