Chapters
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.
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
George Albert Snowdon
FEPOW Memorial Plaque at St Nicholas Church , Dunston , Gateshead . Tyne and Wear
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
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
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.
welfare—personal
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
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
12.
kit and clothing claims—officers
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.
kit—officers
only.
Any
kit which you left behind when you were captured may have arrived in
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.
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.
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
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
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
22.
change or
address.
Officers will immediately notify any change of address both to-the War
Office, Hobart House,
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
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
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 ranks—posting
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 ranks—retraining.
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