In January 1941 they moved to the Scottish Boarders for training with their HQ at Bowhill House.
1941/10/30 - Equipped for Middle East the 9th Royal Northumberland Fusiliers left Liverpool in the Warwick Castle, Convoy CT.5.
USS Orizaba
1941/11/08 - Arrived Halifax and after much debate amongst the troop at Halifax the 9th Battalion eventually boarded the USS. Orizaba, which was not a luxurious ship.
1941/11/10 - The 18th Division left Halifax in Convoy William Sail 12X and was escorted by the US Navy.
Convoy Willam Sail 12X
(USS Ranger was flying on antisubmarine patrol for the convoy)
The convoy passed through the Mona Passage between Puerto Rico and St Domingo, arriving at Trinidad on 17th November in glorious sunshine so our tropical kit came out, but unfortunately no shore-leave, the convoy left after two days of taking on supplies. On 24th the equator was crossed and there was a crossing the line ceremony.
1941/12/02 - USS Orizaba was refuelled at sea
After a month the convoy arrived at Cape Town, South Africa. By this time the Americans were in the war as the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbour and attacked Malaya and the rumours were that they were heading for the Far East and not the Middle East as first thought.
Japan had entered the war by attacking Malaya on 8th December 1941, destination was now the Far East.
1941/12/13 - The convoy left Cape Town and sailed along the coast of East Africa past Madagascar and arrived Mombassa.
The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers stayed on board the Orizaba at Mombassa for about a fortnight and had Christmas Day, 1941 on board ship with the temperature very high. Compared with Cape Town the stay was not as hospitable and it was good to be on the move again, heading across the Indian Ocean towards India and Bombay.
1941/12/27 - After 17,011 miles at sea, at Bombay the Fusiliers said their goodbyes to the USS Orizaba before they entrained across India into the hills to Deolali.
The camp at Deolali was a mass of huts with every conceivable amenity the garrison troops required, canteens, barber, tailor, etc. There was also a massive parade square with an adjoining sports complex which the RNF football team were eager to try out being unbeaten back in the UK.
In the cool of the evening, the team took to the field, Kicking off at 90F they were thrashed by a local Deolali team 6-0 and it is said the goalkeeper had a very good game, the score could have been much higher.
Army drill was carried out every day the RNF were at Deolali, evening entertainment was a Naafi canteen or gym, and on one night they had a film.
Entrained back to Bombay Docks the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers embarked on to a Free French ship called the Felix Roussell.
Felix Roussell
1942/01/23 - The Sailing out of Bombay with Convoy BM12, including the Empress of Asia (2235 troops), Plancius (987 troops), Devonshire (1673 troops), and escort HMIS Sutlej, the City of Canterbury(detached from DM2), it was apparent the ship was now heading for the Far East to engage the Japanese.
Passing Colombo, (Ceylon), crossing the equator for the third time, the convoy passed through the Sundra Straits between Java and Sumatra and then the Banka Straits.
The morning before the ships were to berth at Singapore, the sky was full of Japanese Bombers heading for the convoy, which had two troop carriers, the ‘Felix Roussell’ and the Empress of Asia. The ‘Empress of Asia’ seemed to be the Japanese prime target at the beginning of the raid and eventually received a direct hit which stopped her engines, making her a sitting target, the bombers hit her again and again. Nets and lifeboats were lowered over her sides but the ship caught fire, and with the fuel leaking into the sea, caused the sea to wear a blanket of flame.
The Japanese now turned on the ‘Felix Roussell’ and bombs hit their target. The guns of the ship found their targets and at least a half-dozen Japanese planes were downed. Four bombs had hit the ship with little damage but there were deaths. After the Japanese had withdrawn, the dead were buried at sea. The ship then continued onto Singapore. The Commanding Officer was awarded the French Croix-de-Guerre medal for the ships part in this action.
1942/02/05 - The Convoy reached the safety of Keppel Harbour, Singapore. Ships were ablaze in the harbour, clouds of smoke drifted across the sky and the smell of fumes was overpowering, this was not the best of greetings. The Japanese had taken most of Malaya in the last three weeks and were only thirty miles away from Singapore City.
1942/02/15 - Singapore surrendered to the Japanese
Japanese PoW
Captured Singapore 15/02/1942
Worked on the Thailand-Burma Railway
Survived the Camps
Died
Aged 93
24th October 2014
Died from bronchial pneumonia
Tribute
Northumberland Gazette
A former Far East prisoner of war, described as a kind family man, has passed away, aged 93.
Syd Brewis died on Monday, October 20, after suffering bronchial pneumonia.
His funeral is tomorrow at Cowpen Crematorium at 1.30pm.
The Second World War veteran, who was Northumberland born and bred, was held captive at the Iruka internment camp following the fall of Singapore in 1942.
He was also put to work on the notorious Burma Railway.
He travelled to the Far East many years later to remember fallen comrades and had a surprise reunion with a Japanese woman whose typewriter he fixed while he was a PoW.
The former Northumberland Fusilier was also a member of the now-defunct Norham and District Far East Prisoners of War club.
His daughter Wendy Rance, 70, from Warwickshire, said: “My father didn’t talk about his war-time experiences for a long, long time.”
“It was only in recent years that he really opened up about it.”
He did attend Alnwick Playhouse as a guest of honour for the film, The Railway Man, but he found that very difficult and had to leave before the end. He suffered permanent ear damage while he was a PoW, but he did make friends with the Japanese after the war and he visited the railway several times.” Paying tribute to her father, she added: “He was one of the kindest people I have ever met. He would have done anything for me.”
“He was never nasty to anybody and an awful lot of people spoke highly of him.”
“They loved to chat to him as he was very interesting and had a very sharp mind.”
Syd was born in Alnwick in 1921 and lived in numerous areas of the county over the years, including Longhoughton and Rennington.
Most recently, he was a resident at Grovewood House Care Home, in South Charlton, before being transferred to Wansbeck General Hospital.
Syd was married to Jeanne for 67 years, having tied the knot in Alnwick.
His beloved wife passed away earlier this year.
They had one grandchild and two great-grandchildren.
Leading a colourful life, Syd worked around the world, including in Gambia and Kuwait, although he had started off as an apprentice at Alnwick’s Reavell Bros.
He enjoyed playing golf and walking and was a dog lover.
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