Ashcroft-Albert

To honour those who served their country

“In this their finest hour”

7640335

Private

Albert Ashcroft

1919/10/24 - Born Bolton, Lancashire

Son of Thomas and Fanny Ashcroft

Occupation Warehouse Storeman

1940/08/01 - Enlisted

Royal Army Ordnance Corps

14 Sec. Command Troops

1942/03/27 - WO 417/40, Casualty List No. 782. Missing.

1943/03/21 - WO 417/58, Casualty List No. 1097. Previously shown on Casualty List No. 782 as Missing. Now reported Prisoner of War.

Japanese PoW

1942/02/15 - Captured Singapore

Changi Camp

PoW No. I 1094

Commander Col. E.B. Holmes, MC

Japanese Index Card - Side one

Japanese Index Card - Side Two

*Date*	*Camp*	*Commander*
*1942/02/15*	*Changi, Singapore*	*Col. E.B. Holmes, MC*
	*PoW No. I 1094*
*1942/06/15*	*Coldecott Estate, Singapore*	*Col. E.B. Holmes, MC*
	*New PoW No. 1407*
*1942/08/26*	*Changi, Singapore*	*Col. E.B. Holmes, MC*
*1945/07/03*	*No. 12 Working Camp, Singapore*	*Maj. H.M. Ford, MC*
*1945/08/26*	*Changi, Singapore*	*Col. E.B. Holmes, MC*

1945 - Albert worked on the Funk Holes of Singapore with work party X10. These tunnels are believed to have two uses, the defence of Singapore and also, following the orders from Tokyo, if the Allies landed in Singapore the PoWs should be disposed of in the tunnels - Killed.

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

Repatriation

1945/09/11 - Departed Singapore in the ‘Monowai’

Via Colombo - Bombay - Adabaya (Suez Canal) - Gibraltar

1945/10/08 - Arrived Liverpool

Bolton Journal and Guardian

12th October 1945

At Liverpool

Within two minutes of arrival at Army the transit camp at Huyton, near Liverpool, on Monday afternoon, I located Pte. Albert Ashcroft, RAOC., Leslie St., Bolton, writes a “Journal and Guardian” representative who witnessed the memorable disembarkation of the 650 Service personnel from the New Zealand motor ship ‘Monowai’.

Pte. Ascroft was the centre of a happy group of ex-Japanese prisoners having an ample tea, and his companions soon informed me that Joe Isherwood of Tonge Moor, and George Holt, of Holliwell were in the same “mob”. It was impossible to locate them in the time available , but at another table was Sig. John Cocker, also of Bolton - he preferred not to give his address as did several other men with local associations. Later however Pte. Ashcroft talked a little. He said he spent practically the whole of his captivity in working parties in Singapore from February 1942 and “it was pretty rough in spots. The only thing the Japanese gave us was plenty of sunshine”.

But the lads from Bolton and district showed a wonderful sprit, and it was a great day when the Navy arrived and the liberated prisoners got the “Bolton Evening News” and “Bolton Journal and Guardian” at Changi Gaol. They all crowded round in their eagerness to get a glimpse of home-town news and particularly of the football results.

Pte. Ashcroft was anxious that relatives of James Sanders, Pimlott Rd: Joseph Moulden, Breightmet Drive, and David Platt of Fanworth, should know that they are all in good health and will be home.

1945/11/15 - WO417/99, Casualty List No. 1911. Previously shown on Casualty List No. 1097 as reported Prisoner of War now Not Prisoner of War. Previous Theatre of War, Malaya.