World War Two - Tickhill War Memorial Names S to Z

World War Two - Tickhill War Memorial

                               Names S to Z

John Christopher Spencer

   John Christopher Spencer
                                              Original Grave at Agedabia

                              Sapper – 1877281 – 3 Field Squadron, Royal
                              Engineers. John was the son of Joseph and Sarah
                              Kate Spencer of Tickhill.

                              Major J A Powell, commanding 3 Field Squadron
                              wrote on 25 May 1942 that

                              “John was killed by an explosion on 07 January
                              1942, just north of Agedabia, he was engaged in
                              picking up mines in front of our forward troops which
                              had been left by the Germans when they withdrew
                              from Agedabia the day before. It was a most
                              dangerous and unpleasant job, but your son and the

other men in his section tackled it without turning a hair. He was killed instantly and
certainly never knew anything about it. He is buried just north of Agedabia
aerodrome where his comrades put a cross on his grave”.
John’s final resting place in Benghazi War Cemetery, Libya, Plot 2, Row D, Grave 2.

Philip Stocks

                           Leading Aircraftman – 1112375 – RAF Volunteer
                           Reserve. - Philip Stocks was born on 14 March 1912, the
                           son of Mary Anne and Edmund Stocks of 36 Dadesley
                           Road, Tickhill. He married Norah Moore of Hatfield, who
                           was in service at the Old Vicarage in Tickhill. They lived at
                           27 Worksop Road and had two children, Michael Anthony
                           (Tony) who was born on 10 December 1936 and currently
                           lives on the Isle of Man and Elaine Margaret who was
                           born on 27 March 1940.

Prior to joining up Philip
was employed as a
transport driver for
Middleton’s in Tickhill.
Philip was reported to
have been captured in
February 1942 in the Far
East. Confirmation that
he died of bacterial
dysentery was not
received until much later.
His wife received the
above telegram on 25 November 1943, prior to Philip being re-buried in Galala War
cemetery on Ambon Island Military Cemetery in the Netherlands East Indies.

Ambon Island Cemetery – date not known.

The War Cemetery is situated on the island of Ambon which is now part of the
Molucca Group of islands. During the time of the Japanese invasion the islands were
known as the Dutch East Indies and more commonly known as the “Spice Islands”.

The cemetery itself was sited on a former POW camp which help prisoners of mixed
nationalities including, British, Dutch and Australians.

The prisoners were taken to Ambon, many from Java, to construct an airstrip. POW’s
who died were buried in various camps throughout the island but were later re-buried
in the War Cemetery, The remains of POW’s from the neighbouring island of Haruku
were also transferred to Ambon. There are 2,137 graves within the cemetery of
which 811 are British. The cemetery was only completed in 1968 and took 23 years,
which shows the magnitude of the task.

The area is set with tropical flowering trees and shrubs with the graves laid out
between open stretches of lawn and are marked the usual small square concrete
headstones, inlaid with a bronze plaque.

The Spice Islands

The term, Spice Islands most commonly refers to the Maluku Islands (formerly the
Moluccas), which lie on the equator, between Sulawesi (Celebes) and New Guinea
in what is now Indonesia.

The above map shows the location of Harku (Haroekoe) Island, also known as
Nutmeg Island, where Philip Stocks was originally buried, in the village of Kariu
(Karioe) – grave reference 180 – before being re-buried on Ambon Island.

Alfred James Storey

                       Gunner – 1531345 – 16 Battery, 2 HAA Regiment, Royal
                       Artillery - Alfred was the eldest son of George and Annie
                       Elizabeth Storey of Tickhill.

                       As reported in the Doncaster Chronicle on 24 September
                       1942 – “Mr and Mrs G Storey of Westgate, Tickhill, have
                       received information that their eldest son, Gunner A.J. Storey
                       (23) is presumed to have been killed in action at sea between
                       April 26 – 27 1941. During the evacuation from Greece, he
                       was posted as missing from that date. He is commemorated
                       on the Athens Memorial, Face 3.

                       Before joining the army he was employed at Harworth
                       Colliery.

                                                          It is highly likely that Alfred
                                                          lost his life in the following
                                                          action, when HMS Wryneck,
                                                          a British destroyer (900 tons)
                                                          was attacked by German
                                                          Stuka aircraft and sunk off
                                                          Nauplia, South-East of
                                                          Greece. She was helping in
                                                          the evacuation of troops from
                                                          Greece, and in the process
                                                          had picked up, with the help
                                                          of another destroyer, HMS
                                                          Diamond, around 700 troops
and crew from the 11,600 ton Dutch liner 'Slamat' (pictured) which had been
converted as a troopship and under British control, which had been attacked and
damaged earlier. HMS Wryneck and HMS Diamond were both sunk in the attack
with the loss of nearly both their crews and nearly all the survivors of the Slamat.
The Wryneck lost seven officers and 98 ratings, the Diamond lost seven officers and
141 ratings. Of approximately 950 troops and crews of both ships only one officer,
fourteen naval ratings and eight soldiers were rescued.

Thomas Storey

                         Corporal – T/124871 – Royal Army Service Corps -
                         Thomas was the son of George and Annie Elizabeth
                         Storey of Westgate, Tickhill. He was killed on 11 July
                         1944, aged 25 – it is believed that he volunteered as a
                         despatch rider, when the motorcycle he was riding ran
                         over a landmine - he is buried in Rome War Cemetery,
                         Plot I, Row E, Grave 19.

                        The Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) was responsible
                        for transport; supply of food, water, fuel, and general
                        domestic stores such as clothing, furniture and stationery
                        (but not ammunition, military or technical equipment,
                        which were the responsibilities of the Royal Army
Ordnance Corps); administration of barracks; and provision of staff clerks to
headquarters units.

The grave of George and Annie Elizabeth Storey in St Mary’s churchyard with a
memorial to their two boys.

Leslie Swinburn

Gunner – 842437 – 9th Coast Regiment, Royal Artillery - Leslie Swinburn is
commemorated on Column 31 of the Singapore Memorial in Malaya. He was the son
of Blanche Maxfield of Wadworth. He is believed to have died on 05 March 1943,
aged 26.

The 9th Coast Regiment – was based on top of Changi Hill in Singapore and
controlled the gun batteries at Johore, Tekong Beting Kusah, Changi, Sphynx and
Pengarang, on the east side of the island.

After the fall of Singapore - On 18th October 1942, 600 men of the Royal Artillery left
Singapore for an unknown destination. They arrived in Rabaul New Britain on 5th
November 1942, one man, (BSM T Lamborne of 11 Coast Regiment), having died
during the voyage.

At the end of November 1942, 517 of the men left Rabaul for Ballalae, one of the
Solomon Islands, leaving behind 82 of their colleagues, most of whom were
considered too sick to make the journey. Only 18 of those 82 survived to the end of
the war.

Those taken to Ballalae were forced to assist in the construction of an air strip. None
of these 517 men survived. The official date given for the Ballalae Massacre is 5th
March 1943 but interviews with locals, Japanese, Koreans and Chinese suggest
June 1943 would be nearer the truth.

THE BALLALE ISLAND GUNNERS

REPORT ON ALLEGED WAR CRIMES BY JAPANESE OF OSAKI UNIT ON
BALLALE ISLAND November 1942 to September 1943 by NX.70429 Maj. E C
Millikin B Sqn 2/4 Aust. Armd. Regt. From information obtained in the RABAUL
Area

Acting on instructions from HQ 11 Div I carried out in the RABAUL area an
investigation into the alleged war Crimes on BALLALE Is. During the period Nov '42
to Sep '43.
BALLALE IS. is pear shaped with an area of approx. one square mile and approx
2000 yds East & West and 1900 yds North & South. An area approx 600yds square,
where the white POWs and Chinese were quartered, was "Out of Bounds" to the
majority of the Japanese and to all Koreans unless they were there on duty.

OSAKI Unit (18 Naval Construction Unit) during the period under review was approx.
800 strong and while on this island suffered fairly heavily from Allied bombing. In Sep
'43 the Unit was moved to KAVIESO ( New Ireland) and built up to 1200 strong. At
this period the commander LT. COMD. OSAKI returned to Japan. His further
movements are unknown.
In all 324 Japanese Naval personnel and 2 Koreans of OSAKI Unit who had been on
BALLALE IS. during the period under review were located in the RABAUL area. Of
these 108 Japs, including all the Officers and Petty Officers also the 2 Koreans were
interrogated

The Japanese all claimed to know very little about the white POWs and in my
opinion must know a lot more than they are prepared to admit. Not one man
interrogated would admit having come into actual contact with the POWs. In view of
the wall of silence raised by these Japanese it would appear they have either been
ordered not to say or admit to knowing anything or else they have decided upon this
course by themselves.
On the other hand the 2 Koreans were prepared to tell all that they knew. Their
evidence was mostly hearsay, being mainly overheard from groups of Japanese
discussing these matters. I consider that the story told by these two men is, as far as
it is possible to obtain, the true story of what happened.
A Japanese interpreter HIGAKI of No. 5 Compound RABAUL gave evidence about a
party of 600 British Artillerymen from Singapore who left there by ship during Oct '42
arriving RABAUL 6 Nov '42. One man died on the voyage. The party staged at
KOKOPO (RABAUL) for about one week. 82 men were left here as too weak to
continue their journey. This party was later put under the care of HIGAKI as he could
speak English. These men, apart from 3 reasonably fit men left as cook and medical
orderlies, were suffering from beriberi, malaria and other sicknesses. On 18 March
'43 the numbers were down to 48 - HIGAKI took over at this stage. On Japanese
surrender 18 men survived. HIGAKI states that the men told him that after a stay of
one week at KOKOPO the 517 fit men were put on a ship and departed for an
unknown destination. He was unable, despite repeated inquiries, to find out anything
about their fate.
This party of 517 appears to be the same one referred to in HQ First Aust. Army
letter A27974 of 25 Jan '46 addressed to 23Bde, the differences being that the letter
refers to a party of 512 leaving New Britain in Mar '43 by boat. HIGAKI is quite
definite about the number 517 and the date approx. one week after 6 Nov '42.
There is no doubt that a large number of the POWs were killed by Allied bombing,
mainly as a result of the Japanese refusing to let them take shelter in slit trenches or
air raid shelters. From evidence given by the Koreans, also that taken in other areas,
it seems certain that the remaining POWs round about June '43 were killed and
buried. The reason for this is not clear, the evidence pointing to :-
(a) The POWs were of no further use due to being too weak for further work or else
their task was finished.
(b) The Japanese feared an invasion by the Allies and did not wish the POWs to be
discovered.
The method of killing is not clear, although evidence gathered in other areas is all to
the point that at a certain time the POWs remaining were killed. In the absence of an
eyewitness the best evidence will be a complete report on the exhumation of the
bodies.
In view of the evidence gathered by me I am of the opinion that the only person who
can be held responsible is the commander of the unit Lt Comd OZAKI.

The above is a report on an investigation carried out for the Australian Army – by
Major E C Milliken NX.70429 10 March 1946

Following liberation of Ballale, 436 bodies were exhumed together with artefacts
proving these men were the missing artillerymen who had sailed from Rabaul to an
unknown destination. None of these could be personally identified and these bodies

were eventually re-interred in individual graves at the Bomama War Cemetery in Port
Moresby, Papua New Guinea.