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5950407
Private
Harry Douglas Davis
1918/03/15 - Born Sechly, Buckinghamshire
Son of Albert and Mabel Davis
Occupation Driver
Suffolk Regiment
5th Battalion
18th Division
Service
1941/09/09 - Tropical kit was issued and orders were to proceed to Liverpool.
Reno Del Pacifico
1941/10/30 - The 5th Suffolk Battalion together with the 18th Division HQ sailed in the Reno Del Pacifico from Liverpool in Convoy CT.5.
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.
1941/11/10- 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.
Above Photo supplied by the late Maurice Rooney
Vought SB 2U Vindicator Scout Bomber - USS Ranger which was flying an Anti Submarine patrol over the convoy.
Front Line Top to Bottom
USS West Point - USS Mount Vernon - USS Wakefield - USS Quincy (Heavy Cruiser)
Back Row Top To Bottom
USAT Leonard Wood - USS Vincennes (Heavy Cruiser) - USS Joseph T Dickman
(USS Orizaba Ap-24 also sailed with Convoy though not pictured in photo)
The convoy passed through the Mona Passage between Puerto Rico and St Domingo, arriving at Trinidad on 17th November in glorious sunshine so the tropical kit came out, but unfortunately no shore-leave. Left after two days of taking on supplies.
1941/11/24 - The convoy 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.
1941/12/08 - 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.
1941/12/13 - The convoy left Cape Town and sailed along the coast of East Africa past Madagascar and into the Indian Ocean heading for Bombay.
1941/12/27 - After 17,011 miles at sea Bombay was reached.
1942/01/17 - Embarked 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. As Japan had entered the war, 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 Samatra and then the Banka Straits. The convoy was then bombed by Jap Planes, there was no damage.
1942/01/29 - The Wakefield was the first of our convoy to reach 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.
1942/02/15 - Singapore surrendered to the Japanese
Japanese PoW
1942/02/15 - Captured Singapore
PoW No. IV 4889
Japanese Index Card - Side One
Japanese Index card - Side Two
1943/04/27 - Transported overland to Thailand with ‘F’ Force
72 Train from Singapore to Thailand
Camp 4
New PoW No. IV 3604
Diagnosed Colitis
Died
Age 25
1943/08/21
Cause of death Diarrhoea
Place of Death Nikki Camp, Thailand
Cremated at Camp
Loved Ones
Son of Albert Edward and Mabel Fanny Davis, of Bletchley, Buckinghamshire
Memorial
Sp. Mem. 9. M. 9.
Kanchanaburi War Cemetery
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Pacific Star
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War Medal
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1939-1945 Star
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Information
Louise Reynolds
Japanese Transport
Thailand-Burma Railway
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
KEW:- WO 392/23, WO 367/2, WO 361/1153, WO 361/1623, WO 361/2234, WO 361/2201, WO 361/2176, WO 361/1633/2, WO 361/1946, WO 361/2059, WO 361/2025,
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