WWII look-ups

[andarah]

I am trying to find a few people and I cannot find any of them.

I have been told that most of the casualties are on ancestry, but I cannot find the one I want.

I also cannot find a POW that was held by the Japanese.  My mother told that the Japanese did not report their prisoners and that's why the POW records are only those held by Germans.

The people I am trying to find are

William 'Bill' McGrath.  He died 29 March 1943.  He was with the RAF, his plane was shot over Germany and they died when they attempted land their disabled plane back at the base.  Bill was born in Glasgow.  His number was 1365644 or 1365664.  He was my grandfather's best friend, eachother's best men at their weddings and Bill had agreed to be my father's godfather, but died 6 weeks before the birth.  I may have recently found a record for him with the British Archives and I'm trying to find it.

William `Bill' Lindsay, my grandmother's brother-in-law, was on the HMS Exeter.  I have found a tremendous amount about his ship from internet accounts of the sinking, and his heroism in the sinking.  He was captured in early March, 1941 in the Java Sea.  He was held on the island of Java for 4 1/2 years before he was liberated.  I know bits and pieces about him that I have read about him that other people on his ship wrote, but I want to know more.

James `Jim' Bradley is my grandfather.  He was born in Glasgow in 1921, and he was in the RAF as a mechanic.  He fought the war with the Australians in Borneo.  The Australians weren't able to get their men to the fighting quick enough, so they were `loaned' some men from the British military.  My grandfather was loaned to them for 2 weeks in the fall, 1942, but during those weeks he was sent to Borneo.  Because of the distance, he stayed with the Australians for the entire war.  Since he was a mechanic, and had not seen direct fighting himself, he was part of the group of soldiers that helped to liberate the prisoners in the far east.  He did not return from the war until the summer of 1946. 

I would love to know anything more about these men.  As you can imagine, my uncle (Bill Lindsay) never spoke of his experiences in the prison camps and my grandfather never spoke about what he witnessed.

Any ideas on how to find out more?

[neil1821]

I'm not quite clear from that precisely what information you're trying to find, but this is William McGrath
http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=2453654

With the POWs, a visit to the Ntional Archives to look for the Japanese POW index cards and the liberation questionaires would seem the way to go. They're not available online unfortunately.
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/looking-for-person/britishpowsecondworldwar.htm?WT.lp=rg-3177

[Pete Keane]

There is a charity that can assist with the Japanese POW.

www.cofepow.org.uk

Jap pow's were recorded, there will be a card created by the jap military, plus also possibly a red cross record.

Regards

Pete.

[Bilge]

March 1942
1st Ambushed by Japanese cruisers HAGURO and NACHI escorted by four
destroyers which were engaged in a running fight. Soon afterwards hit in boiler room and lost use of director control for main armament.
Despite smoke screens laid by destroyers received more hits.
Fires broke out and all electrical power supplies failed.
Ship was abandoned after 3 hours in action.
Finally sunk by torpedo.
54 of the ship’s company were killed in this action and 651 were rescued by
Japanese ships and became POW.

Some very good books tell the story BATTLE OF THE JAVA SEA by D. A. Thomas,

NO SURRENDER by W Johns, OPERATION PACIFIC by E. Gray.

[andarah]

Thank you so much!  I had wondered if the Red Cross had information.  I will also check out the charity.

One thing I know about the sinking is from a book that another soldier wrote.  He wrote that when everyone was in the lifeboats/water, there was still a gun firing and he named my uncle as the gunner.  He wrote that he went from gun to gun to keep firing as the ship sank.

For Bill McGrath - thanks!  I looked at it and it gives me some information for searching further.

As for what I am looking for.  I don't know.  I just know that I want to know as much as I can.  They sacrificed so much and I don't want to forget. 

[andarah]

March 1942
1st Ambushed by Japanese cruisers HAGURO and NACHI escorted by four
destroyers which were engaged in a running fight. Soon afterwards hit in boiler room and lost use of director control for main armament.
Despite smoke screens laid by destroyers received more hits.
Fires broke out and all electrical power supplies failed.
Ship was abandoned after 3 hours in action.
Finally sunk by torpedo.
54 of the ship’s company were killed in this action and 651 were rescued by
Japanese ships and became POW.

Some very good books tell the story BATTLE OF THE JAVA SEA by D. A. Thomas,

NO SURRENDER by W Johns, OPERATION PACIFIC by E. Gray.

Thank you for this.  I have done further research on the battle.  Very interesting and I've passed it onto family.

The book `No  Surrender' is a book that my Uncle had a copy of, and he was personally named in the book. 

I will look for the other books.

I now know that he was found by Americans and taken back to Scotland on an American Ship.  Would the Americans have a record of him?

[Simon102]

Hello,

I am the Secretary of 102 (Ceylon) Squadron and after a lot of searching for details I have just spotted your post. We have just dedicated a memorial in Pocklington to William McGrath and his crew who all died on 29th March 1943.

I have contacted all the other families of the crew members except William's. I am very keen to find them and a photo of William.

I know where he lived and which church and school he went to.

Have a look at this site which shows the dedication of the memorial:

http://www.brighouseecho.co.uk/news/your-article-memorial-to-tragic-aircrew-unveiled-at-new-surgery-1-7256221

The story of the crew and the crash is here:

http://www.102ceylonsquadron.co.uk/memWilfridComrie.html

Simon
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