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1449137
Sergeant
Thomas Owen Jones
(Known as Owen)
Birth date 14th March 1910
Royal Artillery
77th HAA Regiment
Service
Owen was offered a commission to stay in UK and organise supplies for some of the officers catering places - because of his background before the war in grocery and provisions. His Colonel - Colonel Humphries of 77th RA however insisted he went with the regiment.
Left for the Far East November 1941.
Under the command of Colonel Humphries.
Arrived too late to join in the battle for Singapore and he was captured in Java when the Dutch capitulated.
Incarcerated by Japanese in Java.
Transported from Java to work on the Thailand-Burma Railway.
Survived the camps.
Returned to South Wales (Cardiff) November 1945.
Post War
After liberation Owen worked and lived in Rhymney Valley South Wales until his retirement he worked as a grocer for the Cooperative Retail Society.
Died
19th January 1987
Aged 76
My Far East POW
Tribute to Owen
by his son
Mike Carter Jones
The song was written and played by myself for both Armistice and my 70th Birthday.
Being a FEPOW son has been a very deep experience - never forgotten and one which comes back strongly every November because of the events in that month over 70 years.
Play Tribute Below
If the file does not download please click here
(The music file is 4 megs so will take time to download)
Verse
In November 41 a soldier went away
His son was born three days before
They had no time to play
Soldiers go when they are told
And where – they have no say
So in November 41 my father went away.
In November 45 a soldier came back home
His little boy was waiting on the platform – four years old
No one knew where he had been
Or the things he’d done
But in November 45 my father came back home
There were no flags for his return
The war had long been won
The part he played so far away
Could not for years be known
In his first years back we simply didn’t have a clue
What caused the demons in his head
The doctors sought a cure
For when old comrades came around
They’d laugh until they ached
Then all that night and many more
He’d sweat and cry and shake
They urged him back to do the job
He’d done before the war
Even though he didn’t want a shop life any more
No army now he had no choice
His family had to live
And the grateful country he had served had no support to give
There were no flags for his return
The war had long been won
And the part he played so far away
Could not for years be known
In November 82 his dear wife passed away
She who’d waited years for news of him from far away
Four years more he lived alone
I think he was at peace
A soldier who had done his best
And a gentleman at ease.
On a bright November day Some years after he’d died
We visited that Far East place
Where he’d suffered but survived
All was beauty all was peace
No tracks no guards any more
We shed our tears for those war time years
And for those who never came home
There were no flags for his return
The war had long been won
And the part he played so far away
Is only just now known
Mike Carter Jones
Llano de los Olleres,
Albox Almeria Spain
Oct 10th 2011
verse
/Bm E /Bm E /Bm E /A /
/Bm E /Bm E /Bm E /A /
/D E/A F#m7/D C#7/F#m7 /
/F /A F#m/F E /A /
chorus
/Bm E7/Amj F#m7/Bm E7/ Amj7 /
/Abm7 C# /F#m7 /B7sus B7/E7sus E7/
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