Filed under: Far East, Heroes Return | Tags: Big Lottery Fund, Heroes Return, Singapore, Thailand
The story of World War Two veteran Jack Jennings, 93, inspired a recent National Lottery good causes TV advert campaign.
Having trouble viewing this video? Watch it on our YouTube channel.
In this video, Jack speaks of his return to the Far East with funding from the Big Lottery Fund’s Heroes Return programme. He also gives his thoughts on how Lottery money benefits good causes across the UK.
For more information on Heroes Return visit our website or call the advice line on 0845 0000 121.
Take a look at the National Lottery’s good causes directory for a snapshot of all of those supported right on your doorstep.
Filed under: Navy, Japan, Far East, Heroes Return | Tags: Heroes Return, Big Lottery Fund, Royal Navy, Japan, Kamikaze, plane, Flight Commander
Flight commander Keith Quilter hurtled along in his fighter bomber towards the Japanese aerodrome. Flying right beside him was his best friend Walter Stradwick and two other fighters.
At just 50 feet from the ground they closed in on Japanese aircraft. As they prepared to let loose a burst of gunfire, Keith saw Walter’s fighter at his side suddenly plunge into the ground and explode into a ball of flames.
Keith was aged 23 at the time. Today (Tuesday, 6 March) is his 90th birthday and he is also celebrating being awarded funding to make an emotional visit to Japan to visit the grave of his best friend and cabin mate from aircraft carrier HMS Formidable, killed on 18 July 1945 aged 22.
Keith, from Tenterden, Kent, recently learnt he will receive £3,700 from BIG’s Heroes Return programme to make a commemorative visit in May 2012. His is the 50th successful application for funding for a veteran to visit Japan.
Keith served as a pilot in the navy from 1942 to 1946 and rejoined in 1947, leaving in 1952. During the war he flew many death-defying missions in his F4U Corsair fighter bomber, at first in attacks on the German battleship Tirpitz, the sister ship of the Bismarck, in Norway in August 1944.
Keith pictured during his wartime service
HMS Formidable then joined the British Pacific Fleet. They attacked Japanese aerodromes in islands between Okinawa and Taiwan to prevent Kamikaze suicide missions against Allied ships and to prepare for a possible ground invasion of the Japanese mainland.
Keith said: “I want to go and pay my respects to my cabin mate Walter Stradwick. I found out where his grave is and I’m going to leave a wreath there. I’m also hoping to somehow trace his family. I’m going to take a photograph of his grave and would like them to be able to see it.
“He went into the ground and I saw a horrible great mass of flames alongside me. Then my wing man said his oil pressure was dropping and so the fourth pilot had to escort him back to the carrier. This meant I was on my own so I joined the tail end of my CO’s group to attack a different aerodrome.
“I got hit as I went into a 45 degree dive to strafe the aerodrome. I heard this huge bang. A 20mm shell hit the side. When I eventually got back to the carrier all the chaps on deck were pointing up at my aircraft. When I got out I saw a hole in the fuselage so big you could put your head inside.
“That mission was the one that caused me the most personal loss. When your close friend and cabin mate is shot down and you get back to the ship and walk back into an empty cabin room, that is….quite something.”
Keith survived two Kamikaze attacks on HMS Formidable. The first strike killed several men on the flight deck who didn’t hear the alarm because of the sound of the engines of aircraft taxiing towards one end. As a result of that attack, it was decided that someone would also wave a red flag to warn pilots of a Kamikaze approaching. This new procedure saved Keith’s life.
Keith said: “I was strapped into my aircraft with the engine running. Suddenly I saw someone frantically waving a red flag in front of me. I switched the engine off, unstrapped myself as quick as I could and me and three other pilots leapt out of our fighters and jumped down two of three decks before it hit the ship. The ship lurched as the kamikaze hit us. My aircraft was completely destroyed.”
Less than a week after Walter died, Keith was shot down attacking a Japanese destroyer inside a harbour at Owaze.
Keith recalled: “Twelve of us were flying towards a target on the mainland when we spotted a destroyer. I was told to attack it so me and three others peeled away from the main group. Because it was on the inside of the harbour wall we had to approach from the land which had high hills. We attacked by coming in really low over the water and released the bombs just before we passed over the ship so that they hit its side.
Keith is returning to Japan to visit the grave of his best friend and cabin mate Walter Stradwick
“One of our chaps got hit and had to ditch in the water. I wanted to come around again to see if he was okay in his dingy and saw a side creek with hills that would have hidden me from view of the town as I came around for a look. But there was a gun position there and I got hit. My engine suddenly stopped so I had no choice but to ditch.
“I had to open the hood quickly before the plane sank, got into my dingy and paddled away to the open sea. The other pilot was doing the same while Japanese were taking pot shots at him from the shore.
“Then I saw this sinister looking black submarine sail towards us. At first I feared it was a Japanese submarine but men got out and I recognised the US Navy uniform. They were on standby to save Allied pilots like myself. I couldn’t believe a US sub would come in that close.
“I was aboard for three weeks, by which time the atom bombs had been dropped. As we sailed into Saipan we heard on the radio that Japan had surrendered and the war was over.”
As well as visiting Walter’s grave at Yokohama War Cemetery, Keith also wanted to visit the memorial dedicated to Robert Hampton Gray, a Corsair fighter pilot also on board HMS Formidable. “Hammy” Gray was one of the last Canadians to die in the war and was awarded a Victoria Cross for an attack on a destroyer in Onagawa Bay. Despite coming under heavy fire and his plane ablaze, he remained on course to bomb and sink the ship before crashing into the water. The memorial is the only one dedicated to a foreign soldier on Japanese soil.
Keith said: “We were all such young and cocky fighter pilots. But by the time VJ day came I think half the squadron had been lost. Walter was a lovely guy and Hammy was also full of fun in the mess.”
The Heroes Return 2 programme is still open for applications. For more information, please visit www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/heroesreturn or call the advice line on 0845 0000 121
Filed under: Far East, Heroes Return | Tags: Big Lottery Fund, Burma, Changi, Death Railway, Far East, Heroes Return, POW, Second World War. WW2, Singapore, Thailand, veterans
The amazing story of 93-year-old Far East veteran Jack Jennings is the inspiration for a National Lottery TV advert and UK-wide publicity campaign launched today (Sunday, 4 March).
The Devon WWII veteran recently made an emotional journey to re-visit old friends and memories in Thailand and Singapore thanks to a grant from the Big Lottery Fund’s Heroes Return 2 programme.
Jack served with the Suffolk Regiment, the First Battalion of the Cambridgeshire Regiment, and was fighting a fierce last stand in Singapore when it eventually fell to the Japanese in February 1942.
Jack explains: “After the surrender had been signed we had to just wait for the Japanese to come and collect us. 500 of us were rounded up and taken to sit in a tennis court at the back of a large house. We had to sit there for five days, in the full sun, with water only occasionally and just biscuits thrown over the fences for food.
“We were then moved and put into Changi prisoner of war camp – worn out, tired and starving. The camp was packed by the time our company had arrived, so we had to settle for anything. After a meal of rice and watery soup, we felt better.
Jack Jennings, 93, pictured at home in Torquay (photo credit: Kevin Clifford)
“We managed to get a wash and clean up, before retiring to our hut for a well earned rest. Needless to say we slept that night whatever the discomfort was, sleeping on bamboo slats.
“Our officers gave us our daily jobs and when these were finished there was time to wander around the camp to find out who had survived.
“The minor injured or sick could attend sick parade, to receive whatever treatments were available. The wounded and the worst of the sick personnel were in the adjoining Roberts Hospital, but this was grossly overcrowded.
“The change in diet affected many men, some with sores or upset stomachs, and others showed signs of vitamin deficiency. It was at Changi that I first saw coconut trees, but they were restricted for the Japanese. The result was a great struggle for survival and some couldn’t make it. The cemetery started at Changi, soon enlarged with three or four funerals every day.
Putting on a show
“Occasionally in the evenings, when more organised, someone would give a lecture, or we would have a debate. Permission was given to make a stage and put on shows, and very soon the talented ones among us were able to form a good concert party. Musicians found instruments, or made them, to provide the accompanying music.
“The result was a top class show which relieved the boredom for a while. Rumours of the progress of the war spread around at these gatherings, but at that stage it was not very cheery.
“It was at Changi that I had my first birthday in captivity. Who would have thought that my birthday treat was little more than a helping of boiled rice? The day was just another boring, depressing day with only one thought: “How long were we to be kept prisoners of war, and could we, by some miracle, be freed to get out of this miserable experience?”
Jack Jennings survived the horrors of Changi prison camp (photo credit: Kevin Clifford)
“The prophets in the camp gave us high hopes at times, but each prediction came to nothing. After dark, lying on bamboo slats, trying to get some rest was difficult enough, but with the torment of mosquitoes, lice and the croaking bullfrogs it was worse. Little did we know then that things were going to get much worse.”
Jack was later moved to Thailand to work on the infamous Thai-Burma death railway, featured in the epic film The Bridge on the River Kwai. In the years that followed his release, he returned to his profession as a skilled joiner. He has two children, three grandchildren and three great grandchildren.
Of making an emotional return to both Singapore and Thailand with his grand-daughter, Jack says: “I was able to find and visit the graves of former comrades we also visited the British Embassy in Bangkok and met some notable people. It was important for me to go back to Singapore and Thailand and remember all the men that didn’t come back.”
To find out about the funding available from the Big Lottery Fund’s Heroes Return 2 programme please visit www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/heroesreturn or call the advice line on 0845 0000 121
Remembering his wartime service in the Far East, Len Andrews, from Southend-on-Sea will make a Heroes Return 2 trip to Singapore for the first time in 65 years.
Joining up with the Royal Army Service Corp aged 18 Len became part of a demonstration platoon, training soldiers in fire arm drill and assault courses, before moving on, somewhat reluctantly, to a posting as an instructor training troops who had returned from Dunkirk.
He recalls, “I didn’t want to do that, as I hadn’t done anything, and after all those chaps had been through at Dunkirk, what could I teach them? So I volunteered for Burma.”
Consequently, Len was posted to a petrol unit in Rangoon, responsible for the setting up of forward fuel points for the advancing allies. He remembers, “As part of the planned invasion of Singapore we boarded our petrol trucks onto a landing craft, but when got about halfway there we were suddenly ordered to turn back. The second time we set off the same thing happened again only this time we heard that the Japanese had surrendered.”
“I don’t remember being told about the bomb until a bit later. We didn’t know then what sort of destruction it would cause, I don’t even think the governments knew, and we were all quite shocked by the devastation.”
Eventually Len’s unit pressed on to Singapore, even though the Japanese had still not formally surrendered. As they sailed into Singapore the landing craft had to manoeuvre down a channel between two tapes to avoid the many mines which had been laid by the Japanese. Len recalls: “Suddenly the steering went wonky and the craft drifted off and broke through the tape heading straight through the minefield. We all just leaned over the sides looking for mines, and I don’t think we fully realised the situation. We were young.”
However, after sending out a distress signal, the craft was brought back under control and came safely into Singapore. He said, “There was quite a lot of destruction and very few British troops around. At the formal Japanese surrender taken by Lord Mountbatten a number of Japanese officers handed their swords to our commanding officer, one of which was given to me, and which I still have.”
Billeted in the basement of a Post office and bedded down on huge bales of silk, Len had his 21st birthday. He said: “We did think about celebrating with a drink but thought better of it as the local alcohol was lethal and we had heard that some blokes had been blinded by it. How the locals managed to drink it I have no idea.”
Set to work building a fuel supply line from Singapore up through Malaya and into Kuala Lumpur, Len recalls: “We had Japanese PoW’s unloading the oil drums. I was only a Lance Corporal, a lowly petrol driver, but the Japanese prisoners, many of them officers who were well above my rank would salute and bow to me. They were very subdued. It took a while for me to get used to it, but I did.”
Also while in Singapore Len remembers the release of allied PoW’s from the infamous Changi prison. He said: “It was pretty horrendous the condition they were in. The only thing they could take was small amounts of milk to gradually help them rehabilitate. Later they did executions at Changi and hung many Japanese. We were invited to view the hangings but I declined, though some people did go.”
Len’s war service finally came to an end in 1947, he recalls, “I couldn’t wait to get home.”
Now aged 86, Len will soon re trace his steps to Singapore for the first time in 65 years. He said, “I don’t think I could have made this trip without the funding and I am very grateful to the Big Lottery Fund.”
The Big Lottery Fund is continuing to ensure the efforts of Second World War veterans from across the UK and Ireland are not forgotten through its Heroes Return 2 scheme, awarding grants for ex-servicemen and women to return on commemorative trips back to places across the world where they saw action. Veterans or their widows/widowers are still being urged to apply to the initiative, which remains open for applications until January 2011. If you would further information please visit
My husband served with the 125th Anti-Tank Regiment, or “Sunderland’s Own”, and was sent to Singapore after the Japanese entered the war. His ship, Empress of Asia, was sunk in Singapore harbour and the men had to swim ashore. They had no equipment and were split up to join other regiments wherever there was a spare gun. My husband was sent to Bukit Timah Ridge where he found himself pinned down and unable to move because of sniper fire. He was rescued by the swift and brave actions of a Gurkha soldier and was able to return to his comrades. When Singapore was taken over my husband was captured by the Japanese and set to work building the Burma-Siam railway. This railway is sometimes referred to as the Railway of Death as conditions were so harsh. Many men died, and are buried at Chung Kai cemetery. In 1984 my husband and I joined a trip to Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong – this also included a visit to Chung Kai cemetery and a trip down the River Kwai on the River Boat Hotel. We celebrated my husband’s 64th birthday on that trip and he died a few weeks later. His ashes were interred at Chung Kai and what was to have been a “once in a lifetime trip” for me has become an almost yearly visit to say hello and leave some flowers.
Filed under: Burma, Far East, Heroes Return | Tags: Big Lottery Fund, Far East, funding, Heroes Return 2, veteran
Read this moving BBC article as David Norman Davies plans on returning the Burma to honour his fallen comrades: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/8586591.stm
“In January 2010, aided by a grant from Heroes Return 2 my daughter Elaine (who acted as my carer) & I visited Okinawa for the main purpose of seeing the Peace Memorial Park in the Mabuni area of Itoman City which is situated in the south of the island & near where the final battle of Okinawa took place. The park enjoys a spectacular view of the rugged & beautiful coastline on it’s south-east border.
The former Ryukyu Government initiated the creation of the park on the site & following Okinawa’s reversion to Japan in 1972 full scale construction of a public park was started. The park covers some 120 acres & has many facets of the war on Okinawa e.g….a computerised information centre, National War Dead Mausoleum, Prayer Area, Peace Memorial Museum, Peace Prayer Memorial Hall, Peace Ceremony Zone, Flame of Peace, Memorial path & The Cornerstone of Peace, unveiled in 1995, the names of over 240,000 war dead regardless of nationality or military/civilian affiliation are inscribed there-on.
As the main part of the Cornerstone of Peace, the monument walls spread out in concentric arcs from the Flame of Peace at the centre of the Peace Plaza. The 117 monument walls are shaped like folding screens, 69 walls have five folds, 48 have three folds for a total of 1212 faces with space for 250,000 names.
The names are grouped under either Japan or Foreign Countries. Our monument wall is in Row D (in the same row as 14,000 from the USA) and contains the names of 82 men who were killed serving with the British Pacific Fleet. The heading on the wall reads ” THE UNITED KINGDOM of GREAT BRITAIN and NORTHERN IRELAND” Those named are in alphabetical order with full given names added and read across the wall. The walls are about seven feet square, white lettering carved into what appears to be a very highly polished black marble.
The park is a key tourist site so not only acts as a place of remembrance but also has large grassy areas, away & apart although not physically separated where families can picnic, play ball games & enjoy various other recreational activities By the size of the car park & other facilities it looks as though it is frequently used. Considering land is at a premium the size of the entire Peace Park is astonishing.
When we visited it was a warm day, (20 degrees – shirt sleeve order), there were a few visitors (it was a week-day) which seemed to be mostly groups of school children & students. It is tended by a small group of women gardeners who do an excellent job for everything is as neat & tidy as possible.
I suppose I can best describe it as if you walked through Hyde Park & then followed into an adjoining Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery.
The Peace Memorial Museum is new, huge & carries an immense amount of information of the Battle of Okinawa on picture, video, film, artefacts, art displays & written testimony from survivors. As well as the displays there is facilities for research & educational activities.
On the 23rd June (Okinawa Memorial Day) each year. veterans, bereaved families & other individuals come to participate in a memorial service held in the Peace Ceremony Zone. I am not sure if any veteran’s organisation from the BPF has ever been invited to attend this ceremony. Other than their names there is nothing visible to indicate where or how the men served or met their death. This incidentally is common for all those recorded throughout the Peace Park.
My thoughts as I stood beside the names were that although nearly 65 years ago it could have been the day before or even that morning when just hours after the invasion started we were hit by the kamikaze plane. The images of that morning, perhaps a bit frayed around the edges are I’m sure still with us all.
To get to Okinawa we flew to Hong Kong & then across to Naha City airfield on the twice weekly service. Naha is the capital of the island with over a million population. We stayed at a hotel in the city & for our visit we chose to travel by the local bus transport. The buses run every 20 minutes from Naha to Itoman City but the bus from there to the park only runs on an hourly basis. The whole journey takes about 2 hours. However it does stop right outside the park. It’s the same coming back only in reverse order. On their buses you receive your ticket on entering & pay on leaving having to tender the exact fare.
The visitor numbers to the island in 2008 were over 5 million from Japan but only 188,000 from elsewhere in the world. Like many other places on entering the country you are finger-printed & photographed.
The climate is sub-tropical & is much the same as in Hawaii.”
Filed under: Singapore | Tags: Big Lottery Fund, Far East, Heroes Return, Singapore
Watch Fergus Anckorn on the BBC’s HARDtalk programme talking about his time spent in Singapore and Thailand during World War II.
Fergus returned to the Far East in November 2009 with a grant from Heroes Return
Filed under: Far East, Singapore | Tags: BIG, Big Lottery Fund, British Pacific and East Indies Fleets Association, egypt. world war 2, Heroes Return, Heroes Return 2, HMS Victorious, HR2, Lottery Funding, Malaysia, Penang, Singapore, veterans, WW2, WWII
Second World War Royal Navy veterans from across the UK are flying out to Singapore and Malaysia next week (28thJanuary) to pay their respects for the final time to the comrades that lost their lives in the Pacific. The veterans are part of a 127 strong party from the British Pacific and East Indies Fleets Association
It is the final time the veterans, most now in their 80s and 90s, are travelling as a group to pay their respects in Singapore and on the Malaysian island of Penang.
One member of the association making the trip is Mr Victor Gray who lives in Plymouth and first joined the Royal Navy in September 1943 just after his 18th birthday. Victor, who is now 85, was chosen to be trained as a specialist radio operator, intercepting the enemy radio transmissions and in 1944 travelled to the Far East on the aircraft carrier HMS Victorious via the Mediterranean and North Africa.
Victor explains: “We went to India and became part of the East Indies Fleet. We then set sail for Palembang and in a battle with the Japanese over two or three days we managed to destroy a third of the Japanese oil supplies. After that we travelled down to Sydney where we joined what then became the British Pacific Fleet. It was so hot, you could fry an egg on the flight deck and I actually saw that done more than once.
To find out more about Victor’s story and the Heroes Return 2 programme visit our programme page
http://www2.biglotteryfund.org.uk/pr_220110_uk_hr_last_hurrah_for_wwii_veterans
Filed under: Far East | Tags: BIG, Big Lottery Fund, Death Railway, Far East, Heroes Return, Heroes Return 2, Hong Kong, Jack Fowler, Japanese, Keelung Harbour, Kinhaseki, Kinkasekid, Lottery Funding, National Lottery, Pearl Fowler, POW, Prisoner of War, Second World War. WW2, Singapore, Stanley Market, WWII
Pearl Fowler went back to the Far East with her husband who served there during the Second World and was the taken as a Prisoner of War. Pearl has recorded some of the most memorable parts of their trip.
Thursday
Arrived with time to spare despite traffic. In duty free, do I treat myself?
Friday
Arrived in Hong Kong. Lost camera and spectacles, not to worry. Lovely meal in hotel and so to bed as very exhausted
Saturday
Selling poppies at Great Pacific Mall in Central Hong Kong with fellow travellers
Sunday
Remembrance Service in Central Hong Kong. Talking with Captain Alex Butterfield about being released by the Americans. Laying poppy wreaths at cenotaph. Went to Sai Wan Cemetery finding gravestones of several Suffolks, which was very emotional. Visited and left poppy cross at Jack Edwards grave, a very emotional day.
Monday
A day of shopping at Stanley Market. An experience travelling 1 hr by local bus and trying to barter with stall holders. It was very hot and clammy
Tuesday
Had a meal at the revolving restaurant, then onto the peak. Wonderful views, an exceptional day
Wed
Short flight and long car journey to reach hotel, settled in and got an early night as busy day tomorrow.
Thursday
Visit the campsite of the copper mine Kinkasekid and the mining museum which has now become a tourist destination. Followed by visit to Keelung Harbour where all the prisoners landed after their long sea trips on the hell ships. From here they were taken by train so far and then a 10 mile march up a very steep track to the campsite carrying whatever kit they still had in their possession.
Friday
Historical & cultural tour
Saturday
Jungle campsite for memorial service, all the locals were there to greet the P.O.W.’s with a band playing, drums beating and bugles playing. Met 90 yr old farmer who remembered the P.O.W’s time
Sun
Memorial services at Kinhaseki. Laying of wreaths. Last post played by trumpeter Andrew Tsao. Bagpipers played by Mal Turner whilst wreaths were laid. Prayers by Rev Diane Womg. Very emotional time when P.O.W’s paid tributes.
