大象传媒

John was born on the 26th March 1916. He married Gladys on the 3rd of September 1939, the day the war started, and they had a few months together before he was called into the Army as 4629573 Private John Charles Sidney Farmer, 1st Platoon Signals, H.Q. Company, 1/5 Sherwood Foresters. After basic training he was sent to Liverpool, in October 1941, where his Regiment joined others to form the 18th Division comprising 12,000 men.

They embarked on ships that formed a convoy and left Liverpool on the 30th October, John was on HMS Orchades. The convoy was met in the Atlantic by an American escort as they made their way to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

They arrived at Hallifax on November 8th and left on a number of American troopships on the 11th. John was on the USS West Point commanded by Captain F H Kelly. (Arrangements had been made by Churchill with President Roosevelt, although America was not yet in the war).

The convoy was designated "William Sail 12X", nicknamed Winston's Specials and was bound for Basra in the Persian Gulf area, a major port in Irag.

The first port of call was Trinidad and they arrived 17th November to replenish the ships. They left two days later and the following day all ships received a 'proclamation' from the flag ship concerning Thanksgiving Day. Holiday routine was observed by the crews and all hands indulged in the traditional turkey dinner with all the extras. This was a special delight for the British troops who already thought every meal was a treat, they were happy to have the oportunity to celebrate this American custom.

During the voyage there were a number of reports of U-boat sightings but these were probably due to Sperm Whales who have been known to grow to 100 feet and a record catch was 68,000 pounds.

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Note: on the 9th May 1941 HMS Aubretia, Bulldog and Broadway attacked and forced German U-boat, U110, to the surface, after heavy depth charging. The vessel was abandoned and the Captain thought she would sink after setting off charges. The British boarding party was astonished to not only capture the U-boat but also the ultra secret German deciphering machines. These were used to vector U-boats to allied convoys and instruct Nazi supply ships.

This capture was one of the biggest prizes of the entire war and was kept secret for the next 30 years. The Admiralty now knew where each submarine and raider was operating. This secret was not known to the U.S. Navy at the time and President Roosevelt was not told by Churchill until January 1942. The capture of the 'Ultra' and 'Enigma' guided William Sail safely to all ports, a fact unknown to anyone in the convoy or to the United States.

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The convoy arrived at Cape Town on December 9th 1941 for replenishment. Two days earlier there was news that Japanese aircraft had bombed Pearl Harbour that brought America into the war. The local people were amazed at the rapid response of the Americans in bringing troops so soon after the declaration of war!

On the 10th there was news of the sinking of the Battleships 'Prince of Wales' and 'Repulse' off the Malayan coast. On December 13th the ships, at Capetown, started getting under way and by 1600 hours were heading for Bombay. Orders for this new destination had been received just before casting off. They arrived at Bombay after the 27th and on the 1st January 1942 they travelled inland to Amadnaga and arrived there on the 16th, presumably for jungle training. It seems orders were changed and they were ordered back to Bombay on the 19th.

Leaving there on the same day on USS Westpoint they arrived at Singapore on January 27th. They came under almost constant air attacks and ships were lost with much of their equipment. The Japanese were rapidly advancing into Singapore and Japanese flags were raised above a number of buildings suggesting they, or their supporters, had infiltrated in front of the advancing Japanese troops.

The Japanese had control of the drinking water supplies and the position of the Division appeared to be hopeless. Numbers of trained specialist troops were formed into Infantry groups and tried to stop the advancing enemy troops.

General Percival surrendered all defending forces on 15th of February 1942.

Cynics might say that the 18th division was delivered to Singapore just in time to suffer the humiliation of witnessing the Japanese Victory Parade.

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Singapore was lost for numerous reasons. The jungles of Malaya were considered impassable and the major defences for Singapore island were pointing seaward. There were serious inadequaces in the leadership of the Army. The Japanese had complete command of the sea. They had assigned the crack Third Flying Division with 343 modern combat planes and the British had fewer than 90 operational aircraft. The Jap. Zero fighters shot down the Brewster Buffalo fighters with ease.

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John was taken prisoner and, probably, went to Changi on the 16th. Later he went to Thailand no 4 Group, probably to the main camp Tarsoe. Prisoners were sent to construct a Railway between Nom Pladuc, near Bangkok and Thanyuzayat in Burma.

They were sent to various camps along the line, largely at the whim of the Japanese Engineers and guards. There was no attempt to record names, prisoners were just lined up and made to number off in Japanese. They suffered near starvation, many diseases, brutal cruelty, extreme exhaustion, accidents, etc that caused many deaths but were regarded as of little consequence by the Japanese and Korean
Guards.
After completion of the Railway of death, John was sent back to Singapore, as part of Party No 75. for shipment to Japan. To be employed as slave labour there.

Prisoners were put upon two cargo ships, the 'Rakuyo Maru', carried 600 British and 718 Australians and the 'Katchidoki Maru' carried 900 British. Neither ship had any indication that prisoners were on board. Both ships sailed, in convoy, on September 6th 1944.

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SEALION 11 An american submarine, fired three torpedoes at the Rakuro Maru and two slammed into the vessel and it sank, in the South China Sea, south of Hong Kong. The torpedoes were fired at 0525 hours on the 12th September and the ship sunk twelve hours later. Of 1318 POW's only 136 were saved.

PAMPANITO Another American submarine fired three torpedoes at the Katchidoki Maru at 2240 hours that sunk at about 2255 hours on the 12th September. Of 900 POW's 520 were saved.

An Australian, Frank Farmer, was the first survivor to be picked up at 1634 hours on the 15th September by Pampanito. The crew was amazed to find Australian and British prisoners floating around on planks and improvised rafts. They had been floating for three days in thick oil and among debris.

In total, four submarines picked up 159 survivors of whom 7 died on route to Saipan. 92 Australians and 60 British survived.

The above events and dates are true as far as I have been able to research them and are largely based on official and published reports.

John did not survive and is commemorated by name on Column 71 at Kranji War Memorial in Singapore. I visited there on 15th of February 1992 for the International Service of Remembrance.

Jack Farmer

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