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6141853
Private
John Croker
1917/08/26 - Born Beacon Hill, Farnham, Surrey
Son of Carl and Priscilla Croker
Brother to Vera Winifred, Gertrude and Reginald Carl
Occupation Fitter
Next of Kin William John and Vera Croker, Curzon Road, Bournemouth, Hampshire
East Surrey Regiment
2nd Battalion
British Battalion
Service
When Japan entered the war on the 8th December 1941, by bombing Pearl Harbour, attacking Hong Kong and Malaya , the 2nd Battalion was position at Jitra in Malaya.
By the 11th of December the East Surrey Regiment were confronted by the Japanese commanded by Saeki who decided to attack the troops at Jitra during the night of the 11th and in doing so suffered heavy losses by the allied positioning of their machine guns. Saeki then decided to throw everything he had at the centre of the British defences and succeeded in driving a deep wedge into their positions before he came up against the Leicesters and the 2/2nd Gurkhas who stopped the Japanese attack, the 2nd East Surreys then counterattacked to help the Leicesters. By the 12th December Major-general Kawamura commanding the 9th Infantry arrived at Jitra and sent his 41st Regiment down the eastern side of the main road and the 40th Regiment down the western side to assist Saeki who was still being held by the Leicesters. Murray-Lyons ordered the Leicesters to withdraw behind a stream called the Sungei Jitra, the Leicesters had fought bravely and their good positions were argued but they had to obey the order.
At a meeting just south of Gurun on the 14th December, Murray-Lyon told General Heath that his troops were not in condition to withstand another retreat but if they had to a strong defensive position should be chosen and a concentrated defines should be planned, with transportation for his troops. General Heath agreed that the 11th Division should hold Gurun and the 12th Brigade would hold the Japanese to the east at Kroh and Grik. After a conversation on the phone that night with Percival, Heath got his way and it was agreed that the 11th would retreat a further sixty mile to a defensive position beyond the Perak River delaying the Japanese as long as possible so Penang could be evacuated.
That night the Japanese attacked in numbers and drove a gap in the Punjabi defences and reached the 2nd East Surrey headquarters and then the 6th Brigade headquarters, killing everyone there, when Murray-Lyon saw the damage he immediately ordered a seven mile withdrawal, but finding the numbers of troops left, sent more orders to withdraw behind the Muda River. The remaining troops had some luck as the Japanese had been hit hard as well and they did not follow up on the action giving the remains of the 11th Division time to fall back, giving the British time to evacuate Penang.
The British started evacuating on the 13th but the orders included only British born personnel and civilians, this caused a feeling of despair among the Asiatic population, and anger towards the British for leaving them to fend for themselves at a time when they wanted leadership.
On the 17th December the Kobayashi Battalion of the Japanese 5th Division landed on Penang from small boats and the island was theirs.
Fearing his troops would be cut off by the Japanese troops from Kroh, Percival tried to use the natural obstacle of the Perak River as a defines against the Japanese tanks.
The 2nd Battalion, East Surrey Regiment and 1st Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment were amalgamated to form the ‘British Battalion’ . The two battalions suffered had heavy losses and were amalgamated on 20th December 1941 as the ‘British Battalion’ under the command of Lieut. Col. C.E. Morrison, D.S.O., M.C., of The Royal Leicestershire Regiment.
Yamashita read the situation well and on the 26th December the 4th Guards Regiment crossed the Perak River to the north of Kuala Kangsar through thick jungle and then headed south for Ipoh, trying to outflank the British, they would then proceed to Kuala Lumpur. The British front had now been joined by the 12th Indian Brigade and the badly cut up 6th Brigade had merged into the 15th Brigade, they had now retreated by the 31st December to a strong defensible sight at Kampar where the artillery for once had a clear sighting of the ground between them and the advancing Japanese.
The 2nd Battalion, East Surrey Regiment and 1st Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment were amalgamated to form the ‘British Battalion’ during World War II. The two battalions suffered heavy losses in North Malaya after the Japanese attack in December 1941 and were amalgamated on 20th December 1941 as the British Battalion under the command of Lieut. Col. C.E. Morrison, D.S.O., M.C., of The Royal Leicestershire Regiment. They fought as such till Malaya and Singapore fell to the Japanese on the 15th February 1942.
1942/03/18 - WO 417/40, Casualty List No. 774. Reported ‘Missing’.
1943/09/13 - WO 417/66, Casualty List No.1237. Previously shown on Casualty List No.774 as Missing, 15/02/1942. Now reported a ‘Prisoner of War’.
Japanese PoW
1942/02/15 - Captured Singapore
PoW No. M-1831
Japanese Index Card - Side One
Japanese Index Card - Side Two
1942/10/23 - Transported overland to Thailand
New PoW No. I 2036
At Tha Makham, Thailand
Camp Leader Colonel Toosey
New PoW No. I 5212
On January 28th 1943 Lieutenant Eric Bertram Howard, Captain Eugene Pomeroy and four Privates, from the East Surrey Regiment, Ernest Cleaver 6140958, Norman Dorval 6142762, Charles Richardson 6140498 and John Croker 6141853. escaped from Tha Makham camp in Thailand.
After escaping, Howard and Pomeroy split from the main group.
The four East Surrey Privates were captured and taken back to Tha Makham where Camp Leader Toosey had a breaf talk with them. They were then taken out of the camp towards Chungkai. Shortly afterwards the PoWs in Tha Makham heard shots and knew the four East Surrey men had been executed.
Two weeks later Pomeroy and Howard were captured by Thai Police and handed over to the Japanese who took them back to Tha Makham.
After torture they were put into a lorry and taken out of the camp. They were executed by the Japanese.
Died
Age 26
2nd February 1942
Shot by the Japanese
1946/03/02 - WO417/101, Casualty List No.2000. Previously shown on Casualty List No.774 as Missing, 15/02/1942. Reported Killed in Action.
Loved Ones
Son of Carl and Priscilla Croker
Memorial
Coll. grave 11. A. 7-10.
Chungkai War Cemetery
Thailand
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Pacific Star
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War Medal
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1939-1945 Star
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Far East Medals
FROM A JOURNEY, STORMY AND UNCERTAIN
THIS LOVED ONE RESTS FOR EVERMORE
Information
Andrew Snow - Thailand Burma Railway Centre
Fall of Malaya and Singapore
British Battalion
Japanese Transports
Thailand Burma Railway
Commonwealth War Grave Commission
‘The Colonel of Tamarkan’ by Julie Summers
KEW Files:- WO 361/1426/1, WO 361/2068, WO 392/23, WO 361/2172, WO 345/15, WO 361/1979, WO 304/12, WO 361/1954,
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