May 2021

12 Buckden Roundabout May 2021 The Cambridgeshire Regiment with the wounded and on hearing this, the 2 nd Cambs pa- dre, Captain (John) Noel Duckworth also offered to stay with the wounded. The escaping personnel, now split into groups, aimed to fight their way through the Japanese posi- tions and navigate the mangrove swamps. This many man- aged to do but there were many casualties on the way. Fol- lowing the breakout, over the next week to 10 days, groups of 2 nd Cambs soldiers assembled in Singapore as best they could and took part in the fighting until the surrender. As the situation in Malaya deteriorated, 1st Cambs ’ left In- dia, being dispatched to Singapore, disembarking on 29 Jan- uary 42. After reading the ‘ Welcome To Singapore Sign ’, Lt Col Gerald Carpenter Commanding Officer (CO) 1st Cambs stepped ashore, only to be told by an 18 Division staff officer that the battle for Malaya was lost and that Singa- pore was to be next. The 1 st Cambs were ordered to take up a defensive position north - west of Singapore City. On Friday 12 February 42, 1st Cambs suffered their first fatality when 2 nd Lt William Henry Clark, 21, originally from Chatter- is was killed, probably by a shell from Japanese artillery. Although a fierce battle ensued, the defensive position was never broken by the Japanese. Nevertheless, at 4pm on 15 February 1942, the Cambridgeshire Regiment along with all other British forces received the cease - fire order. General Percival had offered his surrender to the Japanese late in the afternoon of 15 February 1942. The surrender document was signed at 18.10 hrs. In total, the British forc- es had suffered approximately 8700 killed, compared to approximately 9800 Japanese casualties. Out of the approximate 1620 officers and men who left Eng- land as Cambridgeshire Regiment soldiers, 24 Officers and 760 men never returned. During the fighting, 1st Cambs had 72 officers and soldiers killed in action; 2 nd Cambs fared worse with 113 killed in action. Many more were to be- come casualties, dying of wounds, mistreatment, disease and malnutrition, as slave labour on the construction of Bur- ma Railway, the airfields of New Guinea, in Japanese mines and as labourers in Thailand and China. As the war continued, the Japanese moved prisoners of war to sites within their empire in what became known as ‘ hell ships ’, but by 1944 Japan had lost control of the sea and air, and their shipping was continually targeted by the Allies. On 12 September 1944, the Rakuyo Maru was sunk with at least 10 Cambridgeshire soldiers aboard and on 21 Septem- ber 1944, an American submarine torpedoed the Toyofuku Maru and the Kachidoki Maru that between them had at least 90 Cambridgeshire soldiers aboard. There were no survivors. The War Graves Commission lists the location of 623 Cam- bridgeshire Regiment soldiers buried in the Far East. Under Operation TIDERACE, the British retook Singapore following the Japanese surrender in 1945. In many Japanese soldiers ’ eyes, surrender was not part of their military code and more than 300 Japanese officers and men killed themselves by committing suicide. General Arthur E Percival 1887 - 1966 was held as a prisoner of war but was liberated just before the war ended. He was present at the signing of the Japanese surrender aboard the USS Missouri (BB - 63) on 2 Sep 45. He later become presi- dent of the Far East Prisoner of War Association. General Yamashita survived the war, but after a court mar- tial by US forces, he was found guilty of war crimes under- taken by troops under his command in the Philippines. He was hanged in 1946. Lt Col Gerald Carpenter DSO and bar, 1891 - 1977, was held as a prisoner of war, and upon release, returned to England and, for a short time, continued in Army service. He died aged 85 in a Newmarket nursing home. Lt Col Gordon Thorpe DSO, 1899 - 1942, was under orders to escape capture. He managed to board a Dutch steamship, but this ill - fated vessel was torpedoed by a Japanese sub- marine somewhere in the Indian Ocean. Capt John Noel Duckworth, 1912 - 1980 (Padre of 2 nd Cambs) was held as a prisoner of war in the notorious Changi Jail for an extended period; he survived the war. Many Cambridgeshire soldiers came home on the Dutch Ship SS Bouissevain, which left Rangoon on 19 Sep 45, bound for Liverpool. On reaching the port, the men were transported to n o 78 Transit Camp for administration pur- poses, held for 2 days and were then sent to their respec- tive homes. After WW2, The Cambridgeshire Regiment suffered a similar fate to that of many famous infantry regiments. With the post war draw - down in the size of the Army and after sever- al amalgamations and changes of role, the regiment was disbanded in 1967. The Cambridgeshire Regimental Colours hang in St George ’ s Chapel, Ely Cathedral. - Mike Murray - Smith (abridged from a longer article). (Continued from page 11)