SOLDIER'S DETAILS

FATE IN BURMA

Pte. 5627575 John Richard Anstee

28 years, from Wembley, London.

Devon Regiment to 13th Kings.

Chindit column number 7.

MIA on 29/04/1943. Stated as KIA on operation, location jungle.

No known grave. Name on the Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery.

Pte. 5623744 Albert Ernest Bayliss

25 years, from Devon.

Devon Regiment to 13th Kings.

Chindit column number 5.

MIA on 10/04/1943. Died on 26/02/1944 in Block 6, Rangoon Jail. Confirmed POW, remembered in Rangoon War Cemetery, grave number 9.A.2.

Pte. 5623121 L. Coffin

Devon Regiment to 13th Kings.

Chindit Brigade HQ on operation.

MIA on 10/07/1943. Thought to be heading toward Chinese border when captured.

Liberated from Rangoon Jail in early May 1945.

Trooper 5621813 Walter Francis East

23 years, from Lynton, Devon.

Devon Regiment to 13th Kings.

Chindit Brigade HQ on operation. REECE Corps.

No other information known. Liberated from Rangoon Jail in 1945.

Pte. 5627646 George Harry Gray

29 years, from Devon.

Devon Regiment to 13th Kings.

Chindit column 5.

MIA on 17/04/1943. KIA same day in village near Irrawaddy River.

No known grave, remembered on the Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery.

Pte. 5627647 Thomas Charles W. Grigg

30 years, from Leytonstone, London.

Devon Regiment to 13th Kings.

Chindit column unknown.

Died on 18/09/1943. Possibly due to wounds or disease from action in Burma?

Remembered at Karachi War Cemetery, grave number 9.B.9.

Pte. 5627651 F. Hannaford

Devon Regiment to 13th Kings.

Chindit column number 7.

MIA on 10/04/1943. Confirmed POW in Rangoon Jail, liberated in early May 1945.

Pte. 5621068 Frederick John Hartnell

21 years, from Witheridge, Devon.

6th Devons to 13th Kings.

Chindit column number 7.

MIA on 10/04/1943. Died in block 6, Rangoon Jail on 02/07/1943.

Stated as having died from malnutrition and beri beri. Rangoon War Cemetery, grave number 6.B.2.

Pte. 5619756 Laurence Frederick Hill

23 years, from Colaton Raleigh, Devon.

Devon Regiment to 13th Kings.

Chindit column number 7.

MIA on 10/04/1943. Died on 01/06/1943, possibly as a POW, but never reached Rangoon Jail.

Remembered on Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery.

Pte. 5620996 Reginald Hooper

23 years, from Okehampton, Devon.

Devon Regiment to 13th Kings. Chindit column number 7.

KIA on 29/03/1943. Died crossing the Irrawaddy River.

He has no known grave and is remembered on the Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery.

Pte. 5629998 Arthur Leslie Howney

34 years, from Hampstead, London.

9th Devons to 13th Kings.

Chindit column number 5.

MIA on 18/04/1943 from a 5th column dispersal group.

Died in Block 6, Rangoon Jail on 17/06/1943. Rangoon War Cemetery, grave number 9.B.2.

Sgt. 5622106 Gilbert Brendon Josling

25 years, from Chigwell, Essex.

Devon Regiment to 13th Kings.

Chindit column number 7.

MIA on 02/04/1943. Became a POW attempting to cross the Shweli River. Died on 11/01/1944 in Block 6, Rangoon Jail. Cause of death was beri beri. Rangoon War Cemetery, grave number 5.F.9.

Pte. 5620293 G.W. Lee

Devon Regiment to 13th Kings.

Chindit Brigade HQ on operation.

MIA on 30/03/1943. Captured on ill-fated crossing of Irrawaddy River.

POW in Rangoon Jail. Liberated in early May 1945.

Pte. 5619837 Thomas Crowhurst Low

24 years, from Dundee, Scotland.

Devon Regiment to 13th Kings. Chindit column number 8.

MIA on 12/04/1943. Captured after action in Burmese village. POW and died in Rangoon Jail on 05/10/1943.

Rangoon War Cemetery, grave number 4.D.9.

Pte. 5628334 Reginald John Milkins

29 years, from Knowle, Bristol.

Devon Regiment to 13th Kings.

Chindit column number 7.

KIA on 10/04/1943. Lost just after Irrawaddy crossing in Burmese jungle.

He is listed incorrectly on the Rangoon Memorial as a King's Loyal Regiment soldier.

Pte. 5629590 Thomas George Moore

35 years, from Paddington, London.

Devon Regiment to 13th Kings.

Chindit column number 8.

MIA on 29/04/1943. Became a POW and died in Block 6, Rangoon Jail on 17/06/1943. Stated as having died of malnutrition and beri beri. Rangoon War Cemetery, grave 9.B.10.

Sgt. 5628420 F.W. Morgan

Devon Regiment to 13th Kings.

Chindit column number 7.

MIA on 02/04/1943. POW in Rangoon Jail, liberated in early May 1945.

Held Gilbert Josling as he died (see above).

Pte. 5627180 Harry Jack Myhill

28 years, from Bexleyheath, Kent.

Devon Regiment to 13th Kings.

Chindit column number 5.

MIA on 01/04/1943. Caught on a sandbank in the Shweli River. Died of beri beri in Rangoon Jail on 01/12/1944.

Rangoon War Cemetery, grave 5.G.6.

Pte. 5627185 John D.P. O’Donoghue

29 years.

Devon Regiment to 13th Kings. Chindit column number 7.

KIA on 09/03/1943. Died on a jungle pathway in a column advance.

Remembered on the Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery.

Lance Corp. 5627223 George T.W. Puckett

32 years, from Malden, Essex.

Devon Regiment to 13th Kings.

Chindit column number unknown.

George is buried in Karachi War Cemetery, grave 1.B.9.

He died on 06/01/1945. Nothing is known about his time in India or Burma.

Pte. 5627474 Everard Donald Rogers

30 years.

Devon Regiment to 13th Kings.

Chindit column number 7.

MIA on 10/04/1943. Died on 01/06/1943.

Possibly a POW for a short time, but did not reach Rangoon Jail. Rangoon Memorial at Taukkyan War Cemetery.

Pte. 5627351 Harry Henry Sewell

30 years.

Devon Regiment to 13th Kings. Chindit Brigade HQ on operation.

MIA 30/03/1943. Died in Block 6, Rangoon Jail on 30/04/1945. Beri beri.

Missed liberation by 5 days. Rangoon War Cemetery, grave 6.D.3.

Pte. 5627036 Joseph Albert Stell

From Dagenham, Essex.

Devon Regiment to 13th Kings.

Chindit Brigade HQ on operation.

MIA on 30/03/1943. Died in Block 6, Rangoon Jail on 18/08/1943.

Cause of death is not known. Rangoon War Cemetery, grave 9.D.3.

Pte. 5628431 Alfred John Strevens

28 years, from Kentish Town, London.

Devon Regiment to 13th Kings.

Chindit column number 7.

KIA on 05/04/1943. No further information is known.

Remembered on the Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery.

Pte. 5628525 William T.S. Symons

29 years, from Penzance, Cornwall.

Devon Regiment to 13th Kings.

Chindit column number 7.

MIA on 10/04/1943. Died on 01/06/1943 near the Irrawaddy River.

Remembered on the Rangoon Memorial, Taukyyan War Cemetery.

Pte. 5616017 Wilfred A.G. Toms

36 years.

Devon Regiment to 13th Kings.

Chindit column number 7.

MIA on 10/04/1943. Died in Block 6, Rangoon Jail on 26/11/1943.

Cause of death is unknown. Rangoon War Cemetery, grave 6.D.5.

Pte. 5628663 Frederick Turner

22 years, from Kenton, Devon.

Devon Regiment to 13th Kings. Chindit column number 7.

KIA in first Chindit action on 09/03/1943.

The action at Pinlebu.

Remembered on the Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery.

Pte. 5626116 Frank James Watts

27 years, from New Cross, London.

Devon Regiment to 13th Kings.

Chindit column number 7.

MIA on 10/04/1943. Died on 01/06/1943 possibly a POW for a short time?

Remembered on the Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery.

Pte. 5623779 Thomas Edward Pearson

26 years, from Leyton, Essex.

Devon Regiment to 1st Kings.

KIA 25/05/1944. Said to be a Chindit on the second operation in 1944?

Remembered on the Rangoon Memorial, Taukkyan War Cemetery.

On or around the 1st of April 1943 a young Lieutenant from column 7, Rex Walker and the Medical Officer of column 5, William Aird, took on a large party of ill and wounded men. Their hope was to lead them out of the Burmese jungle and get them back to India. All, except F. Hannaford, perished in Burma. Some of these men were: Albert Bayliss, Fred Hartnell, Laurence Hill, Reg Milkins, Everard Rogers, Alfred Strevens, William Symons, Wilfred Toms and Frank Watts.

So these were the Devons who became Jungle Kings in 1943. I have researched them in detail for over two years now and have come to know them in more than just name and number. It is a terrible sadness to me that I know more of these men and their brave deeds, than some of their own families, including my own darling Nan, who left us in 2006. She, and they were truly Great people.

Steve Fogden. January 2010