Remembering Today 18/9/44 Aircraftman 1st Class R.Sinclair 1171745 Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserv

SINCLAIR, ROBERT

Rank:
Aircraftman 1st Class
Service No:
1171745
Date of Death:
18/09/1944
Age:
24
Regiment/Service:
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

211 Sqdn.
Panel Reference
Column 441.
Memorial
SINGAPORE MEMORIAL
Additional Information:
Son of William and J. McLaren Sinclair, of Chingford, Essex.
CWGC - Cemetery Details

 

SINCLAIR, ROBERT

Rank:
Aircraftman 1st Class
Service No:
1171745
Date of Death:
18/09/1944
Age:
24
Regiment/Service:
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

211 Sqdn.
Panel Reference
Column 441.
Memorial
SINGAPORE MEMORIAL
Additional Information:
Son of William and J. McLaren Sinclair, of Chingford, Essex.
CWGC - Cemetery Details


Details of the above loss.

POW of the Japanese. 211 Squadron. held Java, died Junyo Maru 18 September 1944.

JUNYO MARU

September 18, 1944

The 5,065 ton Japanese cargo ship Junyo Maru, built in Glasgow by the shipbuilders Robert Duncan Co., was en route from Batavia (Jakarta) in Java, to Padang in Sumatra, when hit by two torpedoes from the British Triton Class submarine HMS Tradewind (Lt. Cmdr. S. Maydon) which had departed its base in Trincomalee on September 8. On board the Junyo Maru were 1,377 Dutch, 64 British and Australian Prisoners of War and a few dozen American merchant seamen. Also on board were 4,200 Javanese slave labourers bound for work on the 220km long railway line being built between Pakan Baru and Muaro in Sumatra. Packed into the holds like sardines, it was 'standing room only' with very little chance of escape in an emergency. The Junyo Maru was by this time just a rust bucket. The death toll amounted to 5,620 dead, the world's greatest sea disaster up till that time. A total of 723 survivors were rescued by Japanese ships, only to be employed on the building of the railway. Many did not survive the war. Of the 100 odd Dutch nationals who survived the sinking, ten died on the railway. As the ship was unmarked the submarine commander could not have known that the ship carried such a cargo.

 

Here is a link regarding the Hell ship Junyo Maru

Junyo Maru

One of the darkest days in WWII

Regards
Tom