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4047 (2041)
Major
Geoffrey William Pagden Fennell
1899/06/14 - Born Wakefield, Yorkshire
Son of Richard Holdsworth and Florence Louisa Fennell
1899/07/08 - Baptised Sandal, St Helen, Yorkshire (West Riding)
Occupation Regular Officer
Next of Kin - Wife, G, Fennell, Military Accounts, Wanowrie, Poona, India
Royal Artillery
5th Field Regiment
11 Indian Division
Service
1919/12/17 - Promoted to 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Artillery
1921/12/17 - Promoted to Lieutenant, (mentioned in London Gazette)
1932/12/17 - Promoted to Captain
1938/08/01 - Promoted to Major and Temporary Lieutenant Colonel
At the Fall of Singapore Geoffrey was a Temporary Lieutenant Colonel
1946/01/11 - Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel
1946/09/12 - Mentioned in Dispatches - 68/Gen/8339/5A
1947/02/02 - Duty in London as Lieutenant Colonel
1942/03/23 - WO417/2, Casualty List No.778. Rank:- Temporary Lieutenant Colonel. Reported ‘Missing’.
1942/12/19 - WO417/004, Casualty List No. 1011. Previously shown on Casualty List No. 778 as reported Missing, 15/02/1942. Rank:- Temporary Lieutenant Colonel. Now reported a ‘Prisoner of War’.
Japanese PoW
1942/02/15 - Captured Singapore
PoW No. M-7113
Japanese Index Card - Side One
Japanese Index Card - Side Two
1942/10/20 - Transported oversea in England Mary with ‘Special Party’
The Special Parties were made up from officers, the Japanese taking the leadership away from the ranks.
1942/11/14 - Arrive Taiwan
New PoW No. IV 944
Camps in Taiwan:-
Taihoku No. 6
Shirakawa
During one particularly bad period in solitary he prayed and made a pact with God that if he survived he would become a priest and he kept his word.
1945/04/25 - Transported to Korea in Fukuji Maru Ferry
Train to Manchuria
1945/04/29 - Arrive Manchuria
Mukden (Hoten)
New PoW No. 2034
1945/09/17 - WO417/9, Casualty List No.1860. Previously shown on Ca![]() sualty List No.1011 as Prisoner of War Malaya. Rank:- Temporary Lieutena![]() nt Colonel. Now ‘Not Prisoner of War’.
Post War
Geoffrey became Rev. Geoffrey Fennell, an Anglican Priest at St Mary's Church, Selling in Kent.
By Mike Tebbutt
I first met Geoffrey in 1954 when I was 11 yrs old and my parents moved from Canterbury to Selling. Geoffrey was the Anglican Vicar of St Mary's Church in Selling. I got to know him through Church. He was a lovely, down to earth man who was dearly loved by all the villagers. He became a good friend of my father, another WW2 vet, and they exchanged a few war stories.
During the period he was a POW he suffered many atrocities at the hands of his Japanese captors, including beatings, bamboo splinters inserted beneath his fingernails, and solitary confinement in a hole in the ground covered by sheets of iron that became like ovens under the hot sun. He endured these "punishments" many times whilst he was a POW. He was not only punished for his own alleged wrong doings but also for those of his men, as being their CO he was held responsible for their discipline. During one particularly bad period in solitary he prayed and made a pact with God that if he survived he would become a priest and he kept his word.
When I knew Geoffrey he looked at least 20 yrs older than his actual age, the result no doubt of his treatment by the Japanese. When I left home in Selling in 1962 Geoffrey was still vicar and to the best of my knowledge remained so when I emigrated to New Zealand at the end of 69. I'm fairly sure Geoffrey was still vicar at that stage. My parents remained in Selling until 1973 until they too came out to New Zealand .
Transcript of unit diaries relating to service of Geoffrey W. Fennell
Geoffrey wrote two diaries about his experience in the Far East both prior to and after becoming a POW.
Diary 1 - Covers the Malayan campaign, 1 yr prior to the Fall of Singapore and includes the negotiations between the Allied High Command and the Japanese on the terms of surrender.
Diary 2 - Covers the transportation of the PoWs to various prison camps.
These are now on display at the Royal Artillery Museum but were embargoed for 50 years after the war ended.
Died
1977
Canterbury, Kent
Information
Mike Tebbut - A Friend
Special Parties - Roll of Honour
Australian War Memorial
KEW Files:- WO 392/24, WO 345/17, WO 361/1968,
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