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2363196
Signalman
Raymond Darrall
1919/04/06 - Born Cannock, Staffordshire
Son of Alfred and Martha Ann Darrall
Next of Kin Parents, A and M A Darrall, Allport Street, Cannock, Staffordshire
Royal Corps of Signals
18th Division Signals
‘D’ Section
Service
Raymond enlisted September 1939.
The 18th Division left Britain on 30th October 1941, embarking with tropical gear, as it was believed their destination would be the desert of the Middle East.
The many ships in Convoy C.T.5 carried mainly East Anglian Territorials from Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire but there were also the 5th Beds and Herts, 1/5 Sherwood Foresters, 9th Royal Northumberland Fusiliers and the 5th Loyals from Lancashire. They were accompanied by their supporting units which included Sections from the Royal Corps of Signals.
The journey was rough and seasickness on a crowded boat has its disadvantages but it can also help bind men together and spirits were high not knowing what lay ahead. Halfway across the Atlantic the small British escort was changed to a large American force including an aircraft carrier the Lexington, two heavy and two light cruisers and destroyers.
The convoy arrived at Halifax, Nova Scotia , Canada, on the 8th November, the troops were only ashore a few minutes before being transferred to American liners.
On the 10th November the American Liners left Halifax with Convoy William Sail 12X, destination unknown, still believed to be Middle East.
Above Photo of Convoy William Sail 12X 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:-
USAT Leonard Wood - USS Vincennes (Heavy Cruiser) - USS Joseph T Dickman
(USS Orizaba Ap-24 also sailed with Convoy though not pictured in photo)
Japan entered war by bombing Pearl Harbour, invading Malaya, Hong Kong and the Philippines on the 8th December 1941, which changed the destination of the 18th Division to Singapore in the Far East.
The Japanese had taken advantage of the War in Europe to gain profitable land in the Far East.
The Entry of Japanese into WWII
The Japanese had forced the Thai Prime Minister Phibun into an alliance with Japan, thus Japanese troops were allowed to enter Thailand.
Lt. General Yamashita wrote in his diary:-
0800 hours. Entered the Governor’s residence and ordered the police to be disarmed.
1300 hours. Succeeded in reaching a compromise agreement with the Thailand government.
2300 hours. Formalities completed allowing us to pass through Thailand.
Japanese Landings on the Thai-Malaya Border
Early on the 8th December Japanese troops under Tomoyuki Yamashita were prepared to land troops at Singora and Patani in Thailand, and also Kota Bharu in Malaya.
At 2.15am Yamashita received a message saying Major General Takumi had succeeded in the landing.
Yamashita’s staff busied themselves for the attack on Malaya. Colonel Masanobu Tsuji, chief planner of the Japanese 25th Army, sent troops dressed as civilians across the Malayan border to take control of vital bridges before the British could destroy them.
There had been no reaction by British Command to a Hudson aircraft reporting a convoy heading towards the Malayan/Thailand coasts, this put Singapore in a vulnerable position as no blackout was in force and the city gas lights were still on.
The first Japanese air attack took place on Singapore at 4.15am on the Chinese quarter, after the aircraft had dropped their bombs they machine gunned the streets for two hours, killing sixty-one and injuring 133.
It was now that Air Chief Marshal Sir Robert Brooke-Popham, Commander-in-Chief Far East, decided that the defence plan code named ‘Matador’ would not work but he could not get in touch with Lt. General Percival, General Officer Commanding Malaya, as he was out of his office.
The Kota Bharu airfield was prematurely evacuated in panic. Rumours were the source of the panic, somebody wrongly reporting Japanese troops on the fringe of the airfield. Nothing was destroyed in the rush to leave, any vehicle was used to escape, leaving a workable airfield with bombs and fuel intact. Without air cover the Indian troops were up against it. The 1st Hyderabads wanted to leave, in trying to stop them Lt-Col. C.A. Hendricks was shot and killed, a promised inquiry into this incident never materialised.
When eventually Lt. General Percival, was contacted, he phoned Major-General Murray-Lyon and told him to defend Jitra with his 11th Indian Division, it was now 1300 hours, ten hours after the Japanese had landed. This late decision had caused many problems as the troops were being held in positions to launch Matador and not defend a line in Malaya.
After the war it was reported that Matador would have only been successful if launched on the 6th when the Japanese convoy was first sighted.
The Japanese Troops were battled hardened, getting behind the defensive lines, and the Allied forces had to retreat faced with the Japanese at their front and rear positions. By the 31st January 1942 the defending troops were forced back across the causeway separating Malaya and Singapore and the Causeway was blown.
Due to Japanese activity on the island of Pulau Ublin, Percival believed the Japanese would attack from there, therefore the newly arrived 18th Division troops were ordered to defend the North East coastline of Singapore. The Japanese had bluffed Percival and the Japanese attacked on the night of 8th February on the North West coastline, close to the blown Causeway, soon gaining a foothold, and on the 9th February the 8th Australian Division were pushed back.
Troops from the 18th Division were repositioned close to Bukit Timah, but on the 15th of February, Percival surrendered Singapore to Yamashita.
1942/02/15 - Singapore surrendered to Japanese
Raymond had escaped from Singapore by sea to Sumatra before the surrender.
1942/05/06 - WO 417/43, Casualty List No. 861. Rported ‘Missing’.
1942/12/24 - WO 417/55, Casualty List No. 1015. Previously reported Missing on Casualty List No. 816, 15/02/1942. Now reported a ‘Prisoner of War’.
1945/11/22 - WO417/99, Casualty List No. 1917. Previously reported on Casualty List No. 1015 as Prisoner of War. Previous Theatre of War, Malaya. Reported ‘Died on the 21st August 1945’.
Japanese PoW
1942/03/17 - Captured Padang, Sumatra
PoW Camps were Padang and Medan, then the Sumatra Railway.
PoW No. I 65
Japanese Index Card - Side One
Japanese Index Card - Side Two
In October 1944 PoWs at Medan were entrained to Bukit Tinngi in Central Sumatra. They were to work building a Railway from Pakanbaru to Moeara to join the tracks from Padang.
Train journey from Medan to Bukit Tinngi
New PoW No. I 3535
About 5,000 Allied military personnel, who were Japanese PoWs, mainly Dutch and English, but including a little over 200 Australians and 15 Americans, were engaged in the building of a narrow-gauge railway across the central portion of the island of Sumatra, in what is now known as Indonesia.
The northern terminal of the railway was the city of Pekanbaru (new spelling), therefore the project became known as the Pekanbaru Rail Line.
Indeed death was no stranger there. They were overworked, underfed, provided with little medicine, and subjected to constant physical and mental abuse by our Japanese overseers.
A hospital for Malaria, Dysentery, Pellagra, and Beri Beri patients, existed in name only. It was simply a dilapidated bamboo-framed, thatched roof barracks where the sick were placed to await their eventual death. Once in a while, a man recovered his health and returned to the daily camp routine, but it was not the rule.
When felling trees making space for the rail tracks, they worked in teams of three, an axe man, and two carriers. Rubber trees grow tall and straight. The wood is fairly soft - and wet. Each of them became quite adept at felling a tree, one man chopped while the other two went in and out of the camp. The railway workers carried their mid-day meal with them when they left in the morning. The sole, daily item of wear was a Japanese-style loin cloth, but Burlap bags were used to protect the log carriers shoulders and also to hide the occasional dried fish, fruit, or vegetables purchased from passing native vendor. (Such food was available, but the Japanese would not buy it or requisition it, and actually attempted to prevent us from "smuggling" it into camp.)
Raymond died from Pneumonia shortly after the Japanese surrender on the 15th August 1945, at Camp 9. which was 2km South West, near Logas, Liouw, Sumatra.
Died
Age 26
21st August 1945
Cause of death Pneumonia
Loved Ones
Parents: Alfred and Martha Ann Darrall, of Rochester, Kent
Memorial
2. B. 7.
Jakarta War Cemetery
Indonesia
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Pacific Star
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War Medal
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1939-1945 Star
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Far East Medals
Information
Catherine Williams
Convoy William Sail 12X
18th Division Signals
The Fall of Malaya and Singapore
The Sumatra Railway
Commonwealth War Graves
‘POW on the Sunatra Railway’ by John Geoffrey Lee, edited by Christine and Eddie Bridges
KEW Files:- WO 304/7, WO 392/23, WO 361/2006, WO 361/1946, WO 361/2189,
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