26 January 1942, Private Jess Beament, 6th Battalion Royal Norfolk Reg.

[Maddie]

Jess was the husband of Mary nee Mackey who was born Birr Offaly, Ireland

 His Regiment was part of the 18th Division who were landed at Singapore on the 13th January 1942 from USS Mount Vernon. The Norfolks were dispatched straight out to Malaya on the 14th of January having had no jungle training. By the 26th January they were amidst the fighting for Senggarang & surrounded by the Japanese army. Sadly Jess was one of the soldiers who were killed & many more taken prisoner.

Jess is remembered on the Kranji War Memorial & will never be forgotten by his family who are left.

[Jimbob Junior]

Hi Maddie,
Mai (Mary Bridget) came back to live in Birr following the death of Jess,she was the daughter of William Mackey and Catherine Shortt, she had two sisters:- Marguerite and Cecilia (Celee). Mai died in September 1992 and is buried in Clonoghill Cemetery, Birr. Hope this is of help to you.

[Maddie]

Hi Jimbob

Welcome to Roots & many thanks for the added info on Mary. Jess was my Uncle & sadly died before I was born so I didn't know either of them although strangely enough my cousin visited me the other month & actually brought with him some old cine camera film taken in the 60's that he had had transferred to CD which included some film of Mary taken in Birr when he himself, his wife & his Mum & Dad, Mum being my Aunt & Jess's sister, visited her on a trip to Ireland.

Are you by any chance related to the Mackey family. ?

Once again thank you for your interest.

Happy New Year.
Maddie

[Jimbob Junior]

Hi Maddie,
First of all, a Happy New Year to you and yours.
Sorry for the delay in replying but you asked the question was I related to the Mackey's, yes, my father and Mai (Mary) were second cousins through the Shortt's (Mai's mother).
I would have known Mai and her sister Cecelia growing up in Birr while their other sister Marguerite married and moved to Banagher, a short distance away.
I would love to see the pictures relating to Birr sometime if it were possible to see the changes that have occurred.
My notes show Jessie working with Ilford before the war and involved with the development of the first mass produced colour photograph films.
Talk soon,
Jimmy

[Maddie]

Hi Jimmy

A Happy New Year to you also & thank you for replying. You actually seem to know more about my Uncle Jess than I do which is very interesting.

If you post one more time on the board I can then send you a PM (private message) with my email to make it easier for us to communicate.

Look forward to talking some more.

Maddie