251(OY)Bty & 85th Anti-Tank Regt, RA
The 85th A-Tank Regiment, newly formed at Clacton-on-Sea, was being readied for an overseas tasking. It was to be sent to Basra, Iraq.
The Regt left Greenock (on the Clyde) on 12/11/1941 as part of a military convoy WS12Z, stopping at Freetown, Sierra Leone for re-fuelling, and next down to S Africa. As a consequence of the Japanese intervention of the war, certain units and ships in this convoy were re-routed to Singapore (including the 85th AT Regt). Setting sail again from Durban on 24/12/1941, in convoy WS12ZM (M for Malaya), this convoy became convoy DM1, 370 miles due east of Mombasa, Kenya (Indian Ocean) and arrived at Singapore on 13/1/1942.
Following their disembarkation, the Regiment was involved in numerous battles against the advancing Japanese forces after being sent north into the Malayan jungles.
For more of this story you’ll need to read on…
Much of the source material has been gathered from numerous documents available at the National Archives (TNA), the IWM, Ancestry & Fold3, CWGC, FEPOW, COFEPOW, TBRC (Thailand-Burma Railway Centre), the Taiwan POW Memorial Society, the Roger Mansell Group; and books by Gregory Mincho, David Nelson and many other sources for which I acknowledge. Further information had been supplied by some of the men who had served in the Regiment.
All of this was researched by three collaborators whose relatives were amongst the survivors, plus myself. This collaboration labelled itself “ELTZ” using the first letter of each surname [Andrew Easterbrook, Mick Luxford, Walter Tuttlebee & Bruno Zaoral]
Andrew, as well as maintaining the ELTZ database spreadsheet, has made many visits to the NA at Kew, London travelling from his home in western Canada, to obtain copies of the many documents held there.
Bruno, a Canadian from eastern Canada, has been very active in many WW2 forums/blogs on the internet, also he accurately researched the movement of the military sea convoy using daily coordinates from the logs of convoy WS12Z (including WS12ZM) and USS Mount Vernon. Bruno is now compiling individual ‘family trees’, for each member of the 85th AT Regt, and are available on Ancestry.
Walter, has also been very active, from a few years back, in internet blogs and making contact with the TBRC and FEPOW.
The ‘ELTZ’ group has amassed a very large collection of information regarding the men and movements of the 85th AT Regt (probably more about this regiment in one place than held by any other organisation), for some men, more than others.
(There are far too many sources to be named and noted throughout the following text. It would disrupt the flow of the ‘story’.
If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you are reading it in English, thank a veteran.
This first page covers the ‘birth’ of the Regiment and its journey to Singapore.
The 63rd (Oxfordshire Yeomanry) Anti-Tank Regt had been on duty in N Ireland in 1941 when it was ordered to make one Battery available to join a new regiment being formed at Clacton-on-Sea, Essex (Butlins Holiday Camp). The nominated Battery was to be 251 Bty from Banbury. Chosen because it had been the current battery which had been placed as Divisional Reserve and therefore would not disrupt the allocation of the other batteries to the various supported units. 251 Battery sailed from N Ireland, with just their personal equipment, back to the British mainland on 27/9/1941 and joined with the three other batteries also directed to make up the 85th Anti-Tank Regt (45 Bty, of the 20th AT Regt; 270 Bty, of the 68th AT Regt; and 281 Bty, of the 70th AT Regt).
The 20th AT Regt had been in Dorset in September 1941, with 45 Bty at Cattistock (about 8 miles from Dorchester) when it was posted to join the 85th AT Regt.
The 63rd AT Regt had been in N Ireland in September 1941, with 251 Bty at Portrush, County Antrim when it was posted to join the 85th AT Regt.
The 68th AT Regt had been in north-east England in September 1941 when 270 Bty was posted to join the 85th AT Regt.
The 70th AT Regt had been in West Sussex in September 1941, with 281 Bty at Storrington (north of Worthing) when it was posted to join the 85th AT Regt.
The Commanding Officer (CO) of this new Regiment was Acting Lt-Col Andrew John Lardner-Clarke. He had been promoted to Acting Major on 15/3/1940, then to Substantive Major on 31/1/1941. He had previously been in the 68th AT Regt as Bty Commander (BC) of 269 Bty (this wasn’t the battery which had been cross-posted to the 85th AT). The new Regimental Headquarters (RHQ) also came from the 68th AT Regt along with 270 Bty.
At Clacton-on-Sea, the Regiment occupied Butlins Holiday Camp, along with the John Groom’s Orphanage and the Flower Girls’ Home. The officers and men were kitted out with tropical uniforms, and supplied with new vehicles and 2pdr AT guns, all painted in a ‘desert-sand’ colour – a clue as to where they were heading ? Rumour swiftly circulated that it was most likely to be Egypt or N Africa, but was in fact to be Basra, Iraq.
ELTZ has only found photos of the RHQ and 251 Bty, despite numerous attempts to locate photos of the other batteries, plus any photos of the RASC Section (attached to the 85th AT Regt). We assume that these batteries must had similar opportunities to arrange for this to happen. If anyone visiting this website knows of their existence, we would be very interested in hearing from you – please contact me at qooheditor@btinternet.com thank you. Left-clicking on any of the photos will enlarge them to enhance your viewing.
In a similar timescale to the above, a Section of RASC personnel were being assembled who would become attached to the 85th AT Regt. This Section comprised of Capt BJHA O’Reilly, RASC and 2/Lt GE Moore, RASC with 85 other ranks. They originally formed at Guildford, Surrey then a few days later moved to Weybridge, Surrey. From here these men were sent away on various trade courses, hurriedly improving their skills for the task before them. Their role would be to keep the 85th AT Regt supplied with rations, water, fuel and ammunition. It is believed that this Section travelled in the same sea convoy, even the same ship (SS Narkunda) as the 85th, until Durban, but here it is believed that they were told to change to another ship for the remainder of the journey. It is believed this RASC Section travelled from Durban to Singapore aboard the MV Aorangi as the only other troopship in the DM1 convoy sailing from Durban (at present there is no evidence to either prove or disprove this). It is because of this attachment to the 85th, their casualties are also recorded along with the Regiment’s.
Embarkation and the journey to Durban, S Africa
On the 10/11/1941, the 85th Anti-Tank Regt travelled by train to Greenock, nr Glasgow, on the Clyde, with its vehicles and guns driven up a few days earlier. On the 11/11/1941 (Armistice Day) the 85th boarded the SS Narkunda [an ex-P&O liner which had been converted from coal to oil in 1927, thus extending its career and had a top speed of 17.5 knots] which was to take them to Basra, Iraq (for security reasons this wasn’t known by the troops until they had set sail). In peacetime the ship would carry 673 passengers, plus crew; on this occasion she carried around 1750-1800 troops. Converted to a troopship, the swimming pool and other such luxuries had been removed. The SS Narkunda was not travelling alone, but part a large convoy. Between them, 11 of the merchant ships in this convoy carried nearly 22,000 personnel. Besides the 85th AT Regt, the SS Narkunda carried the 232 Sqn RAF, and the 35th LAA Regt RA. The SS Narkunda left the port on 12/11/1941 [just before mid-night – superstition dictating that it was bad luck to begin a voyage on the 13th], moving out of the harbour to join the remainder of the convoy (WS12Z) forming off Oversay Island, Inner Hebrides. The ships in this convoy sailed from both Liverpool and the Clyde.
The WS convoys were so named using the initials of ‘Winston Specials’ as the first convoy was organised on the explicit orders of the Prime Minister.
As the potential attacks from Libya and East Africa were such as to threaten not only the Suez Canal but also, eventually, the oil resources of Iraq and Persia [Iran], it became necessary to reinforce the Egyptian garrison. Despite the possible events at home therefore, troops, as well equipped as could be from the depleted arsenals in Britain, were sent via the Cape of Good Hope to Egypt to form what became known as the Desert Army (later officially titled the 8th Army) under General Wavell. With the rising menace in the Far East, when Japan entered war in December 1941, troop convoys to sustain India were also required. This need was satisfied by extending the WS series, an arrangement that continued until mid-1943.
Total figures for troops lifted in troop convoys are not easily calculable, but the ships involved normally carried between 2,000 and 3,000 troops apiece, which will give some idea of the effort involved. Furthermore, the convoys were not simply a transport of soldiers; each WS convoy conveyed a complete military formation of many thousands of troops plus their personal baggage and equipment, stores, MT, artillery, armour, ammunition etc, so that the entire force, on arrival, formed a complete fighting unit at Divisional level.
During the research carried out by the ELTZ collaboration we found the route the WS12Z took, from 12th November 1941 to 30th Dec 1941, was generally documented in books and on the internet. However, once WS12Z-M was joined by USS Mount Vernon and became convoy DM1, not much was known. It was this which prompted ELTZ to find the accurate route taken. Andrew photographed the Admiralty log at the National Archives in Kew for the WS12Z and WS12Z-M. ELTZ was able to plot the exact daily longitude and latitude from 13th November 1941 to 10:00 am 30th December 1941. Bruno found the Admiralty log for the HMS Durban for the time she escorted convoy DM1 on 9th, 10th and 11th January 1942, only partial coordinates for convoy DM1. Bruno then contacted the US National Archive and ordered the deck logs for the USS Mount Vernon. The logs provide the longitude and latitude 3-times per day. With this information, the daily longitude and latitude were plotted on a map of the N and S Atlantic, the Indian Ocean, the Java Sea, and S China Sea for the entire voyage of convoy DM1. Hence ELTZ now had the most accurate route (convoys WS12Z, WS12Z-M and DM1) taken by the 85th and other units which made up this rescue military force.
From Britain, the first pause in the journey was at Freetown, where the shorter legged Atlantic liners and the coal burners required fuel, and for the whole convoy, water, both boiler feed and potable. Water supplies were also a problem in that Freetown, while certainly not bereft of rainfall, possessed only minimal reservoir capacity which was very easily overwhelmed by large demands. Finally, Freetown was, basically, an anchorage where all supplies had to be loaded by hand from lighters (in the case of coal), or by water boats which were also in short supply.
From Freetown the next call was South Africa; here again the size of these convoys caused problems as neither Capetown nor Durban could accommodate the whole convoy, hence the ships had to be divided between the two ports, duly sailing and re‑assembling off Durban for the onward passage.
From Durban the normal pattern was for ships to proceed northward to the latitude of Mombasa, there dividing, with the Bombay ships steaming East, and the Suez contingent going North to Perim where the convoy dispersed and proceeded to Suez independently.
Troops destined for Singapore (and therefore a dreadful fate at the hands of the Japanese) were in ships detached from the main body after Durban and sent direct to Singapore in a series of three convoys designated ‘DM’ (Durban Malaya).
This (WS 12Z) convoy of 16 ships, both passenger and cargo (Adrastus, Mataroa, Narkunda, Orduna, Deucalion, Empire Star, Duchess of Bedford, Aorangi, Empress of Japan, Monarch of Bermuda, Abbekerk, Sussex, Empress of Asia, Capetown Castle, Rimutaka, and Arundel Castle) was escorted by the destroyers Badsworth, Exmoor, Vanquisher, Whitehall and Witch, from 13-16 Nov 1941, and Maori from 13-17 Nov 1941. These escorts changed several times as it made its way south through the North Atlantic, into the South Atlantic. The destroyers Foresight, Forester and Fury joined from 16-19 Nov 1941. The battleship Royal Sovereign accompanied by the destroyers Dulverton and Southwold escorted from 16-24 Nov 1941. Approaching Freetown, Sierra Leone, the destroyers Velox and Vimy joined on 21 Nov 1941, and the corvette Clover on 22 Nov 1941, arriving at Freetown on 25/11/1941. The convoy had several attack attempts by German U-boats but suffered no casualties. The convoy made a brief stop (25-28 Nov) in Freetown, to re-fuel but no shore leave was granted. The convoy sailed from Freetown on 28/11/1941 escorted by the destroyers Dulverton and Southwold from 28 Nov-14 Dec 1941, the sloop Milford and corvettes Hollyhock, and Verbena from 28 Nov-15 Dec 1941, with the corvettes Aster and Marguerite from 15-18 Dec 1941. The battleship Royal Sovereign escorted throughout the passage to Durban, where the convoy arrived on 18/12/1941.
Life at sea – for most of the men this would have been their first time at sea. The ships were full, some even overloaded, and did not provide the luxuries of a ‘cruise experience’ ! The Commodore of the convoy (onboard the Narkunda), on the night of the 16th November 1941, just 4 days into their journey, records the following: “The night … could not have been worse …” Recounting some unexpected challenges to a planned change of course in the night, he writes “The Narkunda gave her most devastating roll at the moment when lunch reached the tables. Everything loose in the ship fetched away. One of the life-boats broke adrift and was lost. The food was scooped up from the scuppers and thence re-served to those of the soldiery who might still be described as expectant.” Another account of this was given by one of the men of the 85th: “In the Bay of Biscay our ship turned the wrong way, something I believe to do with the tide, and nearly turned over. At the time I was flat on the deck having been seasick, and looked straight down in to the sea, and had a struggle to hang on. Two lifebelt boxes broke loose and crashed against the safety barriers, also two lifeboats came away and crashed into the sea, then bobbed away on the waves. The battleship ‘The Royal Sovereign’ drew alongside, waiting to rescue men, thinking we were sinking. The Narkunda rolled back slowly and righted itself, I believe some men were injured and had limbs broken.”
Sailing south from Freetown the ships were fast approaching the equator. The troops had heard about ‘Crossing the Line’, a traditional naval ritual / celebration / initiation for those crossing the equator for the first time. The captain put a damper on any emerging plans however, issuing a statement: “The Captain gives notice that he will look most severely on any unseemly behaviour or departure from normal routine on the occasion of crossing nought degrees latitude”.
On 7th December 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, and on 8th December, Japanese forces invaded Malaya, Thailand and Hong Kong. This act of aggression was to change the fortunes of the men of the 85th AT Regt, and many thousands of others.
Arrival at Durban
The convoy arrived in Durban, S Africa, on 18th December 1941. Owing to a decision made prior to the arrival of convoy WS12Z, by the British government, the Captain of the SS Narkunda was asked if he had charts for passage to Singapore, to which he replied in the affirmative – thus the decision was made for the 85th AT (and other units aboard) to go and help save Singapore ! This may have been the first the men knew of the change of plan, but the fate of the 85th to go to Malaya had actually been sealed a couple of weeks previously, on 11th December, on which day the War Office decided to divert assets, including the 85th, who were headed for the Middle East, to go to Malaya. Because of the decision to send only part of the convoy, there were several changes needing to be made to the units and the ships they had travelled in.
On the day before the ships’ arrival in Durban, the small staff there of the Imperial Movement Command (Impcon) received a signal from London advising changes of destination for various regiments. The number of men destined for Malaya was to be increased to 5418. Just 18 hours later further changes were notified, revising this figure downward to 3838. The changes required the transhipment of considerable numbers of personnel and equipment between ships, requiring four ships to be emptied and refilled of their cargo and troops. The Narkunda and the Aorangi would carry the extra men to Singapore
Realtime replanning and rerouting at such short notice was no trivial exercise. Despite awareness at the highest political levels of the likely entry of Japan into the war, at an operational level, the British military appear to have been ill prepared. The confused reality on the ground was reflected in graphic detail in a later statement from one of the Impcon staff in Durban: “Never had our staff officers known so many changes of destinations, of units on board. These changes continued to come in from London up to 3 hours before arrival of the convoy. We had then been working 48 hours without sleep, planning the convoy and tearing up the plan and movement orders as changes took place. The last major alteration which arrived by immediate signal from London, was concluded by a message from the Director of Movements to the effect that it was appreciated that these last-minute alterations gave us an almost impossible task to achieve but, having regard to the gravity of the Far East position, he knew we would do all in our power to get the convoys through as directed”.
Whilst in Durban the troops were allowed to disembark and went on shore leave until required back on board.
5 of the ships in the convoy (Monarch of Bermuda, Empress of Asia, Rimutaka, Mataroa and Arundel Castle) remained in Durban. The 11 remaining ships of the WS12Z convoy left Durban on 24/12/41, joined by 4 new ships (Aronda, Eastern Prince, Indrapoera, and Nieuw Amsterdam) escorted by the battleship Royal Sovereign and were split into 3 detachments. The WS12ZA (Aden) convoy (Aronda, Eastern Prince, Nieuw Amsterdam and Orduna), escorted by the cruiser Colombo made for a point off Aden, there dispersing for Suez arriving on 4/1/42. Convoy WS12ZB (Bombay) (Adrastus, Capetown Castle, Deucalion, Duchess of Bedford, Empire Star, Empress of Japan, Indrapoera and Orizaba) made for Bombay, escorted by the cruiser Cornwall, arriving at Bombay on 6/1/42.
On 30/12/42, convoy WS12ZM (Malaya) became convoy DM 1, 370 miles due east of Mombasa when USS Mount Vernon rendezvoused with convoy WS12ZM [this, the first use of the designation, which stood for “Durban Malaya” and was the first of a series of three convoys to reinforce the Singapore garrison]. Narkunda, Aorangi, Sussex, Abbekerk and Mount Vernon made for Singapore, escorted initially by the cruiser Emerald (which had brought out the Mount Vernon from Mombasa).
On 4/1/1942 at a fuelling stop at “Port T” (Addu Atoll) the escort was reinforced by the cruisers Durban and Exeter and sloop Jumna from 9/1/1942. The destroyers Encounter, Jupiter and Vampire joined from 10/1/1942 until the convoy arrived at Singapore on 13/1/1942. The 85th AT Regt had remained aboard the SS Narkunda all the way from Greenock to Singapore. The USS Mount Vernon, an American ship, had carried more than 5,000 British troops from Halifax, Canada to Singapore, these included 221 officers and 4882 men of the 53rd Infantry Brigade.
From “Port T” (Addu Atoll) the convoy sailed, on 5/1/1942, towards the narrow Sunda Strait, passing the volcanic island of Krakatoa to its port side. Then heading eastbound to the Sunda Strait (between Java and Sumatra, from the south of Krakatoa). Sailed NE into the Java Sea, then northbound through the Bangka Strait (between Sumatra and Bangka islands). Sailed northbound, east of Berhali island (in the S China Sea), continuing northbound, east of Lingga island, and east of Bintan island, where they turned westbound to Singapore.
As the DM 1 convoy approached Singapore, the danger was increasing; by mid-January Japanese planes had been deployed on airfields in southern Malaya and were now flying largely unhindered over Singapore. Thus, around 4am on the 12th January 1942, the convoy was ordered into keel line, a single column formation, as protection against an aerial attack.
At 9am 12/1/42, HMS Emerald was warned to expect a formation of 95 dive bombers and fighters that had been spotted heading seaward from Singapore. Fortunately, by 10am a huge tropical squall had enveloped the entire convoy, just prior to the arrival of the Japanese aircraft fifteen minutes later. On board the ships, the noise of aircraft engines could be clearly heard by sailors on deck; by 10.45am the sound was fading, and the danger had passed. The convoy had been spared by the sudden change in weather.
Arrival at Singapore
The DM 1 convoy arrived in Singapore on 13th January 1942. The Mount Vernon (largest troopship) and Sussex headed to the naval base in the Johore Strait, NE of Singapore island; Narkunda and the other ships headed to Keppel Harbour, on the southern tip of Singapore island. The 85th disembarked at No 13 Dock at 13.00hrs after being held below decks for 15 mins due to an air raid. [When one remembers that the original convoy which left Britain on the 12th November (to avoid setting sail on the 13th, because it was deemed to bring bad-luck), one wonders how all these men must have felt if they had realised that they had arrived at Dock 13; at 13.00hrs; on the 13th January ? !] This was a journey of 2 months and 2 days (63 days in total).
They are then transported to Birdwood Camp, part of the British military base in the Changi area on the east of the island. They were billeted with the Indian DOGRA Regiment (one of the most decorated regiments of the Indian Army) of the 11th Indian Division. The 85th AT Regt become part of the 11th Indian Division, under Major-Gen B.W. Key [which was itself part of III Indian Corps (Northern Area) under Lt. Gen Sir Lewis Heath]. The men were then given 12 hours leave. This is mainly down to the fact that their equipment is taking time to offload.
The equipment and ammunition for the troops onboard the Narkunda had been shipped on the MV Abbekerk, but due to the fact it carried a large volume of explosives and ammunition, it dropped anchor offshore at some distance from the other ships. Besides the stores, vehicles and guns for the 85th AT Regt it carried the AA guns and equipment for the 35th LAA Regt, and 10 crated Hurricane fighter planes. On both sides, barges went alongside and the crates with the Hurricanes were taken ashore immediately. Next were the AA guns and AT guns and vehicles. But this was taking a long time with the civilian port workforce refusing to handle the explosives, needing soldiers to perform this task until the barges ceased arrive.
The 85th AT Regt had arrived at Singapore, but were they ready to fight a war of which they had not been trained for, they knew nothing of jungle-warfare or of the tactics of the Japanese who had been at war since 1937.
When you go home, tell them of us and say, For your tomorrow, we gave our today.
John Maxwell Edmonds
Now go to the next page [Into Battle] to read of the battles in Malaya and the attempted fight to save Singapore.
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