In July 2022 Ken Hewitt published his book, Tigers in Captivity,
detailing the fate of all 936 men of the 1 st Battalion Leicestershire
Regiment during the Malaya Campaign and subsequent captivity.
He opened his talk by saying that when he first started his research
back in 2006 he had no thoughts at all of writing a book on all the
men of the Battalion but was only interested in his father’s military
career. The idea of publishing a book just evolved over his many
years of research.
Early Research
His early research took him to the National Archives (TNA) at Kew, to the Imperial War Museum (IWM) at Lambeth and to the Leicester Records Office (LRO) in Wigston where the regimental archives are kept. After three years of research he had a much better understanding of his father’s service with the Leicestershire Regiment. Inevitably, this research resulted in the gathering of information on other men of the battalion and the research bug began to bite. During his first visit to the IWM he had found a copy of the battalion nominal roll as at the start of the Malaya Campaign, but which was drawn up in September 1942 while POWs in Changi. It enabled Ken to identify those killed in action during the Malaya Campaign, those who escaped or were evacuated from Singapore around the time of surrender, and those who became prisoners of war. This nominal roll was to provide the foundation on which his research into the men of the battalion was based. It was this nominal roll that was used by Capt. David Nelson’s Bureau of Records and Enquiry (BRE) in Changi to generate their own nominal roll and which included other valuable information on the fate of men during the Campaign and captivity. (TNA doc ref WO 361 /2116).
Later research took Ken to Singapore, visiting the various WWII sites and to retrace his father’s steps as a POW. He took the rail journey from Singapore to Thailand where he visited the camps where his father toiled all those years ago. As a guest of the Thai-Burma Railway Centre he undertook a five-day tour of the railway, war cemeteries and museums with Rod Beattie and Andrew Snow. Research even continued in Australia with visits to the Australia War Memorial in Canberra and the Western Australia State Library in Perth.
Sources of information
Ken went on to explain the major sources of information which provided key information on each of the men. These included:
- The War Diaries of the 1st Leicesters and the 2nd East Surreys (TNA doc ref WO 172 / 120 & 100).
- Liberations Questionnaires (TNA – WO 344 / **)
- Japanese Index Cards (TNA -WO 345 /***)
- The records of the Bureau of Records and Enquiry (TNA – WO/361/****) which were released to the public in April 2011.
- Personal accounts of captivity by officers of the 1st Leicesters (Lt Chippington papers at the IWM and the diaries of Majors Harvey and Kennedy at the LRO).
- Many books on the Malaya Campaign and the period of captivity. Three were specifically mentioned. Singapore – The Inexcusable Betrayal by Lt George Chippington, The British Battalion in the Malaya Campaign by Chye Kooi Loong and Death on the Hellships by Greg Michno. These were just some of the 55 books listed in the bibliography to his book.
- The internet – in particular Roger Mansell’s website on Far East POWs, the COFEPOW and FEPOW Community websites with personal accounts of FEPOWs, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website for confirmation of those who died, and the Regiment’s database of ‘Tiger’ veterans.
The sharing of research findings
He next spoke about being inspired by Roger Mansell and his philosophy of sharing research information. As a result, in 2014, Ken published a summary of his research findings on the COFEPOW website (https://www.cofepow.org.uk/armed-forces-stories-list/1st-btn-leicestershire-reg ). Included was a list of the 936 men involved and an invitation to relatives to get in touch for further specific information on their FEPOW relative. Over subsequent years Ken received enquiries from 180 relatives with whom he was happy to share his research findings and, with their approval, added details to the Regiment’s online database.
2015 presentation of research findings in Leicester to commemorate VJ70
Then in 2015, to commemorate VJ70, Ken gave an illustrated talk in Leicester on his research findings to relatives, regimental veterans and other interested parties. It was only after this talk that Ken was encouraged to document his research more formally for the benefit of the Regiment’s history archive and the relatives of these men.
Identifying need for further research
Having considered the two options of developing a website or writing a book, Ken decided on the latter, believing it would provide a more lasting and tangible family memorial to these men. In considering the structure and content of the book he decided that those men who died in conflict and in captivity should be remembered by name at the appropriate point in the text, necessitating the whole story being told. This identified areas where further research was necessary, e.g. detail of the Malaya Campaign, the later Thailand POW camps such as Ubon, Pratchai, Petchaburi, Takuri and the road projects to Mergui and Tavoy, and the nature of the work the POWs were forced to carry out in the many Japan POW camps.
Research issues
Ken then talked of other issues that he experienced during his research. The frustration of not being able to find any information in some areas, for example, the precise whereabouts of men during the Campaign and the lack of embarkation lists for ships leaving Singapore around the time of surrender, the hellships carrying POWs to Japan and even the repatriation ships bringing the men home. The shortcomings of the information contained on liberation questionnaires was perfectly understandable considering they were completed during repatriation nearly, two years after being held in some of these camps. The incomplete questionnaires were frustrating nevertheless. Even more frustrating was conflicting information found in books, archive materials and on the internet. All conflicting information, especially dates of death, needed to be investigated further in an attempt to establish the truth.
He explained how he resisted the temptation to present speculation as the truth and likened his research to a 10,000 piece jigsaw with pieces missing. It was always tempting to cut out a piece of card to replace the missing piece and to paint a picture on it to match the surrounding image. If it is just one piece missing you may not be too far from the truth, he said, but if it is a group of 6 pieces that are missing it’s a different story.
In publishing a book such as Tigers in Captivity – primarily for relatives of these men – it is important to spell names correctly, quote the correct army number and use the correct rank. With archive records themselves containing misspelt names, transposed digits in army numbers and ranks changing throughout the period they all had to be checked and double checked. Together with reconciling numbers of men in various parties, ensuring that totals tallied, it was a time-consuming process.
Lessons learnt
Ken expressed his amazement at just how much information there is to be found. You just need to know where to look and have the time to find, photograph, read and digest it all. You can go on researching forever but to share your research findings in a published book you have to draw the line somewhere otherwise it never gets shared.
Another lesson learnt, he said, was to be methodical in your filing and the recording of archive document references. It is surprising how many times you will need to refer back to material and, if you are planning to write a book, you need to be able to quote your sources. Ken also emphasised the need to revisit websites and previously reference material. Websites are continually being added to and, with your own growing knowledge base, connections can be made with information given in books that previously were not apparent.
Ken went on to issue a word of warning on how research can become addictive. To sit at your PC for long periods at a time, downloading research material, reading it, editing photos, creating maps and writing books can be unhealthy. Take frequent breaks, he advised.
Publication of Tigers in Captivity
After many years of research Tigers in Captivity Ken was finally in a position to publish. He opted for the self-publishing route, which was an education in itself, and the book was published in July 2022. It summarised the fate and movements of the 936 men of the 1st Leicesters during the Malaya Campaign and throughout captivity. He presented a slide showing the final reckoning – 936 men involved at the start of the Malaya Campaign; 197 were killed in action; 694 became POWs; 157 died in captivity and 582 returned home.
Tribute to Roger Mansell
In conclusion Ken paid tribute to Roger Mansell who before he died in 2010 sent a video recording to an earlier RFHG conference strongly advocating the sharing of information. His legacy was the website he created and which, since his death, has continued to grow and remains a valuable research aid for those researching the Far East prisoners of war. Roger Mansell was an inspiration to all.
For further information on Tigers in Captivity please visit:
www.tigersincaptivity.co.uk
RFHG 