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1895822
Sapper
George Barber Cowan
1916/03/19 at 9am - Born 10 Cuddyside, Peebles, Scotland
Son of Robert Tod Cowan and Barbara Wilkinson Cowan
(Fathers occupation, Tweed Warehouseman. WW1 - 1/8 Battalion, Royal Scots, British Expeditionary Force)
George’s occupation Bricklayer
1940/04/11 - Enlisted
Next of kin - Father, R. T. Cowan, 4 Dalatho Street, Peebles
Royal Engineers
560 Field Company
18th Division
54th Infantry Brigade
Service
Tropical kit was issued and orders were to proceed to Liverpool.
1941/10/30 - Sailed with Convoy CT.5 from Liverpool
USS Wakefield
Arriving at Halifax 8th November the men were then moved across to the transport ship tied along side, the 27,000 ton Wakefield.
On November 10th the voyage continued with six American troopships, two cruisers, eight destroyers and the aircraft carrier Ranger, the Convoy William Sail 12X was under way, destination still unknown.
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, we left after two days of taking on supplies. On 24th we crossed the equator, there was a crossing the line ceremony.
Crossing the Line Ceremony Certificate
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 the convoy was now heading for the Far East and not the Middle East as first thought.
On December 13th the convoy left Cape Town and sailed along the coast of East Africa past Madagascar and into the Indian Ocean heading for Bombay. After 17,011 miles at sea Bombay was reached December 27th 1941.
Embarked on 17th January back onto the Wakefield. The convoy sailed the next day with a British escort, the H.M.S. Exeter and H.M.S. Glasgow with British and Australian destroyers. Japan had entered the war by attacking Malaya on 8th December 1941, destination was the far East. The Prince of Wales and the Repulse had both been sunk by the Japanese off Malaya. 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 convoy was then bombed by Jap Planes, there was no damage, the Wakefield was the first of our convoy to reach the safety of Keppel Harbour, Singapore on the 29th January 1942. 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.
The 18th Division was moved to hold the north-eastern part of the island near the Changi Peninsula.
On the 5th February the Empress of Asia bringing military supplies, including ammunition for the 18th Division, was hit by bombs and went aground on the Sultan Shoal, this did not help the now desperate situation the battalion was in. The following days saw heavy bombing and bombardment from the Japanese. On Sunday the 8th February, using makeshift rafts, the Japanese 18th Division and 5th Division began the movement across the Straits separating Malaya and north-western end of Singapore. The Australian troops who faced them didn't get the artillery support they needed, and shielded by the dense smoke, the Japanese soon got a foothold, the fighting was soon hand to hand.
1942/02/15 - The situation on the island was now very critical with many troops over run and the enemy threatening to take control of the water supply. The end came very quickly, at noon a car travelled down the Bukit Timah road with a white flag above a Union Jack, Singapore had capitulated.
1942/04/07 - WO 417/41, Casualty List No. 791.. Reported ‘Missing’.
1943/05/07 - WO 417/60, Casualty List No 1128. Previously posted on Casualty List No 791 as Missing now reported ‘Prisoner of War’.
Japanese PoW
1942/02/15 - Captured Singapore
1942/02/18 - Changi
Commander Major Harper, RE
1942/08/27 - Robert’s Hospital, Changi
Commander Lt-Col. Holmes
PoW No. 2155
Japanese Index Card - Side One
Japanese Index Card - Side Two
1943/03/23 - Transported overland to Thailand with ‘D’ Force, train 9
58th train to Thailand
Commander Lt-Col. G.G. Carpenter, 1st Cambridgeshires
Group 4 23 (Takke) work battalion
Under Lt-Col. Carpenter, 1st Cambridgeshire
New PoW No. II 16872
Camps in Thailand:
1943/04/03 - Kinsiayok, 170km from Nong Pladuk
Commander Colonel Lilly
Early 1944 - Tha Sao, 125km from Nong Pladuk
New PoW No. II 5053
1944/07/18 - Konkoita, 264km from Nong Pladuk
Attached Group 2
Commander Lt-Col. MacKellar, 118 Field Regiment, RA
1944/10/05 - Kree (Kui Tea), 185km from Nong Pladuk
Commander Lt-Col. MacKellar, 118 Field Regiment, RA
Early 1945 - Nakhon Pathom, 15km South of Nong Pladuk
1945/08/30 - Liberated Nakhon Pathom, Thailand
Liberation Questionnaire
1945/10/03 - WO417/97-2, Casualty List No. 1874. Previously reported on Casualty List No. 1128 as Prisoner of War now Not Prisoner of War. Previous Theatre of War, Malaya.
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Pacific Star
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War Medal
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1939-1945 Star
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Post War
On George’s return home he learnt that his mother had died in hospital 1942.
1947 - George VI visit to Peebles with the Queen Mother, princess Elizabeth and Margaret, the Duke of Edinburgh is in the background.
Robert Cowan (George’s father) is pictured on the far right.
Information
Julia Thompson
Glenda Godfrey
Andrew Snow - Thailand Burma Railway Centre
Convoy William Sail 12X
Japanese Transports
Thailand-Burma Railway
Liberation Questionnaire
KEW Files:- WO 361/2172, WO 345/12, WO 367/2, WO 361/1954, WO 361/1979, WO 361/2196, WO 392/23, WO 361/2191, WO 361/2070, WO392/23, WO 361/1987,
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