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3054053
Private
Francis Burnes Myles
Known as Frank on KEW Records
Known as Mickey by Bill Spooner
1913/02/04 - Edinburgh, Scotland
(as he was 15 when he enlisted he gave a false date of birth as above)
Son of John and Elizabeth Myles
Royal Scots
2nd Battalion
1942/01/15 - WO 417/36, Casualty List No. 721. Missing
1942/08/14 - WO 417/48, Casualty List No. 902. Previously shown on Casualty List No. 721 as Missing, 25/12/1941. Now Prisoner of War
Japanese PoW
1941/12/23 - Captured Hong Kong
PoW No. 1162
Japanese Index Card - Side One
Japanese Index Card - Side Two
1942/09/27 - Sailed from Hong Kong in the Lisbon Maru
On the third day at sea Diptheria broke out.
1942/10/01 - A noise like air rushing out of a tyre woke the sleeping PoWs and they realised a torpedo had just missed the ship. A few minutes later there was a loud explosion and the ships engines stopped.
The submarine, USS Grouper SS-214 had attacked and hit the Lisbon Maru.
At 7.30pm the Japanese destroyer ‘Kure’ and the Toyokuni Maru took of all the Japanese except a machine gun crew who had their gun trained on the Battened down hold.
1942/10/02 - Lisbon Maru sunk
Chinese fishing boat picked up Micky (Francis) and Spooner, and after an unsuccessful attempt by Spooner to get the Chinese to help them escape, they were landed at Woosung, Nr. Shanghai.
Interned Shanghai PoW Camp with Spooner as they were both too sick to be transported with the other survivors to Japan.
Taken from Tony Banham’s Book ‘ We Shall Suffer There’
1945, May 5th - Wednesday May 9th - Kiangwan Camp near Shanghai was closed down. With the exception of some twenty-five men (who were sent to Municipal Police Hospital in Shanghai, their number including Heather of the Middlesex) too sick or injured to make the trip, the entire POW population was sent on their way to Japan.
They stayed at a makeshift camp at Fengtai near Beijing, arriving on May 14th at noon, for about a month, then went on to Pusan, Korea for a few days. Almost 1000 strong (though with only 30 or so from Hong Kong) they arrived in Japan in late June 1945, and were sent to the Hakodate camps on the northern island of Hokkaido."
1945/06 - To Hakodate 2B PoW camp, Akahira, Japan
In Hospital
1945/09/16 - Liberated Hakodate 2B
1945/11/01 - WO417/99, Casualty List No. 1900. Previously shown on Casualty List No. 902 as reported Prisoner of War now Not Prisoner of War. Previous Theatre of War, Hong Kong.
Post War
Francis served in the army for another 17 years after the second world war.
Royal Army Medical Corps
In Aden in the Medical Corps stationed in Woolwich and before he died he wrote a letter to the daily mirror trying to track down a Londoner he was captured with by the name of Spooner.
From Left - 1939-45 Star - African Star - Defence Medal - War medal 1939-45 - Palestine 1945-48
Information
Brady Atkinson
Tony Banham’s books:-
‘Not the Slightest Chance’
‘The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru’
‘We Shall Suffer There’
Japanese Transports
KEW:- WO 392/25, WO 361/1744/2, WO 345/37, WO 361/1969, WO 361/1744, CO 980/138,
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