dadthumb                                          Charles William Nicholson From Percy Main to Sumatra via France
  Home : Contact : Introduction

 

Chapters

Introduction

Bovington 1939

France 1940

malaya 1941

Singapore 1942

Capture 1942

Sumatra 1942

Sungei Geron

Back Home

War Trials

Z AOW Roll

Click on any link shown in Blue and then use the Back Button to return to this Page

 

 
 Back Home

This is still an ongoing research , but it looks likely that my father was taken from Palembang to Australia , possibly Freemantle were there were recuperation camps , there is a record of the hospital ship Geruslemme , taking ex pows on board . Link here , Gerusalemme

 
My sisters remember my mother say my father wrote to her from Australia , asking her if she would emigrate , but she would not as she was did not want to leave her sisters and her  mother.

paper

A newspaper article about my Mother receiving news that my Dad was on the way home via India. It states that he was in Hospital in Sumatra before being sent to India , which contradicts the Australian connection.

 My Father arrived back in the UK on the 10th  February 1946 and was admitted to Carstairs Hospital in Lanarkshire , Scotland . A note on his record stated "Not to be posted overseas before 10th August " and then a note "Not to be sent to the Far East under any circumstances" .
 
Carstairs Hospital was constructed during 1936–39. Although it was planned and financed as a facility for "mental defectives" (i.e. persons with a psychiatric disorder, the former term is no longer used) it was first used as an Army hospital, during World War II. The Army relinquished control of the hospital in 1948, when it opened as the State Institution for Mental Defectives .

 
My father was diagnosed with 'Manic Depressive Psychosis'.

Note on Record :-
Depression recovered , aggravated assess 20% Code E1

 He was discharged from Hospital on the 17th February 1946 and traveled back to Tyneside .

My Brother George Albert Snowdon remembers :-

"My uncle Rob brought me home from the football match Percy Main Amateurs and we were coming into Brunton street When my uncle Rob Stopped And Just Said This is your Dad coming up the street ,My recollection of him was a big man About 14 stone (later transpired that they had brought them home to build them up rather than let their relations see the condition they had returned in)...For the next few weeks nothing seemed to change,, Him and my mam just went about their normal days ,My dad was very Quiet and just used to sit and watch the fire , we now know he was suffering Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder .
 I must say that if my Mother hadn't goaded him into getting angry he would probably have had an enormous breakdown .
She took some bad times so he could get better and too this day my admiration for her still shines.........."



 My Sister , Edna who was now almost four years old and had never met him said "Welcome Home Mister Snowdon" .

 
My father was officially discharge from the Army on the 6th August 1946 in Leicester signed by C.T. Westall D.C.O. , as permanently unfit for any form of military service .

 My Dad began to try and carry on with a normal life but it would be a hard road sometime lined with terrible memories of his time as a Japanese POW , He was helped along the way by my Mother , Edna ,who not only coped with Dads ups and downs but brought us up as well , like many other wives of EXPOWs she deserves a huge debt of gratitude .

 Dad returned to the Tynside Ship Yards and took up his profession as an Electric Welder .The Family grew from the three War Children , Anne , George Albert and Edna to eight of us , June , Patricia , David , Trevor and me , Kevin .

Dad was a member of the Newcastle branch of the FEPOW Association .

The last Ship Yard he worked at  Clelands Shipbuilding Company  closed its doors in 1985 . Dad took redundancy when he was 60 , only seven years later he died .

My Brother George Albert :-

"We are an older generation who faced terrible consequences of our fathers. Suffering ....My father came home in 46 a broken man ...My mother gave her all to rehabilitate him as there was no help in those days ..She suffered in silence but never once give up on her man ...My father took early retirement at 64 years old due to I'll health ,he contracted the dreaded disease of lung cancer .,Once again he had to call on his determination to survive ,fighting the obvious for months...We as a family cared for him working in a shift pattern so as there was always someone with him until his last day ....I have often thought could I have gone through all that he suffered . We'll never know ......The lady doctor who came to see him on his final days said. And I quote. ""I do not know how that man is still with us ''. My response was to inform her that he had suffered at the hands of the Japanese in a POW. Camp and knew what it was like to live on meager rations ....She smiled at me and I swear there were tears in her eyes.....just my observations of a wonderful man who gave his all for his family "

Extract from his Service Record:-

Military Conduct :- Exemplary

Testimonial :- Circumstances beyond the control of both the soldier and the service have unfortunately prevented a full estimation of his capabilities as regards his civil employment. His documents know that he was employed as a Welder Class 1 from past trade tests and that he held the rank of Lance Corporal . He should be suitable to civil employment similar to his former Army employment.

6th  May 1946

 Major C.H. Agar

ga snowdon
George Albert Snowdon



dunston fepow

FEPOW Memorial Plaque at St Nicholas Church , Dunston , Gateshead . Tyne and Wear

 

Below is a Document given to the returning POWs telling them what they could and could not do !

 RESTRICTED

the information given

in this document is not

to be communicated

either directly of

indirectly to the press

or to any other person

not authorised to

receive it

TO ALL BRITISH ARMY

EX PRISONERS OF WAR

the war office, D.P.W. September 1945

  

BRITISH  ARMY

 

STATUS,  RANK,  SERVICE AND SECURITY

 

1.  rank.

 

You will retain any paid acting, temporary, or paid local rank or lance appointment you hold for 61 days from the date of your arrival in this country or until you are posted to a specific vacancy in a W.E., whichever is earlier. But if such return to England is held up by admission to hospital overseas under British or Allied control you may not retain your paid acting, temporary or paid local rank or lance appointment beyond a maximum period of four months from the date of your admission to hospital or for more than 61 days from the date of your arrival in England or until you are posted to a specific vacancy in W.E., whichever is the earlier. Any promotion you get later will follow the normal rules for promotion in war. Unpaid acting rank will be retained for 61 days but will not be converted to paid rank, nor will paid acting or temporary rank be converted to temporary or war substantive rank during this period.

 

2.  service.

 

At the conclusion of your repatriation leave you will be re­leased from the Army unless: —

(a) you  are  an  officer  holding  a  permanent  Regular  Army commission;

(6) you are  a  Regular Soldier with  Colour Service  to  com­plete;

(c) you have applied to defer your release, and your applica­tion has been confirmed.

In the above cases you will be retained in the U.K. for a period of six months and will not be returned to the Far East.

3.  security.

 

You must not grant interviews to press, newsreel or broad­casting representatives unless permission is given.

 

4.  intelligence   and   casualty   information   or   any   other

confidential information regarding P.W.  conditions.

 

You should have had an opportunity of giving information to representatives of M.I. 9, but if you have any further details to give ask to see the M.I. 9 officer in the reception camp. Do not pass any casualty information to next of kin as the responsible authorities will inform them officially after it has been checked against existing records.

(23617)September, 1945

 

5 disembarkation.

 

On arrival in England those of you who are to go to hospital will go there direct. The rest of you will be taken to a Reception Camp. You will understand that difficulties of transport to, and accommodation at the port of disembarkation or Reception Camp will make it impossible for your relatives or friends to greet you there.

If you go to hospital do not expect to be visited by your relatives immediately unless you are seriously ill, because accommodation in the neighbourhood of the hospitals is scanty. The hospital to which you first go will be the nearest suitable military hospital to the port at which you disembark. If you are not seriously ill you will shortly be going on leave.

 

 

6.  arrival telegrams.

 

Immediately on arrival at the Reception Camp you will be given a telegram, which you can send free of charge to your next-of-kin.

 

7.  medical inspection.

 

At the reception camp, you will be medically inspected to as­certain that you are sufficiently fit to go on leave, and your chest will be X-rayed by mass miniature radiography. You will later be given a full medical examination during your leave (as you will see from paragraph 19) to determine your fitness. Nevertheless, if you are worried about your state of health and wish to have it investigated fully before proceeding on leave, you should say so and arrangements will then be made for you to go to a hospital for the purpose but at the hospital you will have to take your turn with other patients and this may involve a delay of some days.

 

8.  welfarepersonal and  domestic  problems.

 

There is a welfare centre at the reception camp staffed by welfare officers whom you will be able to consult privately about any personal difficulty.

If by chance, you find that you need help or advice while on leave, ask at a police station or Post Office for the address of one of the following:

Army Welfare Officer.

Soldiers', Sailors' and Airmen's Families Association.

Inc. Soldiers', Sailors and Airmen's Help Society.

Citizens' Advice Bureau.

British Red Cross.

Ministry of Labour and National Service Resettlement Advice Office

You will almost certainly find a representative of one of these organizations near your home who will be only too glad to help you.

 

9.  leave ration cards and N.A.A.F.I.  permits.

 

You will be given leave ration cards which will entitle you to buy rations at double the civilian scale during the first 42 days of your leave. For any leave you get after that you will be issued like other soldiers with ration cards on the civilian scale. If you have any difficulty in buying the double rations get into touch with the local food officer of the Ministry of Food, who will see that you can get your double rations from a convenient retailer.

N.A.A.F.I. Form 578.E overstamped by Camp Commandant's Office, Military or E.M.S. Hospital will be issued to you. This form, on presentation to the Camp Institute, will entitle you to buy six weeks' ration of privilege price cigarettes (or tobacco) and chocolate and sugar confectionery.

Where, in exceptional cases, an extension of leave is granted in excess of the normal six weeks, N.A.A.F.I. Form 578.B will be sent to you by Officer i/c Records at the same time as he for­wards your leave pass and ration card.

Officers will obtain Ration Cards from their Holding Units or Depot.

 

10.  pay and accounts.

 

(a) Immediately on arrival at the reception camp officers will ' be able to draw one advance of up to ten pounds (£10).    Other Ranks will be issued with one advance of pay of five pounds (£5). In addition, before being sent on leave the following advances of pay will be made: —

Warrant Officers         ...        ...        ...        ...        ...        £10

Staff-Serjeants and  Serjeants         ...        ...        ...        £8

Lance-Serjeants and Corporals and Lance-Corporals         ......        ............       

Privates            ...         ...        ...        ...         ...        ...        £6

An R.A.P.C. Officer and staff will be at the reception camp and you will be able to discuss any pay or allowance difficulties with them.

In applying for advances you should remember that in the cases of officers and protected personnel deductions have been made of the amounts which should have been paid by the detain­ing power during captivity in respect of pay other than working pay. These deductions are provisional and subject to adjustment in accordance with the facts when full information becomes available.

(6) In order to facilitate any adjustment which may be necessary to your home account, you may be asked to complete a statement showing whether you received any pay or working pay during captivity. You may also be asked to produce any documents in your possession which relate to your account with the Detaining Power, credit balance, or status (including any evidence of recognition by the Detaining Power as a protected person) or any receipt for currency which was surrendered or im­pounded from you during captivity.

" Unissued Credit Balances ".

(c) Owing to difficulties of communication which prevented many prisoners of war in the Far East from handling their own financial affairs and utilising credit balances due to them, authority was granted from the 31st March, 1945, for quarterly deposits to be made in the Post Office Savings Bank in respect of balances of pay due to prisoners of war in the Far East which remained unissued in the absence of any effective instructions from those concerned. The deposits are equal to balances due less the following amounts, which remain credited to the individual's pay account:

Officers  (including Nursing Officers)   ...        ...        £25—26

W.Os. and N.C.Os. of the rank of Sergeant or

above       ..................        £15—16

Soldiers below the rank of Sergeant    ...        ...        £10—n

On repatriation, the deposit remaining due in each case (in­cluding interest) will be transferred to a personal account for the prisoner of war concerned in the Post Office Savings Bank. Further information can be obtained from your Regimental Paymaster.

 

11. foreign currency.

Any foreign currency received by you before capture, during captivity or before you came under Allied Control should be re­tained by you until arrival in England when it will be collected and dealt with in conjunction with the adjustment of your pay account for the period of your captivity.

 

12.  kit and clothing claimsofficers only.

 

The R.A.P.C. staff at the reception camp will assist in pre­paring any claims you have for compensation for loss of kit.

13.  kitofficers only.

 

Any kit which you left behind when you were captured may have arrived in England. You should make enquiries of the Commandant at the reception camp and also of your next-of-kin.

14.  clothing.

 

Military clothing for officers is obtained from private outfitters and is subject to surrender of clothing coupons. An issue of coupons will be made to enable officers to renew or complete their kits. Battle dress, however, can be purchased—without surrender of coupons—at the reception camp.

Officers will also be entitled to draw, at the reception camps, their normal proportionate maintenance allowance of Service clothing coupons for the current clothing rationing year. This includes an element of 21 " Special " coupons valid for the pur­chase of civilian recreational clothing, e.g., sports jacket and flannel trousers. All service coupons are valid for the purchase of underclothing, pyjamas, handkerchiefs, dressing gowns and foot­wear in addition to the normal items of uniform.

At the time of your release from the Service all unused Service coupons must be returned to your Commanding Officer for disposal.

Other ranks will be issued with all necessary Army clothing and necessaries, and will also receive 20 coupons which can be used for purchase of pyjamas, and other minor items of civilian attire not included in the Army kit. Facilities exist at the reception camp for issue to other ranks of chits with which handkerchiefs can be purchased without surrender of coupons.

C.R.S.C.I.a.

This is a special form which you can obtain at the reception camp or at your nearest Local Assistance Board (usually located at the local Fuel Office). This form enables you to claim coupons to replace any civilian clothing, which has been destroyed in this country by causes outside your control, e.g., by enemy action.

 

15.  identity and leave documents.

 

The reception camp will issue identity certificates or temporary identity documents, free travel documents and leave passes1. Train times for leave destinations will be notified under camp arrangements.

16.  medal ribbons.

 

The various campaign stars and medals to which personnel are entitled for service during this war will be explained to you at the reception camp. The ribbons of those to which you appear to be entitled will be issued to you, also any appropriate emblems to wear on the ribbons. These issues are provisional only and will not constitute an award; a proper claim form must therefore be completed by you later, and on this the actual award will be authorized.

If you are released or cease to serve before you can complete the claim form you should apply to War Office (for officers) or the Officer i/c Records (for other ranks) for the forms to be sent to you.

 

17.  electoral representation.

 

Special arrangements will be made to provide you with an opportunity of completing the declaration card in order to entitle von to vote at Parliamentary and Municipal Elections.

 

18. hospital.

 

Those of you who are not well enough to go to a reception camp will be admitted to a military hospital.

On leaving hospital the arrangements for pay, clothing, clothing coupons, ration cards, N.A.A.F.I. permits and identity documents will be exactly the same as at the reception camps.

If you require hospital treatment everything possible will be done to arrange for this treatment in a hospital near your home. It must be realized, however, that hospital accommodation so situated may not, in every case, be available, particulary if specialized treatment is required.

You will be sent on leave as soon as you are sufficiently fit; your relatives will be able to visit you at the hospitals.

19 LEAVE

 

 After reporting to a reception camp you will be given 42 days leave during which time you will appear before a medical board. This will not take place during the first 14 days of your leave.

If you are found unfit for further service you will report, at the conclusion of your repatriation leave, to a unit where the medical board proceedings will be confirmed and you will be given 56 days terminal leave, together with overseas leave on the scale of one day for each month of overseas service since September 1939 provided that at least six months overseas service has been given.

If, however, you are admitted to hospital immediately on arrival you will, if found to be fit for further service, be granted 42 days leave when discharged from hospital. On the other hand, if at the hospital it is found that you are unfit for further service your discharge procedure will not be initiated earlier than 42 days after arrival in the U.K. and your 56 days terminal leave will date from the 43rd day. If you are in need of in-patient treat­ment in hospital, your discharge will be postponed until a later date.

20. extension of leave.

 

(a)  If the period of leave is extended, additional ration cards, leave passes and any necessary railway warrants will be  issued on request by depots in the case of officers and in the case of other ranks by the Officer i/c Records.

During your leave you can obtain the reduced concession fares, granted by the Railway Companies, by showing your identity card (officers) or leave pass (other ranks) to the booking clerk; the concessions are applicable whether you are in uniform or civilian clothes.

b)If  you  are admitted  to hospital for  treatment whilst  on leave you may apply to your Officer i/c Records for an extension of leave, not exceeding 28 days, to cover the period spent in hospital. If, however, after admission to hospital you are found to be unfit for further service and are recommended for a discharge from the Army, you will not be entitled to an extension of leave in respect of the time spent in hospital.

 

21.  administration.

 

Officers will be posted to an appropriate depot with effect from date of their disembarkation in the United Kingdom and will be notified accordingly, but they will not report in person unless instructed to do so by the War Office.

Other ranks will be attached by their Officer i/c Records to units near their homes for local administration while on leave.

Other ranks will be informed by Officers i/c Records while on leave of the unit to which they are to be attached and its location. If any advice or help is required, get in touch with the officer in charge of the unit to which you are attached, or if you are spending your leave in Eire where you cannot be attached to-a unit write direct to your Officer i/c Records.

 

22.  change or address.

 

Officers will immediately notify any change of address both to-the War Office, Hobart House, London, S.W.I, and to the Officer i/c Depot to which they have been posted.

Other ranks who change their address when on leave will immediately complete A.F. W 3045, issued to them at the recep­tion camp, and post it to their regimental paymaster who will inform their Officer i/c Records. If you lose your A.F. W 3045, you must apply to the local police station for the address of your Officer i/c Records and then immediately inform Records of the change of address. If you are attached to a local unit for administrative purposes, you must also inform that unit of your change of address. On hearing of your change of address, the Officer i/c Records will attach you to a unit near your new address.

 

23.  medical and dental attention.

 

Officers who need medical attendance when on repatriation leave should make their own arrangements for treatment. They must meet the cost of any treatment themselves but a, refund of reasonable expenses of treatment will be allowed by the War Office if their disability is regarded as attributable to service. Officers who need hospital treatment when on leave will apply for treatment to the nearest Military or Emergency Medical Services Hospital.

Other ranks who need medical attention or hospital treatment when on repatriation leave will comply with the instructions on the back of their leave passes.

Every endeavour will be made to complete your dental treat­ment as soon as possible after your return. Should you be discharged or invalided, however, and your dental condition suffered owing to failure of the Detaining Power to provide adequate facilities for treatment, you may apply within six months of your discharge or invaliding from the Army, to the Under Secretary of State, The War Office (A.M.D. 6), London, S.W.i, for the treatment necessitated by such neglect to be carried out at public expense.

In your application you should give the following informa­tion : —Army Number, Rank, Full Name and Address, Full particulars of your unit, the period of your detention as a prisoner of war, and the date of your repatriation and of your discharge or invaliding from the Army.

In cases where the provision of dental treatment is approved, arrangements will be made for your attendance at the Army Dental Centre nearest to your home or, in the rare cases where this is impracticable, special arrangements will be made by the War Office for any treatment recommended by an Officer of the Army Dental Corps to be carried out by a civilian dental practitioner.

 

24.  income tax.

 

If you have income apart from your service pay, or if your wife has an income of her own, you may in certain circumstances have been liable to less tax while serving outside the United Kingdom or while a prisoner of war than you would have been if you had been serving in the United Kingdom. You should, therefore, write to the tax office which deals with your liability (or call there personally) stating the period of your absence from the United Kingdom and asking whether you are entitled to repayment of any tax paid during your absence.

 

25.  leave petrol.

 

Repatriates may apply for active service petrol allowance in the same way as officers and other ranks on leave from abroad. The car or motor cycle must be registered in the name of the applicant, his wife, father or mother. Coupons for 450 miles for your 42 days leave and a further 75 miles for subsequent 7 days up to a maximum of 600 miles may be obtained on application to Recruiting Offices, T.A. Association Offices or Welfare Offices.

Applicants will apply in person or through a properly authorized representative. Application will not be made by post. The car or motor-cycle registration book and applicant's leave document must be produced.

AFTER LEAVE

 

26.  unfit officers.

 

For any officers (other than those holding permanent Regular Army Commissions) graded by the Medical Board as permanently

 

II

unfit for any further military service, there is, of course, no alter­native but that they should relinquish their commissions. In relinquishment the responsibility for any disability award to which they are entitled becomes a matter for the Ministry of Pensions, to which Department their cases are immediately referred subject to the provision that if in-patient hospital treatment is required they will be retained on army pay for up to a maximum of six months from date of admission to hospital before their 56 days terminal leave begins.

Officers holding permanent Regular Army Commissions graded as permanently unfit for any further military service will be placed on the half pay list unless instead they wish to apply to retire. They may remain on the half pay list for a period of 5 years, at the end of which time they will be retired, but they will be at liberty to apply to retire at any time while on the half pay list. The extent to which an officer may receive half pay while on the half pay list depends on the circumstances of his case. If his disability is due to military service, he is eligible to receive half pay for the full period of 5 years regardless of the length of his service but if his disability is not due to service he will not be eligible to receive half pay unless he has 3 or more years' service, and the period for which he may draw half pay while on the half pay list depends on the length of his service.

Officers graded temporarily unfit for further military service (medical category " D ") will be dealt with according to the Medical Board's recommendation, e.g., medical treatment, sick leave, followed by a further medical board, unless they are eligible for and desire release meantime.

 

27.  fit officers and officer reception units.

 

Any regular or non-regular officer who is fit and who volunteers for further service and is therefore not released in accordance with para. 2 above, will go for interview to Special Officer Reception Units as soon as possible after the end of 42 days leave, and will be able to discuss his future with experienced officers whose job will be to ensure that he is posted wherever his special abilities and qualifications can be most usefully employed. If he does not receive orders by' the end of the 42 days leave, he should report in writing to his Personnel Branch at the War Office, Hobart House, S.W.i, that he is still awaiting instructions and he remains on leave until they are issued.

 

28.  unfit other ranks.

 

Any other rank graded unfit for further military service will be discharged under arrangements to be made by Officer i/c Records and will be put into touch with the Ministry of Labour and National Service, the Ministry of Pensions and other organizations which will help him in his resettlement in civil life. Subject to the provision that if in-patient hospital treatment is required he will be retained on army pay for up to a maximum of six months from date of admission to hospital before his 56 days terminal leave begins.

Other ranks graded temporarily unfit will be dealt with in accordance with the Medical Board's recommendations.

 

29.  fit other ranksposting after leave, etc.

 

Like officers, any other rank of the Regular Army who is not released in accordance with terms of paragraph 2 above, will go to a special unit, where the posting that is best for him will be carefully considered and decided. He will be able to discuss his future with officers whose job it will be to fit him into the most suitable employment, having regard to the needs of the Army at the time as well as his own wishes and abilities. Since July, 1942, every man entering the Army has had the benefit of this individual assessment and advice, and he will have the same opportunity of having his special abilities and qualifications taken into account before he is posted.

 

30.  all ranksretraining.

 

Any officer and man who is fit and who is accepted for further service will be given whatever refresher course or further training is needed. If you are fit for service in your own arm this training will bring you up-to-date, and make you thoroughly familiar with the most recent weapons and methods in the Army. You may be fit for further service but in another arm, or possibly in a field unit; you will then be given the full training necessary to fit you for the arm and unit for which your medical category is suitable. It is realised that this means your transfer to other regiments or corps; this process has already been carried out on a large scale in the Army and is still being adopted, in order to make the best possible use of all available manpower.

If you are a Regular or T.A. soldier who is transferred, you will have the right of re-transfer at the end of the emergency to your original corps or regiment if you desire it.

 

31.   civil resettlement.

 

For those of you who are to be discharged or released from the Army, a voluntary course is provided of from four to twelve weeks duration, during which time you will live under pleasant conditions and have a chance to settle down before returning to civil life.

Whilst on the course you will be brought up to date with current events and be able to make contacts with various civil organizations which will be of assistance to you when you finally leave the Army.

A pamphlet entitled " Settling Down in Civvy Street " which provides  information  on  the  course  will  be  sent  you  whilst  on leave by your Officer i/c Records at the same time as he advises you of the local unit to which you are to be attached. !B45/357)   50000   10/45    W.O.P.   23617



NEXT CHAPTER : BACK TO TOP


  Home : Contact : Introduction