Turkentine-Walter-Alan

To honour those who served their country

“In this their finest hour”

2075263

Sapper

Walter Alan Turkentine

1920/01/19 - Born Cambridge

Son of Arthur Crisp and Ester (nee Howard) Turkentine

(Father was a blacksmith)

Walter’s Occupation Electrician

1939/05/08 - Enlisted

Next of Kin Parents, Parents A & E Turkentine, 79 Russell Street, Cambridge

Royal Engineers

287 Field Company

18th Division

Service

1941/10/30 - Left Liverpool for Halifax in Convoy CT.5.

1941/11/08 - At Halifax transferred to American liners

1941/11/10 - Left Halifax with Convoy William Sail 12X, destination unknown, 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)

1941/12/08 - Japan entered war by bombing Pearl Harbour and invading Malaya

18th Division diverted from Middle East and sent to Singapore

1942/02/15 - Singapore surrendered to Japanese

1942/04/01 - WO 417/41, Casualty List No. 786. Reported ‘Missing’.

1943/06/21 - WO 417/62, Casualty List No 1166. Previously posted on Casualty List No 786 Missing. Now reported a ‘Prisoner of War’.

Japanese PoW

1942/02/15 - Captured Singapore

1942/02/15 - Changi

Commander Lt-Gen. Percival

Japanese Index Card - Side One

Japanese Index Card - Side Two

1944/05/ - Kranji

Commander Lt-Col. Collins

1945/11/02 - Liberated

General Seishiro Itagaki, Japanese Commander of Singapore, would not accept the surrender. Plus it gave him time to cover up all Japanese Atrocities in Singapore. The allied naval landing force 'Operation Tiderace' were delayed as it was still understood the Japanese would dispose of all the PoWs in Singapore if they landed. Mountbatten ordered British paratroopers into Singapore to protect the camps. To many of the PoWs in Singapore, those red berets of the paratroopers were the first signs that the war had ended. All this delayed organising the PoWs. It wasn't till the 12th September that Lord Mountbatten accepted the Japanese surrender at the Municipal Building. Hospital cases were the first to leave Singapore 1945/09/10 on the HMHS Koroa. They were soon followed by Repatriation ships which started reaching the UK about the 15th of October 1945. Why many of the liberated PoWs on these ships had November on their Japanese Index cards, I don't know as in other areas of the Far East, PoWs were marked as Liberated at their PoW camps with the correct date. Unless General Seishiro Itagaki did not make the cards available when the camps were liberated.

Liberation Questionnaire

1945/11/05 - WO417/99, Casualty List No. 1902. Previously shown on Casualty List No. 1166 as reported Prisoner of War now Not Prisoner of War. Previous Theatre of War, Malaya.