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Free Travel in London for Injured War Veterans
All war veterans in receipt of a pension under the War Pensions Scheme or the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme will be able to travel for free on Transport for London bus,Tube, tram Docklands Light Railway and London Overground services. The scheme is expected to be introduced from 2nd November 2008.
For further information see www.london.gov.uk/view_press_release.jsp?releaseid=17533
Veterans'Memorial Services in Malayasia
We have been advised of a number of Memorial Services whicjh will take place later this year in Malayasia.
Sandakan, Sabah
15th August 2008 7.00am - a service and wreath laying in the Memorial
Grounds of the Sandakan POW Camp
Kundasang, Sabah
17th August 2008 8.30am - a service and wreath laying in the Memorial
Gardens
Kuching, Sarawak
23rd August 2008 - a memorial service
Kuala Lumpur
9th November 2008 8.00am - a service of remembrance and wreath laying
at the National War Memorial
Labuan
9th November 2008 10.30am multi-religious services by faith and wreath
laying at the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery.
Further information on these events can be obtained from the British High Commission, Kuala Lumpur web site.- follow links to Defence Relations and veterans'memorial services.
COFEPOW continues to welcome new members from all over the UK and even overseas. Click here to view a list of members who have joined since January 2008.
Read the COFEPOW Chairman's Report for 2007 Click here
New Walkway at Hellfire Pass Memorial Museum
We have heard from the Australian Department of Veterans' Affairs - Office of Australian War Graves that due to safety considerations a new walkway to the Cutting at Hellfire Pass is being constructed. This will run from the back of the museum to the Cutting. Once the new walkway is complete the old concrete staircase will be removed. This will open up the view of the Cutting and avoid any potential hazards from the unsafe foundations of the stairs.
HMS Exeter & HMS Encounter Wrecks Found
News has just been released of the discovery of the wreck of the British heavy cruiser HMS Exeter along with one of her two destroyer escorts HMS Encounter. The Exeter and Encounter were sunk on 1st March 1942 in the Java Sea by gunfire and torpedoes of the Japanese Navy. Although the position of the wrecks was discovered in February 2007, this was not made known until the identity of the ships could be confirmed. This was done recently by a survey expedition entitled 'Java Sea Revisited - The HMS Exeter Expedition'.
Further information can be found on the following website www.blackdog-studios.com and follow links to 'Marine' then 'HMS Exeter Wreck Found' then 'Press Release' You will need to be able to open a 'pdf' file.
Cyril & Yvonne's Christmas Lights
Every year COFEPOW members, Yvonne & Cyril Shorten of Norwich, decorate the outside of their house for Christmas. They ask admiring passers-by to make a donation to their chosen charity and as a result over the past few years have collected several hundreds of pounds for COFEPOW. They have just handed over their collection for Christmas 2007 amounting to £254.00.
Well done and thank you to Yvonne & Cyril.
DVD of Kinkaseki Memorial Ceremony 2005
In 2005, the 60th anniversary of liberation, a DVD was produced of the annual Kinkaseki POW Memorial and its sponsorship by the British diplomatic and trade mission to Taiwan. Copies of the DVD are available to Kinkaseki veterans and/or their families in the UK and elsewhere.
If you would like a copy of the DVD please contact :-
Michael Boyden
TASC Taiwan Asia Strategy Committee
Tel: +886 2 2545 4546
Email : mboyden@ms48.hinet.net
COFEPOW continues to welcome new members from all over the UK and even overseas. Click here to view a list of members who have joined since January 2007.
Thailand/Burma Railway at the National Memorial Arboretum
COFEPOW Member Keith Andrews reports
Earlier this year, Roger Price, husband of COFEPOW member Una, noticed that the sleepers on the Thai/Burma railway were deteriorating. Without restoration work this Memorial would have rotted away. Roger offered the crew from the Bluebell Railway to work on the project and my role was to liaise with Paul Kennedy, the Ground Manager at NMA. After assessing what materials would be required. Roger asked me to assist with this project and a date was set for September 10th 2006.
Sunday September 10th was thankfully a bright sunny day, and when I arrived at the Arboretum a little after 10.00am, the 10-man crew from the Bluebell Railway were already hard at work.
The rails had been lifted to one side, sleepers were removed and given a preservation coating. Waterproof material was cut to size to place under each sleeper along with any packing required to level the sleepers. Once that had been completed, the sleepers were re-laid and the rail replaced onto them to metre gauge. The spikes could then be tapped home into pre-drilled holes, this being done to avoid splitting the wood. The rails would also be joined with fishplates.
The team now ran into some unexpected problems, a bow in one of the rails, although set to metre gauge, would force part of the rail to be out from that. The sleepers were another issue, whether to use the side with the original spoke holes rather than drill fresh holes The other issue was which side of the sleepers should be used. Could the holes for the spikes that were originally in the sleepers be utilised rather that drill fresh holes. The fishplates sent over with the rails did not fit them, so the team had to improvise using fishplates they had brought with them.
The problem with the fishplates, plus a few others were overcome and the only time they stopped was for lunch and by 5.00pm nearly all the work was finished. The Memorial plaque was screwed onto one of the sleepers at the end of the rails. The few remaining sleepers that could not be used due to their condition were arranged in such a way that when ballast was put between them, they could form part of a memorial area where Crosses of Remembrance could be placed. This was left with the NMA to complete.
This team of very dedicated unpaid volunteers, with enthusiasm and dedication, worked extremely hard to get the project completed. Paul Kennedy was very pleased with the finished project, as were the team, and it is congratulations to them and Roger for giving up their time to preserve this important Memorial, not only for the FEPOWs but for the COFEPOWs and all who visit the National Memorial Arboretum.
Donation of Books
A quantity of brand new books have been donated by the author, Arthur Lane, to COFEPOW for sale in aid of COFEPOW funds. The books are Lesser Gods, Greater Devils and When You Go Home. For further details and how to purchase please click on title below.
Lesser
Gods, Greater Devils
When You Go Home
.COFEPOW HAS ANOTHER PATRON
Surgeon General, Surgeon Vice Admiral I L Jenkins CVO QHS FRCS
Vice Admiral Ian Jenkins, who was one of the three representatives of the Armed Forces who jointly opened the Far East Prisoners of War Memorial Building, has accepted the invitation to become a patron of our association.
COFEPOW is pledged to honouring the Far East Prisoners of War, most of whom were military men thrown together to survive the best they could. Vice Admiral Jenkins is a Naval Officer and as such will represent one third of the Armed Forces.
Air Marshall Sir John Baird and Lt. Col Kit Stallard represent the other two thirds and we consider it important, as an association that is dedicated to military men, that our patrons should represent the Army, Navy and Air Force.
Terry Waite is of course still a patron who had more than his fair share of prisons and captivity.
We are delighted to welcome our new patron and although we make few demands or requests it is always nice to have them present when we hold a special function.
Radio Norfolk's Documentary on Carol's Father's Diary
You can now hear this on the Radio Norfolk web site via the link below (Realplayer required)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/norfolk/content/articles/2005/08/12/features_vj_day_look_east_feature.shtml
COFEPOW MERCHANDISE
Items for sale by COFEPOW bearing the Charity's Logo can be viewed
on the Web Site.
FREEDOM of INFORMATION ACT 2000 and the MOD
On the 1st January 2005 the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOI) comes fully into force. This requires public authorities (including the Ministry of Defence (MOD) ), on request, to make available to the general public information they hold in their records and files.
The MOD's response to the Act and details of their systems for making the information available are described on their web site www.foi.mod.uk .
SALE OF BOOKS TO AUGMENT COFEPOW BUILDING FUND
A number of brand-new copies of the 2nd and last edition of James Bradley's book Towards the Setting Sun have been donated to COFEPOW for sale. This is a much sought-after book. For further information click here :- Books - Towards the Setting Sun.
COFEPOW EXHIBITION AT DISS
Over
200 people attended a successful FEPOW exhibition at Roydon Village Hall,
near Diss, Norfolk on Sunday 25th July organised by COFEPOW in conjunction
with Vic Brown who displayed his large collection of artefacts and documents
from the Far East War.
Much of the organisation was undertaken by local COFEPOW members, Tonie and Peggy Harold of Diss and Richard and Barbara Ford of Long Stratton. Other members assisted with the serving of refreshments etc.
The event raised over £600 which will be a great boost to the final
£50,000 needed to fund COFEPOW's project to build a FEPOW educational/memorial
building at the National Memorial Arboretum.
COFEPOW Exhibition at Houses of Parliament
During the week commencing 5th July 2004 Cofepow mounted a successful exhibition at the Houses of Parliament displaying elements of the FEPOW Story and detailing the aims and achievements of COFEPOW including the proposed building at the National Memorial Arboretum. Great interest was shown by all those who saw the exhibition including Members of Parliament, employees and visitors.
The exhibition was manned by volunteer COFEPOW members from the London area to whom many thanks are due.
The photograph shows COFEPOW members, Jo and George Worrall, with Paul Keetch MP, shadow Defence Secretary for the Liberal Democrats and is taken from Mr Keetch's web site www.paulkeetch.libdems.org.uk/news/473.html where Mr Keetch has some encouraging words to say about COFEPOW and its project.
EILEEN'S GIFT TO COFEPOW
When one thinks of Changi Gaol and all those who were unfortunate enough to have been interned there, one would not think that any good could possibly come out of it, but that's where you would be wrong.
One of our Norwich members, Eileen Page was a young girl when, at the tender age of eleven, her father, Tom Harris, who had been working in Singapore at the outbreak of war, was imprisoned in Changi. Her mother was also imprisoned in the women's section with their seven children - Eileen was the second from eldest.
With her father held in a separate part of the prison, Eileen rarely saw him and after about 18 months, with her mother, she was moved out of Changi into the Sime Road Camp. Although in some respects the huts of this camp were better than the stone walls of the gaol the general conditions and lack of food and medication were every bit as bad. One day Eileen with a friend discovered an underground sewer, she crawled along to see where it went. Eileen crept out of a drain cover to find herself close to the Japanese quarters and their food store. Her family and friends were being starved to death so she stole as much as she could carry and crawled back. That was the first of several such journeys until she was caught and severely punished.
Eileen's parents survived the war, but both had suffered badly due to ill treatment and starvation, never fully recovered and both died in 1949. Eileen and her brothers and sisters were then sent to England to the home of her father's family and were eventually fostered out.
Until 1942 the Harris family had lived a very happy family life but, in Eileen's words, her whole life was torn apart and completely destroyed when the Japanese invaded Singapore. Her 3½ years of imprisonment have always been a tragic memory, but she does not live on bitterness and a short while back she came up with an idea which has brought its own rewards. She calculated how many days she was held in captivity - it amounted to 1009 days and began saving to donate to the COFEPOW Fepow Building Fund a pound for every day she was held a prisoner.
At
the COFEPOW Annual General meeting on the 19th October 2003 Eileen presented
a cheque to the Fund for £1009. The members present were as thrilled
with her achievement as Eileen was to carry it out. It gave Eileen great
pleasure to do this knowing that some good was to come from evil and that
her gift will assist in the realisation of the Fepow Memorial Building.
Thank You Eileen for your wonderful gesture, it is accepted with deep
gratitude.
Eileen presenting Carol Cooper with her gift of £1009 for the
Fepow Memorial Building
An article from the Singapore Straits Times 12th December 2003
Don't let Force Z deaths be forgotten
By David Boey
This Wednesday marked the 62nd anniversary of the sinking of the British battleship, HMS Prince of Wales, and a battle-cruiser, HMS Repulse, by Japanese bombers.
The Prince of Wales - in its time, one of the most powerful warships in Britain's Royal Navy - was sent to the bottom of the sea off Kuantan on Dec 10, 1941, just two days after setting sail from Sembawang Naval Base as part of Force Z.
More than 760 British sailors and dozens of Japanese aircrew lost their
lives in that battle.
The encounter was a turning point in naval warfare, for it marked the
first time air power triumphed over heavily armoured warships free to
manoeuvre in the open sea. Yet, despite its significance in military as
well as Singapore history, this battle appears to have disappeared from
the collective consciousness of Singaporeans.
In contrast, sailors who served with Force Z have held memorial services every year since the end of World War II to mark the tragic occasion.
Such apathy is unfortunate, as there are many lessons Singaporeans can learn by analysing this ship-versus-plane battle. More importantly, Singaporeans' apparent forgetfulness of how British and Commonwealth forces fought to protect Malaya exposes our relative lack of historical awareness.
Though the number of Commonwealth survivors who fought in what was then British Malaya continues to dwindle each year, associations set up by servicemen who served here are a reminder to us not to forget the past.
Take Singapore Prison Service's change of heart this October about demolishing Changi Prison. Instead, prison authorities pledged to preserve a small part of the jail for public display.
Changi Prison won its dark place in history after British forces surrendered Fortress Singapore to the Japanese Imperial Army on Feb 15, 1942. Some 50,000 people - civilians as well as Allied prisoners of war (POW) - were crammed into the prison and its surrounding area following the surrender.
Living conditions were atrocious. Many POWs did not survive their imprisonment or emerged from incarceration in a terribly emaciated state.
More than six decades after the end of World War II, many of Changi's former POWs or their surviving families are not about to let Singapore forget the ordeal they suffered.
The about-turn by the prison authorities appears to have been triggered by the concerns of historically minded people here and abroad that a vital physical link with World War II would vanish if Changi Prison were razed.
As an estimated 15,000 Australian soldiers were held there during the war, it's understandable that Australians are watching the prison's fate with more than just a passing interest.
At least half a dozen Australian Cabinet ministers joined the chorus of former Australian POWs asking that Changi Prison be saved, including Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson, who reportedly raised the issue with Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong a few months ago.
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, too, was one of those who urged Singapore to preserve the prison. His father spent three years as a POW in Changi.
If it had been improperly handled, the Changi Prison episode could have soured ties between Singapore and Australia. A workable compromise appears to have been struck between the need to modernise the Changi Prison complex, and calls to preserve a link with the prison's notorious past.
It is instances like these that demonstrate how a keen sense of historical awareness can alert authorities here as to why a seemingly mundane issue like prison redevelopment can elicit emotional responses in Australia.
To be sure, one cannot expect all Singaporeans to be walking encyclopaedias of historical fact. But a keener appreciation of history - especially by institutions overseeing historically significant places here - would help assure friends overseas that Singapore is not about to blot out key buildings or places in the name of urban development.
Indeed, a willingness to engage overseas interest groups, like POW associations, could debunk impressions of Singaporeans as an arrogant lot who are insensitive to others.
One should also not write off the tourism potential of the vast pool of foreigners who served with British forces here for more than four decades till the British withdrew in 1971. There are many servicemen who fondly remember their days at Royal Air Force airfields in Changi, Seletar, Tengah, or at the vast Royal Navy base at Sembawang.
Coming back to Force Z, the hulks of HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse, which are war graves, are likely to rust away in a decade or so. It would be a fitting tribute to these warships - as well as to their gallant destroyer escorts, HMS Express, Electra, Tenedos and the Australian destroyer HMAS Vampire - if the authorities did something to mark or commemorate their last port of call at what is now the West Wall of Sembawang Shipyard.
Nothing of that sort has been done in the past 60 years. Doing so would at least signal that the efforts of Force Z, though in vain, will not be forgotten by Singaporeans.
The National Memorial Arboretum, Alrewas, Staffordshire
With effect from 11th November 2003 the control of the Arboretum is being taken over by the Royal British Legion. From that date there will be no admission charge to enter the Arboretum as the RBL consider that as a place of remembrance it should be freely accessible to all. In every other respect the Arboretum will continue to operate as before with Mrs Jackie Fisher as Site Manager.
Tree Dedication at National Memorial Arboretum - Bedfordshire Yeomanry
On the 30th January 2003 relatives of FEPOWs, who had been in the Bedfordshire Yeomanry, planted a tree and placed a plaque at the Arboretum in Alrewas, Staffordshire as a lasting reminder to current and future generations of the suffering of their loved ones. On a bitterly cold day children and grandchildren of the FEPOWs placed soil around the tree following a dedication service led by David Childs in the Arboretum chapel. COFEPOW members present were Amanda Eppy, Colin Glendinning, Roger Vearncombe, Dorothy Webb-Davies and Keith Andrews.
Amanda, Roger and Dorothy with the tree and the plaque
COFEPOW Annual Membership Subscriptions
As a result of the rising costs of administration COFEPOW subscriptions are being increased to £10.00 per individual or £15.00 per couple with effect from the 1st March 2003. The Trustees regret the necessity for these increases but they are the first since the formation of the Association in 1997.
Message from Tony Banham regarding Hong Kong War Diary Web Site
I am pleased to announce that - finally - the first version of :-
is finished. It's not perfect by far (the footnotes don't work properly, and much detail is still missing), but the 'Search Garrison' facility allows the current 15,000 short records on individual personnel (of the garrison and the non-Chinese civilian population) to be accessed by relatives and researchers.
This message has been sent to the 169 people who have so far shown interest in the project, and I would be grateful if those maintaining websites or email lists relating to the subject would mention it - if you think it appropriate - (the last thing anyone wants is more spam...)
Only two or three emails a year will be sent to this list, but if anyone wants to be removed from it, simply reply and tell me.
Tony Banham
ARMY RECORDS
The address for these has moved to:-
Army Personnel Centre
Historic Disclosures
Mailpoint 400
Kentigern House
65 Brown Street
GLASGOW
G2 8EX
Telephone: 01412 243030 (but all requests for records must be in writing)
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