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Note: Bill enlisted 27 April 1937 {19 years old} Until 14 September 1938 Bill was at home in England 15 September 1938: Departed for India, Malaya. Thailand Battle of Jitra in Malaya (11 & 12 December 1941) The Japanese captured the capital of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, on 11 January's. On 31 January 1942, the British and Australian forces withdrew across the causeway that separated Singapore from Malaya. It was clear that this would be their final stand. On 8 February 1942, the Japanese attacked across the Johor Strait. Many Allied soldiers were simply too far away to influence the outcome of the battle. On 8 February, 23,000 Japanese soldiers attacked Singapore. Bill was taken Prisoner of War at the fall of Singapore 15 February 1942 {Bill was 24 years old} (Considered one of the greatest defeats in the history of the British Army and probably Britain’s worst defeat in World War Two) The Japanese took 100,000 men prisoner in Singapore. Many had just arrived and had not fired a bullet in anger. 9,000 of these men died building the Burma-Thailand railway. Bill survived the POW camp on the Burma-Thailand railway. Bill and his fellow PoW's were liberated by the Americans on 20 September1945. {Bill was 27 years old and had spent over 3 years as a PoW} He was demobbed through Japan, and then Palestine and arrived home in England on 27 October 1945.
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