To honour those who served their country

“In this their finest hour”

Sherwood Foresters-tn

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Private

Ronald Lewis Short

jcross

1919/08/25 - Derby

Son of William and Fanny Short

Sherwood Foresters

1/5 Battalion

 

Service

The 1/5th (Derbyshire) Battalion was a Territorial Army formation originally serving with the 148th Infantry Brigade, part of the 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division. In December 1939, the battalion was reassigned to the 25th Infantry Brigade and saw service with the BEF in France and Belgium in 1940 and being evacuated at Dunkirk. In late 1940, it was again reassigned to the 55th Infantry Brigade, 18th Infantry Division.

orcades4tn

1941/10/30 - The 1/5 Sherwood Foresters left Britain in ‘Orcades’ with Convoy CT.5 from Liverpool to Halifax

Final Destination Unknown

1941/11/08 - Arrived Halifax

USS West Point-3

1941/11/10 - Transferred to USS West Point and departed Halifax in Convoy William Sail 12X

Convoy William Sail 12X 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.

Convoy William Sail 12x

(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.

Ships Front Line Top to Bottom

USS West Point - USS Mount Vernon - USS Wakefield - USS Quincy (Heavy Cruiser)

The convoy passed through the Mona Passage between Puerto Rico and St Domingo.

1941/11/17 - Arrived at Trinidad in glorious sunshine so troops changed to tropical kit, but no shore-leave, left Trinidad after two days of taking on supplies.

1941/11/24 -  The equator was crossed, there was a crossing the line ceremony.

After a month the convoy arrived at Cape Town, South Africa. By this time the 1941/12/08 - 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.

1942/01/18 - The convoy sailed with a British escort, the H.M.S. Exeter and H.M.S. Glasgow with British and Australian destroyers. Destination was the far East. 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 Japanese Planes, there was no damage.

1942/01/29 - The convoy reached 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

 

1942/04/09 - WO 417/41, Casualty List No. 793. Missing

1943/07/29 - WO 417/64, Casualty List No 1199. Previously reported on Casualty List No 793 as Missing now reported Prisoner of War.

 

Japanese PoW

1942/02/15 - Captured Singapore

Changi Camp

Japanese Index Card - Side One

Short-Ronald-Lewis-01

Japanese Index Card - Side Two

Short-Ronald-Lewis-02

1943/03/21 - Transported overland to Thailand with ‘D’ Force (Train 7)

55th Train from Singapore to Thailand

PoW No. IV 11135

Commander Lt-Col. G.G. Carpenter, 1st Battalion, Cambridgeshire Regiment

1943/03/27 - Arrived Thailand

Work Party 4

Transported back to Singapore

1944/09/04 - Transported Rakuyo Maru or Kachidoki Maru to Japan

1944/09/12 -  Both ships sunk by American submarines

Rescued by Japanese and transported to Japan in Kibitsu Maru

1944/09/20 - Arrive at Tokyo 22B - Sakata, Yamagata

New PoW No. 44479

1945/04/14 - Renamed Sendai 9B

1945/09/14 - Liberated Sendai 9B - Sakata, Yamagata, Japan

(Liberated at 9B - 15 Americans, 248 British, 5 Dutch, 26 Australians)

 

1945/10/22 - WO417/98, Casualty List No. 1890. Previously shown on Casualty List No. 1199 as reported Prisoner of War now Not Prisoner of War. Previous Theatre of War, Malaya.

 

Information

Andy Kendall

Andrew Snow

Martyn Fryer

Thailand - Burma Railway

Japanese Transports

Center for Research - Roger Mansell

KEW Files:- WO 392/26, WO 345/47, WO 367/3, WO 361/734, WO 361/734, WO 361/2005, WO 361/1987, WO 361/2064, WO 361/2169, WO 361/2178, WO 361/1742, WO 361/1983,

*

''Our Thanks are for being a Chapter in Life.''

 

 

 

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