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5952490
Private
William Charles Owen
1918/01/20 - Born Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire
Son of Charles and Eva Owen
Occupation Paper Finisher
1939/10/16 - Enlisted
Suffolk Regiment
5th Battalion
Service
1941/09/09 - Tropical kit was issued and orders were to proceed to Liverpool.
Reno Del Pacifico
1941/10/30 - The 5th Suffolk Battalion together with the 18th Division HQ sailed in the Reno Del Pacifico from Liverpool in Convoy CT.5.
USS Wakefield
Arriving at Halifax 8th November the men were then moved across to the transport ship tied along side, the 27,000 ton Wakefield.
1941/11/10- The voyage continued with six American troopships, two cruisers, eight destroyers and the aircraft carrier Ranger, the Convoy William Sail 12X was under way, destination still unknown.
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
USAT 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 passed through the Mona Passage between Puerto Rico and St Domingo, arriving at Trinidad on 17th November in glorious sunshine so the tropical kit came out, but unfortunately no shore-leave. Left after two days of taking on supplies.
1941/11/24 - The convoy crossed the equator, there was a crossing the line ceremony.
Crossing the Line Ceremony Certificate
After a month the convoy arrived at Cape Town, South Africa.
1941/12/08 - The Americans were in the war as the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbour and attacked Malaya and the rumours were that they were heading for the Far East and not the Middle East as first thought.
1941/12/13 - The convoy left Cape Town and sailed along the coast of East Africa past Madagascar and into the Indian Ocean heading for Bombay.
1941/12/27 - After 17,011 miles at sea Bombay was reached.
1942/01/17 - Embarked back onto the Wakefield. The convoy sailed the next day with a British escort, the H.M.S. Exeter and H.M.S. Glasgow with British and Australian destroyers. As Japan had entered the war, destination was the far East. The Prince of Wales and the Repulse had both been sunk by the Japanese off Malaya. Passing Colombo, (Ceylon), crossing the equator for the third time, the convoy passed through the Sundra Straits between Java and Samatra and then the Banka Straits. The convoy was then bombed by Jap Planes, there was no damage.
1942/01/29 - The Wakefield was the first of our convoy to reach the safety of Keppel Harbour, Singapore. Ships were ablaze in the harbour, clouds of smoke drifted across the sky and the smell of fumes was overpowering, this was not the best of greetings. The Japanese had taken most of Malaya in the last three weeks and were only thirty miles away from Singapore.
1942/02/15 - Singapore surrendered to the Japanese
Japanese PoW
1942/02/15 - Captured Singapore
PoW No. M-4176
Japanese Index Card - Side One
Japanese Index Card - Side Two
1942/10/31 - Transported overland to Thailand with ‘R’ Letter Party, train 7
25th Train to Thailand
Party of 650 consisted of:-
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Officers
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O/R
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RAOC (18 Divsion)
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5
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169
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HQ 54 Brigade
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3
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15
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4th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment
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4
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160
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4thBattalion, Suffolk Regiment
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10
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158
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RAMC (Attached)
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1
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5th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment
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8
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117
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30
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620
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Commander Lt-Col. A.A. Johnson, 4th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment
New PoW No. I 26847
Camps in Thailand:-
Chungkai - 60km from Nong Pladuk
Nong Pladuk
1944/06/ - Transported back to Singapore
River Valley Camp
1945/02/02 - Transported oversea to French Indo-China in Haruyasa Maru
New PoW No. I 43697
Commander Major Seakin
Saigon, Thailand Camp 10, French Indo-China (Vietnam)
Camp 10 was situated on the Rue Catinat, which was a main thoroughfare between the native quarter and the French quarter. The huts were of timber construction except for the hospital which was of bamboo structure with an attapi roof. All the huts had electric light.
Rice was still their main diet but they now received meat twice a week and eggs to buy in the canteen, within no time their weight improved.
1945/09/12 - Liberated Saigon Camp when English and Dutch paratroopers entered the camp.
Flown via Bangkok to Rangoon Hospital
Shipped home from Rangoon
Liberation Questionnaire
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Pacific Star
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War Medal
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1939-1945 Star
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Information
David Owen
Convoy William Sail 12X
Andrew Snow - Thailand Burma Railway Centre
Japanese Transport
Thailand Burma Railway
Liberation Questionnaire - COFEPOW
KEW Files:- WO 345/39, WO 361/2005, WO 361/2027, WO 361/2165, WO 361/2165, WO 361/2178, WO 361/2069,
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