Tracing Late Ancestor from 137 Field Regiment

Hi,

I am trying to trace what happened to my great uncle, who, having found some initial details, from some initial research using his name and service number (896402), I know he served in the 137 Field Regiment of the the Royal Artillery, and sadly died in January 1942 and is buried in Malaysia.

Sadly, due to being heartbroken, my late Nanna (his sister) never spoke about what happened to him, but as someone with a keen interest in history and in tracing my family tree, I am interested to know.

If anyone could help me in my quest/with my request I would be extremely grateful.

 

Apply for his service records
Get a copy of military service records
£30 is the cost

plus a copy of his CWGC certificate will be required when you apply.

Bombardier HORSMAN, PETER
Service Number 896402

Died 10/01/1942

Aged 23

137 Field Regt.
Royal Artillery
Casualty

you will not find his service records on the internet so dont be fooled into joining a site and paying any money you will be conned.

there a couple of forum members who offer a copy service of war diaries from the National Archives at Kew for a reasonable fee,
Members below
http://ww2talk.com/index.php?members/drew5233.6786/ Andy
http://ww2talk.com/index.php?members/psywar-org.2876/ Lee
regards
Clive

 

Peter Horsman (1909-1942) - Find A Grave Memorial

 

From Forum member dryan67

Here is a very brief summary of the Regiment's service:


137th Field Regiment, R.A. (T.A.)

HQ: Blackpool

349th (9th West Lancashire) Bty: Preston

350th (10th West Lancashire) Bty: Lancaster


The regiment served as an army field regiment in the United Kingdom at the start of the war. It served as the School of Artillery field regiment in the autumn of 1940. It added 501st Battery formed at Larkhill on 17 March 1941. The regiment arrived in Singapore on 28 November 1941. It first stopped at Kajang, near Kuala Lumpur and arrived in the 11th Indian Divisional area on 12 December. It served with the division during the Malayan campaign. It was captured at Singapore on 15 February 1942. The title (2nd West Lancashire) was authorized two days later.

137th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery.

 

Thank you all so much for your help, pointers, information and photos it is very much appreciated.

 

Hi,

I've found this discussion thread while browsing the internet for research on the 137th Field Regiment men especially 2nd Lt. Robert Hartley from the same unit and their unfortunate fate in Malaya. I went to the Tebong train station in Malacca for a field study on the tragic incident of the bombing by A6M Zero on 10 January 1942. If my guess were correct and right, this is the place where 10 men from the 137th Field Regiment perished (including your great grandpa) on the fateful day of 10 January 1942 while trying to reach Singapore.

The train station is defunct nowadays since there was a new double railway electrified line that has been rebuilt 3 kilometers from here. And through my reading and the interviews made by Harold Payne in IWM website, the gravesite for the 10 men of the 137th FR that was the victim of the A6M Zero bombing on the 10 January 1942 was around this train station area before they were exhumed and relocated in 1946 to the Taiping war cemeteries. I believed the other victims of the Malayan peoples mostly Chinese were still being left to be buried around this old train station area.

I also went to the Cluny estate in Slim River where the attack by Major Shimada tank column towards the 137th FR men habour area were carried out on the 7th January 1942, morning. It was very sad really looking at how badly they had to endure until the fateful day of the A6M Zero dive bomber attack on the train heading to Singapore in Tebong station on 10 January 1942.

I enclosed some of the pictures I took for reference. I hope this reply would help your research on your great uncle.

Sincerely,

Ahmad Syah
Kuala Lumpur

 

If my guess were right, your great uncle was in the same train carriage with 2nd Lt. Robert Hartley on the fateful day in Tebong station, 10 January 1942. I attach some of the pic taken at Taiping War Grave area and the picture I took around the Trolak bridge area that was overrun by the Japanese tank column as early as 4am on the 7 January 1942.

 

welcome to the forum and thank you for your time and trouble researching the information

I have sent a private message to the forum member KeepingHistoryAlive

 

Welcome to the forum, Ahmad. National Archives file WO 361/2095 has brief notes of the members of the 137th Field Regiment who were killed or wounded on 10th January 1942. John

 

Hi all,

I am from Kajang. The place of which the 137th FR men was reported been encamped for acclimatization before they were hastily deployed to Jitra after the Japanese first bombing of Singapore and their landings at Kota Bharu beach. I tried hard to find any information be it big or small about the exact location for the 137th FR men encampment in Kajang. I read once that Maj Gen Murray Lyon, GOC of the 11th Indian Division did actually visit Kajang High School in September 1941 and met the headmaster to survey the school ground for possible habour areas for his men if the Japanese ever attacked Malaya which they expect should be in April 1942, but the Japs came early.

After that, I did not encounter or find any information with regards to the 137th FR men camp area after arriving from Singapore on train in Oct/ Nov 1941. Kajang was heavily bombed on the 10-11 January 1942 when the Japs were trying to destroy the food dump area located beside the Kajang train station, and many civilians were killed and their bodies were lying on the streets while the British retreated south and left Kuala Lumpur on 11 January 1942. The Japs even hit the nearby Catholic church located across the Kajang train station and some of the British stragglers were killed while defending the town.

But the mystery surrounding the camp area for the 137th FR men still haunts me. If my guess were correct, it must be Kajang High School and its football field area. Because the school still in operation until a few days before the Japanese took Kuala Lumpur and the British teachers left Kajang hastily in the train to Singapore, perhaps along with Robert Hartley, Burt Briggs and Harold Payne carriage. But there is still a possibility for the Blackpool men to stay around the train station and the town's football field for their acclimatisation.

Cheers.

 

The Bureau of Record and Enquiry file on the 137th Field Regiment was produced in Changi in about 1942 by fellow soldiers. This file was released or opened at the National Archives in April 2011 as WO 361/2095. The BRE was set up because the prisoners of war realised that the Japanese were not recording the names of prisoners before sending them away from Changi on working parties. In about mid June 1942 the IJA card system was initiated. Even then, the PoW's card was taken on the party, so there was no duplicate record of what had happened without the BRE's secret work.

For further details of the work of the BRE see the book "The Story of Changi" by David Nelson, published in about 1972, just before his death. Captain David Nelson was a New Zealander who worked as a surveyor in Singapore both before and after the war.

I have a poor copy of the file ( some missed focuses ) but I have found that the following who appear in Commonwealth War Graves as below are mentioned by the compilers of the record in 1942 as having been wounded or killed on 10th January 1942 at the Tebong station. Further investigation post war may have lead to a different conclusion as to their fate, based on "Casualty" forms and liberation questionnaires and the like completed by more witnesses (not in secret) etc. In practice most battalions had record keepers who made it their job to account for every man. A lot of their diaries and records can be found at the National Archives or in local archives. ( I have little knowledge of the 137th Field Regiment apart from the file.)


ALFRED GEORGE DAMON
Gunner
Service Number: 1097360
137 Field Regt.
Royal Artillery
United Kingdom
Died 10 January 1942
TAIPING WAR CEMETERY
1. F. 8.
Malaysia

HARRY GLYNN
Gunner
Service Number: 903448
137 Field Regt.
Royal Artillery
United Kingdom
Died 10 January 1942
24 years old
TAIPING WAR CEMETERY
1. H. 6.
Malaysia

REGINALD CLAUDE HARMER
Lance Bombardier
Service Number: 1080823
137 Field Regt.
Royal Artillery
United Kingdom
Died 10 January 1942
26 years old
KRANJI WAR CEMETERY
24. B. 12.
Singapore

ROBERT HARTLEY
Second Lieutenant
Service Number: 153633
137 Field Regt.
Royal Artillery
United Kingdom
Died 10 January 1942
TAIPING WAR CEMETERY
1. F. 5.
Malaysia

PETER HORSMAN
Bombardier
Service Number: 896402
137 Field Regt.
Royal Artillery
United Kingdom
Died 10 January 1942
23 years old
TAIPING WAR CEMETERY
1. E. 20.
Malaysia

ERIC HOWARTH
Warrant Officer Class II
Service Number: 787517
137 Field Regt.
Royal Artillery
United Kingdom
Died 10 January 1942
30 years old
TAIPING WAR CEMETERY
1. G. 5.
Malaysia

LEONARD NORMAN MARSHALL
Serjeant
Service Number: 908189
137 Field Regt.
Royal Artillery
United Kingdom
Died 10 January 1942
23 years old
TAIPING WAR CEMETERY
1. G. 12.
Malaysia

IAN JAMES MITCHELL
Lance Bombardier
Service Number: 905754
137 Field Regt.
Royal Artillery
United Kingdom
Died 10 January 1942
21 years old
SINGAPORE MEMORIAL
Column 10.
Singapore

WILLIAM PENDLETON
Lance Bombardier
Service Number: 950940
137 Field Regt.
Royal Artillery
United Kingdom
Died 10 January 1942
SINGAPORE MEMORIAL
Column 10.
Singapore

ERIC LESLIE SLENEY
Gunner
Service Number: 963913
137 Field Regt.
Royal Artillery
United Kingdom
Died 10 January 1942
25 years old
TAIPING WAR CEMETERY
1. F. 20.
Malaysia

ROBERT TAYLOR
Gunner
Service Number: 895377
137 Field Regt.
Royal Artillery
United Kingdom
Died 10 January 1942
20 years old
TAIPING WAR CEMETERY
1. J. 9.
Malaysia

 

Thank you for the name list papiermache, this would help my research further on 137th FR during their time in Malaya.