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D/JX237664
Able Seaman
Wilfred Harris
1916/12/23 - Born Durham
Son of George and Margaret Ann (nee Nicholson) Harris
1941/08/25 - Enlisted
Next of kin - Parents, George and Margaret Harris of Blackhall Colliery, Durham.
Royal Navy
HMS Exeter
Service
On the entry of the Japan into the war in December 1941, HMS Exeter formed part of the ABDACOM naval force which was intended to defend the Dutch East Indies from Japanese invasion.
On 27th February, 1942, HMS Exeter was badly damaged in the Battle of the Java Sea when she received a hit in the boiler room and was ordered to Surabaya. The destroyer HMS Electra was sunk covering her withdrawal. On 1st March while Exeter was attempting to reach the Sunda Straits, she was again engaged by the Japanese cruisers Nachi and Haguro. HMS Exeter was soon badly damaged by gunfire and a torpedo from the destroyer Inazuma. Taking on water she began to list to starboard, by noon on the same day she sank. Her escorting destroyers, HMS Encounter and USS Pope were also lost in this engagement. About 800 Allied seamen, including the commander of HMS Exeter, Captain O.L. Gordon., became prisoners of war.
The Japanese had taken over a Dutch hospital ship the ‘Up Ten Noort’. Wilfred was put on there and shipped to Makassar, Java and put in a P.O.W. camp
Japanese PoW
1942/03/01 - Captured Java Sea
PoW No. JM-250
Worked on building a road through the jungle in Makassar.
Japanese Index Card - Side One
Japanese Index Card - Side Two
Liberation Questionnaire
Information
Charlie Swinney
HMS Exeter - Roll of Honour
Liberation Questionnaire
KEW Files:- WO 345/23, WO 392/24,
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