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10531905
Private
Norman Ashley Payne
1916/04/09 - Born Edmonton, Middlesex
Son of Arthur and Edith Emily (nee Cope) Payne
Brother to Kathleen
1939 - Married Ellen Maud Pawsey in Edmonton
Next of Kin - Wife, Mrs E.M. Payne, Hertford Road, London N.9.
Royal Army Ordnance Corps
4 Ordnance Stores Coy.
Service
Norman was Stationed in Singapore.
1941/12/08 - The Japanese entered the war by bombing Pearl Harbour, attacking Malaya and Hong Kong.
Japanese Troops landed at Singora and Patani in Thailand and Kota Bharu in North Malaya. The hardened Japanese Troops quickly took command of the Kota Bharu airfield which took away air cover for the defending troops.
Using tactical advantage of getting behind the defensive lines, the Allied Troops had to constantly pull back all the way to Singapore Island. The causway, which separated Malaya and Singapore, was blown 31st January 1942.
General Percival believed the Japanese were going to attack the North East coast of Singapore, as that is where the Japanese were concentrating their bombing, but the was wrong, and the Japanese attacked the North West, near the blown causeway, on the 8th February and quickly established a foothold, pushing the defending Australian Troops back.
Within seven days the Japanese were threatening Singapores water supply from the Reservoirs and General Percival made the decision to surrender.
1942/02/15 - Singapore Surrender
Sketch by Leo Rawlings
1942/03/19 - WO 417/40, Casualty List No. 775. Reported ‘Missing’.
1943/09/30 - WO 417/66, Casualty List No. 1252. Previously shown on Casualty List No. 775 as Missing, 15/02/1942. Now reported a ‘Prisoner of War’.
Japanese PoW
1942/02/15 - Captured Singapore
PoW No. M-7343
Japanese Index Card - Side One
Japanese Index Card - Side Two
1942/11/05 - Transported overland to Thailand with Letter Party ‘M’, train 12
Commander Lt-Col. D. E. Swinton, 2nd Btn. East Surrey Regiment
Work Group 2
New PoW No. II 6492
1942, November - 1943, February, has Norman at Chungkai.
He then probably worked in the area Chungkai to Wang Pho
1943/10/25 - The rail lines from Thailand and Burma were joined at Konkoita, Thailand
Then transported to Tha Khanun and back to Chungkai
1944 - Transported overland back to Singapore
1944/06/26 - Boarded the Hofuku Maru at Singapore. The total number on board was 1287 all ranks. The PoWs were divided between two holds and were so crowded that it was impossible for everyone to lie down at once. They stayed in Singapore harbour until July 4th.
1944/07/04 - The Hofuku Maru sailed from Singapore in a convoy to Miri, Borneo as part of convoy SHIMI-05. The convoy consisted of 10 ships, 5 of which carried, in total, 5,000 PoWs, all in appalling conditions.
1944/07/09 - Arrived at Miri in Borneo having broken down for six hours on the way. At Borneo, the Hofuku Maru left the convoy with engine problems, and sailed on to the Philippines.
1944/07/19 - Arrived Manila, remaining in Manila until mid-September while the engines were repaired. Part of the cargo was unloaded and the Japanese civilians who were on board were disembarked. The PoWs remained on board and with their diet of rice and the fact that they were not allowed on deck after their arrival at Manila, it soon began to have serious effects and they suffered terribly from disease, hunger, and thirst.
1944//09/20 - Engines repaired, the Hofuku Maru and 10 other ships formed Convoy MATA-27, and sailed from Manila to Japan. The following morning, the convoy was attacked 80 miles north of Corregidor by more than 100 American carrier planes. All eleven ships in the convoy were sunk.
Of those on the Hofuku Maru, 1,047 of the 1,289 British and Dutch PoWs on board died.
1945/09/05 - WO417/96-2, Casualty List No. 1850. Previously reported on Casualty List No. 1252 as Prisoner of War Malaya. Reported ‘Missing at Sea’.
1946/01/07 - WO417/101, Casualty List No.1962. Previously shown on Casualty List No.1850 as Missing whilst Prisoner of War. Presumed Killed in Action whilst Prisoner of War.
Died
Age 28
Died 21st September 1944 in the sinking of the Hofuku Maru.
Loved Ones
Son of Arthur and Emily Payne
Husband of Ellen Maud Payne, of Edmonton, Middlesex.
Memorial
Column 110.
Singapore Memorial
Singapore
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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
Mary Morgan
Andrew Snow - Thailand Burma Railway Centre
Fall of Malaya and Singapore
Hofuku Maru - Hell Ships
Commonwealth War Grave Commission
KEW Files:- WO 304/21, WO 392/25, WO 361/2057, WO 361/2181, WO 361/2167, WO 361/2005, WO 361/1186, WO392/25, WO417/101, WO 361/758, WO 345/40,
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