Dear All Further to my last post my grandfather was in the Royal Artillery (on one of the guns which originally came from HMS Barham) and captured in February 1942 at Singapore. On his POW questionnaire the first place he has put down from his imprisonment is Sime Road August 1942 to December 1942. He must have been imprisoned before that date (we always thought at Changi), would this be the case and how were the 'prisoners' housed/treated during those first few months after the capture of Singapore? I am also reading contradictory things about Sime Road, it is obviously a 'myth' as mentioned elsewhere on this site that it was just a site for civilian internees, as my grandfather was there. Are there any good accounts of life for the military prisoners in the camp (he was also there between December 1943 to March 1944 or 1945 - confusingly he wrote March 1943 on the form which is obviously a mistake and he was at the unidentified Chanli (see previous post) form March 1946 - which must mean March 1945)? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Justin
Justin, It makes it very difficult for us to help, without: 1. Name 2. Regiment 3. What previous post ? Mike
Hi Mike I didn't include the name as it didn't seem relevant as he was one of many thousands captured and where he was sent (as far as I am aware) was unrelated to his name. His regiment was the Royal Artillery (as it says in the post), specifically the 9th Coastal Artillery. His name was Gunner William Nash. The previous post was posted in the same POW section of the forum and appears immediately before this one with the title: Any ideas for Ghanm and Chanli from my grandfather's P.O.W. Questionnaire http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/47113-any-ideas-for-ghanm-and-chanli-from-my-grandfathers-pow-questionnaire/ What I do think is relevant in tracking down where he was, as Ghanm and Chanli do not appear online - I wonder if they were alternative names/ spellings or sub camps of bigger well known camps - are the names of the British officers listed as Camp Leaders on the form.. Some of them I can find online, others I can't and there names may give the clue to where the unknown camps were. Sime Road is well known and as I said in the original post he was part of F Force, the tragic history of which I am aware. Sime Road August 1942 to Dec 1942 Lt Col. Newey Ghanm Dec 1942 to April 1943 Col Holmes M.C. Thailand April 1943 to Dec 1943 Maj Rogers Sime Road Dec 1943 to March 1944 or 5 (says 1943 obviously in error) Lt Col Newey Chanli March 1944 or 5 (says 1946 in error) to Sept 1945 Lt Col Newy Col Holmes M.C. Thanks Justin
Justin, With a name and a regiment, details can be found., they are important. Without 9th Coast it was a needle in a haystack. As you can see from attachment, I pretty sure Chanli is just meant to be Changi. I believe Ghamn is just somewhere local as he was out in work parties. (WP on attachment) .
Thanks Enigma, I stand totally corrected and am grateful for you finding him on the list. Other than his POW Questionnaire I have his record produced by the Japanese and didn't find anything else at the National Archives, I am now really curious as to where the list comes from. Thank you for your help again. Best Justin
Enigma, thanks again, I presume that the list comes from the nominal roll in WO361/2090 (the nominal roll of the 9th Coast Regiment) or WO 361/2187 (nominal roll N- R Royal Artillery)? I am now aware just how much material came out from the release of files in 2012. Thanks Justin
Justin, The files were released in April 2011. Try an Advanced Search in Discovery for 9th Coast limited to WO361 and you will get three files. WO361/2090 looks like the file. The two others may be of interest to you on your next trip to Kew. WO361/2090 was created by the Bureau of Record and Enquiry. The National Archives library does not have a copy of "The Story of Changi" by David Nelson but you can borrow a copy on inter library loan. This gives the background to maintaining lists of POWs in Changi and elsewhere by the Bureau of Record and Enquiry, or BRE. This was run by the POWs with very few resources. We have all benefited enormously from seeing the files. I have not seen the one quoted. Worth reading. As to "Ghanm" it may be a phonetic spelling but a search in the archive of Singapore newspapers, digital copies of which are available online at the Singapore national library site, revealed no matches, except mistaken optical character recognition search returns. The only "G" I can think of in relation to POW camps on Singapore Island is Great World Park but I do not think this is the right answer, even seeing the letters "Ghanm" as a misreading of "GWP." Oh well, better than doing sudoku. Good Luck. John
Thanks John for the further information on the files and David Nelson (I understand from what I have read that he was instrumental in the creation of the records which have only recently been released). You are right about the puzzle element of it all, the names would have been familiar to my grandfather or are just guesses by him at their spelling, that they are not well known is clear from the fact that members of this forum with expertise in this area like yourself and Enigma cannot find them. I will keep searching. Thanks again for your help. Best Justin
