Andrews-Victor-Stanley

To honour those who served their country

“In this their finest hour”

7382155

Lance Corporal

Victor Stanley Andrews

1919/11/22 - Born Edmonton, Middlesex

Son of Samuel and Mother (nee Humphrys) Andrews

Occupation Furniture Sales Clerk

Next of Kin Father, Sam Andrews, Unity Road, Enfield, Middlesex

Royal Army Medical Corps

198 Field Ambulance

Service

1940/02/15 - Enlisted

The Field Ambulance was responsible for everyone coming from the Regimental Aid Post. Ambulances were driven by members of the RASC attached to the unit, who were also armed for the protection of the RAMC. The RAMC men did not carry or have access to any weapons and relied solely on the soldiers around them for protection.

Each division had three infantry Field Ambulances with one per Brigade. The 197 and 198 Field Ambulances joined the 196 in the 18th Division. The 198 being attached to the 53 Infantry Brigade along with the 2nd Cambridgeshire Regiment and the 5th and 6th Battalions of the Royal Norfolk Regiment.

The Field Ambulance men were used, in the ships from Britain to Singapore, as medics to the Regiments aboard each ship in the convoy they were in. The Field Ambulance personnel manned the ships hospital, operating theatre, dental surgery and general treatment room. The main body of their work to Halifax was seasickness. They did not travel as one unit, and this was called ‘Trooping’. Therefore it is impossible to identify which ship the Field Ambulance units sailed in as they were spread over the full CT.5 convoy from Britain to Halifax and then the Convoy William Sail 12X from Halifax to Singapore . When they arrived at Singapore the units were once again reformed.

The Field Ambulances travelled on the SS Andes, SS Oronsay, RMS Duchess of Atholl and MV Sobieski leaving Great Britain on the 30th October 1941 with Convoy CT.5.

The Duchess of Atholl

The main body of the 198 Field Ambulance left Liverpool Docks in the Duchess of Atholl, and they headed for the Atlantic in very rough seas which kept the medics occupied treating sea sickness. Halfway across the Atlantic, the English Patrol Vessels were exchanged with USA equivalent vessels who were escorting Merchant ships to Britain and the English ships returned home escorting the Merchant ships, leaving the Convoy CT.5 with an American escort vessels to Halifax.

USS Mount Vernon

On reaching Halifax on the 7th November, the 198 Field Ambulance from the Duchess of Athol boarded the USS Mount Vernon with other 198 Field Ambulance personnel from other ships in the CT.5 convoy, the USS Mount Vernon being assigned to the 53 Infantry Brigade troops.

The voyage with six American troopships, two cruisers, eight destroyers and the aircraft carrier Ranger, the Convoy William Sail 12X was under way.

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

USS 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 travelled down the east coast of America south passing through the Mona Passage between Puerto Rico and St Domingo.

Arrived at Trinidad 17th November in glorious sunshine so troops changed to tropical kit, but no shore-leave, left Trinidad after two days of taking on supplies. The equator was crossed soon after leaving Trinidad on the 24th, there was a crossing the line ceremony.

After a month the convoy arrived at Cape Town, and soon after news reached them that Japan had attacked Pearl Harbour and Malaya on 8th December. Britain and America were now at war with Japan and the rumours were that the convoy was now heading for the Far East and not the Middle East as first thought.

Sailing from South Africa to Mombasa then leaving for Bombay, but orders were received and the Mount Vernon left the Convoy and sped back to Mombasa, the Field Ambulance personnel spending the end of December enjoying shore leave. The other ships in the WS12X convoy had carried on to Bombay as the 18th Division destination had been diverted from Middle East, their new destination was Singapore.

The ship left Mombasa and joined Convoy DM1 (Durban/Malaya One), escorted by the HMS Emerald.

The DM1 Convoy arrived at Singapore on the 13th January 1942, where Japanese air raids greeted them. Disembarked and taken by truck to a camp run by the Straights Settlement Volunteer Force.

The 53 Infantry Brigade was moved on the 16th January into Malaya in trucks with the 198 Field Ambulance in their Ambulances, travelling 100 miles up the West Coast to Muar. Before the Ambulances reached Muar they had orders to go back to the Military Hospital in Singapore, allowing only six medics in two ambulances to go with the 53 Infantry Brigade to Muar. Those who carried onto Muar joined an Australian Advanced Dressing Station in a rubber factory. As the forces further North retreated the 198 Ambulance medics and drivers retreated with them, eventually crossing the causeway back into Singapore on the 29th January. The last troops to cross the causeway being piped back into Singapore were the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, then the causeway was blown.

By the 14th February the Japanese 18th were pressing along the Ayer Raja Road towards Alexandra Barracks and the Imperial Guard had captured the reservoirs and had pressed towards the perimeter defences at Lornie, Adam and Farrer Roads, these were held by the British 53rd, 54th and 55th Brigades. Percival knows the water situation is desperate with the Imperial Guards holding the reservoirs and shows his plans to counter attack, but his fellow commanders think this is futile and with over one million people in the three mile radius of the city, they insist the only thing to do is surrender. Singapore City is bombed throughout the day and many casualties are among the civilian population.

Alexandra Hospital

At 1330 hours on the 14th February Japanese troops are pressing along the Ayer Rajah Road pushing back some Indian troops. Some Japanese Imperial Guards from the Chrysanthemum Division were seen to approach the back of Alexandra Hospital at 1400 hours. Lieutenant Western, who was a medical officer, approached them with a white flag, he was bayoneted to death.

The Japanese then went on a brutal reprisal rampage, killing doctors, patients and even the surgical staff and a patient in the operating room. The rest were tied together and pushed into small rooms measuring 10 feet by 12 feet, at about seventy to a room. Many of them were wounded and could not sit down, throughout that night the nurses were abused, then the rest were taken out in small groups to be killed in the hospital grounds. By the next morning dead littered the hallways and the grounds were full of the bayoneted victims. The hospital had a large Red Cross outside which measured forty feet square and the doctors and nurses all wore red cross brassards. The incident cost the lives of about 340, this included 13 Medics from the 198 Field Ambulance.

When Yamashita heard about this atrocity he had the Japanese responsible killed in the hospital grounds.

Singapore Surrender

Singapore officially surrendered to the Japanese at the Ford Factory on the 15th of February 1942.

1942/03/14 - WO 417/40, Acting Lance Corporal, Casualty List No. 771. Reported ‘Missing’.

1943/03/31 - WO 417/58, Casualty List No. 1097. Previously shown on Casualty List No. 771 as Missing. Now reported a ‘Prisoner of War’.

Japanese PoW

1942/02/15 - Captured Singapore

1942/02/17 - Changi Hospital

Camp Leader Lt-Col. T.C. Collins

PoW No. I 1063

Japanese Index Card - Side One

Japanese Index Card - Side Two

1943/08/28 - Selarang Hospital

Camp Leader Lt-Col. T.C. Collins

1944/05/28 - Kranji Hospital

Camp Leader Lt-Col. T.C. Collins

New PoW No. 1334

1945/11/02 - Liberated

General Seishiro Itagaki, Japanese Commander of Singapore, would not accept the surrender. Plus it gave him time to cover up all Japanese Atrocities in Singapore. The allied naval landing force 'Operation Tiderace' were delayed as it was still understood the Japanese would dispose of all the PoWs in Singapore if they landed. Mountbatten ordered British paratroopers into Singapore to protect the camps. To many of the PoWs in Singapore, those red berets of the paratroopers were the first signs that the war had ended. All this delayed organising the PoWs. It wasn't till the 12th September that Lord Mountbatten accepted the Japanese surrender at the Municipal Building. Hospital cases were the first to leave Singapore 1945/09/10 on the HMHS Koroa. They were soon followed by Repatriation ships which started reaching the UK about the 15th of October 1945. Why many of the liberated PoWs on these ships had November on their Japanese Index cards, I don't know as in other areas of the Far East, PoWs were marked as Liberated at their PoW camps with the correct date. Unless General Seishiro Itagaki did not make the cards available when the camps were liberated.

Liberation Questionnaire filled in by Victor after being liberated

1945/11/05 - WO417/99, Casualty List No. 1902. Previously shown on Casualty List No. 1097 as reported Prisoner of War now Not Prisoner of War. Previous Theatre of War, Malaya.