John Kerr, the early days in Rangoon Jail
(including his remarkable friendship with Cpl. John William Leese).
John Kerr on liberation day, 3rd May 1945.
This is the continuation of the personal diary for Lieutenant John Murray Kerr, the commander of Rifle Platoon 8 from Chindit Column 5. The diary was written whilst John Kerr was a prisoner of war and a captive inside Rangoon Central Jail. The second instalment of the diary takes up his story from the journey down to the Burmese capital in late March 1943, up until late May of the same year.
The first instalment of the diary can be seen here: Lieut. John Kerr and the Fighting Men of Kyaik-in
Not surprisingly the daily entries concentrate mainly on John's attempts to manage the battle wounds he suffered just before he was captured at Kyaik-in. This was to prove a difficult process, as medical supplies were few and far between inside the jail and the Japanese willingness to administer any aid was minimal.
Perhaps the most significant theme running through the diary entries is the developing bond of comradeship between Lieutenant Kerr and Corporal John William Leese. Kerr and Leese were part of different Chindit Columns at the outset of Operation Longcloth, but had met up when a small group of Chindit POW's were moved down to Rangoon from their previous place of internment at Myitkhina. None of the men had been aware of the others presence at Myitkhina as all prisoners were kept in solitary confinement.
As you will read in the text below, once inside Rangoon Jail Corporal Leese and Lieutenant Kerr are kept together in the same cell for several weeks and Leese takes on the role of caring for the wounded officer.
The diary begins on the 29th March 1943:
29th: I was told today that I would be transferred to Rangoon as soon as the railway was open again.
31st: Leave for Rangoon this evening. The doctor let me take all the English books he gave me to read. Met up with three British soldiers: Cpl. JW. Leese, Column 8 and Ptes. Hose and Ashcroft from Column 7. There were also three Gurkhas, one of whom was with Column 1.
April 1st: Arrived at Naba junction. No travelling throughout the day. Kept in the jungle whilst Jap guards cleaned their rifles. Given cold coffee. At Myitkhina I had started a vocabulary of Japanese words, it came to about 70 words.
April 2nd: Arrived at Kambalu, an air-raid with six big planes began just 200 yards away. Very unpleasant with metal fragments flying everywhere.
3rd: Arrived at Mandalay at dawn. Then to hospital where Burmese nurses dressed my wound which is beginning to stink. Taken by bullock-cart to Irrawaddy bank then crossed bridge on foot to the railway track.
NB. The RAF had previously destroyed part of the Ava Bridge near Mandalay and this had made it impossible to cross the river by train. John Kerr obviously walked over the bridge, but many of the Chindit POW's were ferried over the river in boats, before boarding another train on the eastern bank.
4th: Arrived at Rangoon at dawn.
5th: I was taken to Block 5, Cell 69. Allowed my books. Cpl. Leese in the cell room with me to help me with food and w.c etc. Other British soldiers two cells away, with Gurkhas opposite. The Japs find the Gurkhas fascinating, they cannot believe they are not from China.
NB. Block 5 was the solitary confinement block at Rangoon.
6th: The prison consists of a large square with blocks of cells each with a surrounding wall, with a small w.c and washing building. It is of the old fashioned type with thick walls, two floors with twenty cells each side. Cells are 14' x 8' in dimension with a barred door and large bolt operated from the outside. Windows are barred and of no use against the rain, the floor is stone, the walls are whitewashed down until the last two foot, which is blackwashed.
There is a planked roof 16' high to the rafters. Officers are given a mosquito net and a wooden bed raised 6" from the ground. Officers and Other Ranks are issued a small ration tin, and a blanket. Two .303 ammunition boxes are used for w.c. purposes. All ranks stand to attention and bow in the presence of any Jap guard. Cells are filthy and vermin of all kinds are present. Officers are given a small amount of w.c. paper, but Other Ranks none.
7th: Fed three times a day, when a coolie brings rice supervised by a Jap with a stick. Discovered that Leese and I are lousy. I have had the same clothes on since 15th March. We pick at the lice every day to keep them down. Other foods include: boiled eggs, green lettuce-like leaves, soup with some odd lumps of meat in it and occasionally porridge. We are also given tea, but with no milk or sugar. Washing facilities are poor, prisoners can have a quick swill at the well after breakfast, but not for me as I don't leave my cell. We have five American and four RAF Airmen on our floor.
8th: My daily routine in solitary is:
Revelle by bugle at 0830 hours, followed by inspection.
Breakfast at 1000, then empty w.c boxes.
Dinner at 1400, followed by inspection by Japanese guard.
Supper at 1930 hours, then dark by 2015 hours.
9th: Wound treated with antiseptic solution, steadily healing although still no inspection of the bones.
NB. John had been continually worried that apart from the obvious flesh wound in his leg, there may have been bone damage as well.
10th: Asked officer for a bath, have still not 'officially' washed since my arrival in jail.
12th: Issued with a number written a small piece of white cloth, my number is 362. Leese has diarrhoea and is given powders which a very good and work immediately.
13th: Able to wash myself and clothes today. Interrogated by a civilian interpreter who tells me that the 'chief of my regiment' has been captured.
15th: Found blood in my stool and have dysentery. Given six powders. Feel very weak, moved to Cell 34 on the ground floor, Leese still with me.
18th: Started to count my blessings: shattered leg, lousy, dysentery, prisoner of war in Jap hands. Asked doctor about future treatment of my leg, he immediately suggested amputation. I clearly have not lost my sense of irony.
22nd: Inoculated with a liquid looking like mentholated spirits. New food for breakfast; tomatoes and juice. Up until the 19th April this diary has been written in arrears whilst in Rangoon Prison. Leese is beginning to get restless at our close confinement.
25th: My birthday, but there is just one 'happy return' that I'm waiting for. I know Mum and Dad will be thinking of me especially today. Still have diarrhoea, eating very little. Give my uneaten rations to Cpl. Leese or throw it into the benjee-box (toilet box).
27th: Food is improving with the addition of some fish and onions to the rice.
28th: Wound has almost healed over, feeling stronger, longing for fats and sugar.
29th: Leg inspected by the doctor in my cell, first time since my first day of arrival. Discharge of pus from my ankle.
May 1st: Cpl. Leese given a razor by the medical orderly, we both shave.
Seen below are some images in relation to this story, including the telegram sent to John Kerr's parents informing them of his 'missing in action' status as of the 6th March 1943. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
The first instalment of the diary can be seen here: Lieut. John Kerr and the Fighting Men of Kyaik-in
Not surprisingly the daily entries concentrate mainly on John's attempts to manage the battle wounds he suffered just before he was captured at Kyaik-in. This was to prove a difficult process, as medical supplies were few and far between inside the jail and the Japanese willingness to administer any aid was minimal.
Perhaps the most significant theme running through the diary entries is the developing bond of comradeship between Lieutenant Kerr and Corporal John William Leese. Kerr and Leese were part of different Chindit Columns at the outset of Operation Longcloth, but had met up when a small group of Chindit POW's were moved down to Rangoon from their previous place of internment at Myitkhina. None of the men had been aware of the others presence at Myitkhina as all prisoners were kept in solitary confinement.
As you will read in the text below, once inside Rangoon Jail Corporal Leese and Lieutenant Kerr are kept together in the same cell for several weeks and Leese takes on the role of caring for the wounded officer.
The diary begins on the 29th March 1943:
29th: I was told today that I would be transferred to Rangoon as soon as the railway was open again.
31st: Leave for Rangoon this evening. The doctor let me take all the English books he gave me to read. Met up with three British soldiers: Cpl. JW. Leese, Column 8 and Ptes. Hose and Ashcroft from Column 7. There were also three Gurkhas, one of whom was with Column 1.
April 1st: Arrived at Naba junction. No travelling throughout the day. Kept in the jungle whilst Jap guards cleaned their rifles. Given cold coffee. At Myitkhina I had started a vocabulary of Japanese words, it came to about 70 words.
April 2nd: Arrived at Kambalu, an air-raid with six big planes began just 200 yards away. Very unpleasant with metal fragments flying everywhere.
3rd: Arrived at Mandalay at dawn. Then to hospital where Burmese nurses dressed my wound which is beginning to stink. Taken by bullock-cart to Irrawaddy bank then crossed bridge on foot to the railway track.
NB. The RAF had previously destroyed part of the Ava Bridge near Mandalay and this had made it impossible to cross the river by train. John Kerr obviously walked over the bridge, but many of the Chindit POW's were ferried over the river in boats, before boarding another train on the eastern bank.
4th: Arrived at Rangoon at dawn.
5th: I was taken to Block 5, Cell 69. Allowed my books. Cpl. Leese in the cell room with me to help me with food and w.c etc. Other British soldiers two cells away, with Gurkhas opposite. The Japs find the Gurkhas fascinating, they cannot believe they are not from China.
NB. Block 5 was the solitary confinement block at Rangoon.
6th: The prison consists of a large square with blocks of cells each with a surrounding wall, with a small w.c and washing building. It is of the old fashioned type with thick walls, two floors with twenty cells each side. Cells are 14' x 8' in dimension with a barred door and large bolt operated from the outside. Windows are barred and of no use against the rain, the floor is stone, the walls are whitewashed down until the last two foot, which is blackwashed.
There is a planked roof 16' high to the rafters. Officers are given a mosquito net and a wooden bed raised 6" from the ground. Officers and Other Ranks are issued a small ration tin, and a blanket. Two .303 ammunition boxes are used for w.c. purposes. All ranks stand to attention and bow in the presence of any Jap guard. Cells are filthy and vermin of all kinds are present. Officers are given a small amount of w.c. paper, but Other Ranks none.
7th: Fed three times a day, when a coolie brings rice supervised by a Jap with a stick. Discovered that Leese and I are lousy. I have had the same clothes on since 15th March. We pick at the lice every day to keep them down. Other foods include: boiled eggs, green lettuce-like leaves, soup with some odd lumps of meat in it and occasionally porridge. We are also given tea, but with no milk or sugar. Washing facilities are poor, prisoners can have a quick swill at the well after breakfast, but not for me as I don't leave my cell. We have five American and four RAF Airmen on our floor.
8th: My daily routine in solitary is:
Revelle by bugle at 0830 hours, followed by inspection.
Breakfast at 1000, then empty w.c boxes.
Dinner at 1400, followed by inspection by Japanese guard.
Supper at 1930 hours, then dark by 2015 hours.
9th: Wound treated with antiseptic solution, steadily healing although still no inspection of the bones.
NB. John had been continually worried that apart from the obvious flesh wound in his leg, there may have been bone damage as well.
10th: Asked officer for a bath, have still not 'officially' washed since my arrival in jail.
12th: Issued with a number written a small piece of white cloth, my number is 362. Leese has diarrhoea and is given powders which a very good and work immediately.
13th: Able to wash myself and clothes today. Interrogated by a civilian interpreter who tells me that the 'chief of my regiment' has been captured.
15th: Found blood in my stool and have dysentery. Given six powders. Feel very weak, moved to Cell 34 on the ground floor, Leese still with me.
18th: Started to count my blessings: shattered leg, lousy, dysentery, prisoner of war in Jap hands. Asked doctor about future treatment of my leg, he immediately suggested amputation. I clearly have not lost my sense of irony.
22nd: Inoculated with a liquid looking like mentholated spirits. New food for breakfast; tomatoes and juice. Up until the 19th April this diary has been written in arrears whilst in Rangoon Prison. Leese is beginning to get restless at our close confinement.
25th: My birthday, but there is just one 'happy return' that I'm waiting for. I know Mum and Dad will be thinking of me especially today. Still have diarrhoea, eating very little. Give my uneaten rations to Cpl. Leese or throw it into the benjee-box (toilet box).
27th: Food is improving with the addition of some fish and onions to the rice.
28th: Wound has almost healed over, feeling stronger, longing for fats and sugar.
29th: Leg inspected by the doctor in my cell, first time since my first day of arrival. Discharge of pus from my ankle.
May 1st: Cpl. Leese given a razor by the medical orderly, we both shave.
Seen below are some images in relation to this story, including the telegram sent to John Kerr's parents informing them of his 'missing in action' status as of the 6th March 1943. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
John Kerr's diary continues:
May 2nd: Two doctors came and dressed my wound, then invested two large aquaflavine wads with a probe in the bullet hole in my ankle. Leese given the task of washing out my bandages every day, but these are not sterilised at all.
4th: Cpl. Leese has nasty spots on his backside, think these might be impetigo from scratching with dirty nails.
5-6th: Doctor came, both wounds are fairly large and open again. Scissors used to clean up ankle wound, no anaesthetic so very sore. I'm sure there is an element of sadism in their (Japanese) characters.
8th: Ankle wound is slowly closing, but lots of pus from the other wound which is now gaping. All bandages cleaned by Cpl. Leese. Promised him a very expensive dinner when we get out of here. Food is a frequent topic of his conversation, he misses his English food.
10th: Yesterday, propaganda newspapers, (Greater Asia, published every Sunday in Rangoon) distributed. Began a big drive against lice, took to wearing only a loin cloth (small towel that prisoner's called a 'jap-happy'). Reading as many books as I can. Read 'Ten Stories of Dickens'. I can think of no modern writer, except perhaps Priestley, who makes the characters walk from the page so realistically.
16th: Today the medical orderly borrowed my comb and so in return I asked to have his scissors as a sort of 'quid pro quo'. He coughed up and Leese and I had a great time cutting each others hair. We also cut our beards down to just three days stumble and then cut out finger and toe nails. Sadly, the day ended badly as I received my first real beating from a Jap guard who hit me on the side of the face with his open hand.
This evening, rations for the officers only, were supplemented by a small slab of sugar candy. This was a great joy to us. I usually share all special officers food with Cpl. Leese, but by some superhuman will power, he refused all but a very small piece. I can rarely get him to take any of the boiled egg, which has become the regular officers breakfast now.
NB. Officer survival rate inside Rangoon Jail was noticeably higher than that of the Other Ranks. Perhaps this superior access to supplementary foods, like sugar and eggs, played some part in this statistic. The sugar candy mentioned by John Kerr was probably 'jagri' a type of solidified raw sugar popular with Burmese.
17th: More Japanese propaganda newspapers issued today, claims they have occupied Buthidaung in the Arakan.
19th: Yesterday I signed for my POW pay, but none received as yet.
21st: I can't remember if I have mentioned the rats? Since moving to the lower floor I have made the acquaintance of large numbers. After our meals they try to steal the rice spilled between the cells. They often stay with us for the rest of the night and even attempt to share Cpl. Leese's bed. Large flying beetles about two and a half inches long are also a nuisance at night. Tropical rain very regular and heavy now. My ankle wound has healed over and the other one is closing in finally, but still exuding pus. The one on my heel is looking like turning into an ulcer.
22nd: Received my pay; Rs (Rupees) 15 in special notes printed by the Jap Government of Burma. My total pay should be Rs. 85, but I am charged Rs. 60 for messing (food) and Rs. 10 for my Japanese savings bonds. I learned that Other Ranks receive no pay at all until they are released from solitary confinement, after which they are put to work. I have begun to read through a copy of the bible.
NB. By the end of his captivity in Rangoon Jail, John would become the Adjutant for all Allied prisoners and one of his duties was recording POW pay. The Japanese kept back Rs 10 from prisoners in lieu of savings, this was ordered on the assumption that Japan would win the war and that all POW's would eventually re-locate to the Japanese mainland to work. The savings bonds would form part of their pension and help pay for their existence in old age.
24-25th: (John mentions it is one of the family's birthday, but I cannot make out the name). I keep all the family birthdays marked with a cross on my wall calendar, though I'm not likely to forget them. In body I am as weak as a kitten and have been on my back nearly three months now. The slightest effort, such as getting up on one foot to look out of the window, exhausts me for a while.
Cpl. Leese too is much weaker, just through our confined life. Four officers left the block today; bound for God knows where!
NB. In May 1943 seven officers from various units including the Chindits were taken by the Kempai-tai to Singapore for further interrogation. All these men survived their POW experience and were liberated from Changi Jail in November 1945.
26th: Had a bath. Monsoon is setting in and temperatures are dropping considerably. With dinner tonight we had one ounce of brown sugar..delicious.
27th: John talks about the diet inside Rangoon and the reliance on rice as the staple. He correctly forecasts the danger of this diet for European men. It is possible that the outbreak of the disease beri beri, which would end up accounting for many of the Chindit prisoners, had begun to show itself inside Rangoon Jail. He also recalled:
Today I received several articles I ordered with my pay. These were: two hundred cigarettes, one hundred Burmese cigars, two toothbrushes (one for Leese), two bars of soap, one mirror, one pair of scissors, one pair of clogs and three boxes of matches.
The mirror is useful for many purposes besides pandering to vanity. Had a good look at myself; I find I am thinner in the face, with lines on my forehead and eyes sunken quite deep, I remember Leese drew my attention to this weeks before. The clogs are wooden with a loop of rubber nailed over the forward part; these will protect my left foot if I had to get about on my crutches. Ants are beginning to bother us now; they come in at the windows.
Oh! for 'Pen-y-Turnpike' and clean sheets!
NB. 'Pen-y-Turnpike' was the name of John Kerr's family home back in Glamorgan, South Wales.
This is where the diary ends in relation to the early months inside Rangoon Jail and John's period of acclimatisation as a long term prisoner of war. We now turn our attention to Corporal Leese and his Chindit pathway to becoming a prisoner war in 1943:
John William Leese was born on the 4th June 1917. He was the son of Jonathan and Sarah Jane Leese from Longton, a district of Stoke-on-Trent. 5116013 Corporal JW. Leese was originally a member of the 8th Battalion, the Royal Warwickshire Regiment and served with the BEF in France in 1940 and was eventually evacuated from the beaches of Dunkirk in late May that year. He was sent overseas to India sometime during the first half of 1942 and joined Chindit training at the Saugor Camp on the 26th September. John was posted to D' Company of the 13th King's and became a member of 8 Column, commanded by Major Walter Purcell Scott.
According to his prisoner of war index card (seen in the gallery above) Corporal Leese fell into Japanese hands on the 7th March 1943. This is an extremely early date of capture for a Chindit soldier on Operation Longcloth. Around this time 8 Column had been patrolling the area close to the Burmese town of Pinlebu, where gathering intelligence reports had suggested there might be a large garrison of enemy troops. To help illustrate this period of time, here is an extract from the 8 Column War diary:
“4th and 5th March: column moved into the area around Pinlebu, there were said to be 600-1000 enemy troops in this locality. The Burma Rifle Officers had spoken to a native of the area, he turned out to be a Japanese spy and was shot. Water parties were sent out to replenish supplies, these units were engaged by enemy patrols but most managed to disengage and return to the main body”.
More minor clashes with the Japanese were incurred late on 5th March, the column moved to the agreed rendezvous on the Pinlebu-Kame Road. The party halted one mile north of Kame and settled down for the night. Their position was chosen by Major Scott and units were deployed to prevent any Japanese movement toward Pinlebu from this direction.
“At first light on the 6th March, the Sabotage Squad led by Lieutenant Sprague and 16 Platoon set out toward Kame to secure the road block. At about 1100 hours Sprague’s men were attacked by the Japanese from all sides, he called dispersal in an attempt to extract his men, it was here that Lieutenant Callaghan was shot and killed”.
“At 1600 hours the whole column moved away toward the agreed Supply drop rendezvous area.”
It is possible and seems likely that John Leese was involved in the road block set on the Pinlebu-Kame Road and had somehow become separated from his platoon which eventually resulted in him falling into enemy hands on the 7th March. We know that he was taken to a POW Camp at Myitkhina in the far north-eastern sector of Burma, before being transported down to Rangoon Central Jail about three weeks after his initial capture. John Leese and Lieutenant Kerr must have been some of the first Chindit prisoners to reach Rangoon in 1943, with the vast majority of Chindit POW's not arriving until late May or early June after a period of imprisonment at the concentration camp at Maymyo.
After sharing a cell with Lieutenant Kerr for some 8-10 weeks, John Leese, who was given the POW number 94 whilst inside Rangoon Jail was eventually sent over to join the majority of the Chindit Other Ranks in Block 6 of the prison. Here he remained for just over two years before being liberated by Allied personnel from the advancing 14th Army on the 3rd May 1945. Within a few short days the surviving POW's from Rangoon were back in India and recovering from their ordeal in Calcutta General Hospital, both John Leese and John Kerr were amongst these fortunate men.
Seen below are some images in relation to Corporal Leese's story, these include some extracts from the Column 8 War diary for the time around his capture and the action at Pinlebu. Also shown is a map of the area around the Pinlebu-Kame Road. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
May 2nd: Two doctors came and dressed my wound, then invested two large aquaflavine wads with a probe in the bullet hole in my ankle. Leese given the task of washing out my bandages every day, but these are not sterilised at all.
4th: Cpl. Leese has nasty spots on his backside, think these might be impetigo from scratching with dirty nails.
5-6th: Doctor came, both wounds are fairly large and open again. Scissors used to clean up ankle wound, no anaesthetic so very sore. I'm sure there is an element of sadism in their (Japanese) characters.
8th: Ankle wound is slowly closing, but lots of pus from the other wound which is now gaping. All bandages cleaned by Cpl. Leese. Promised him a very expensive dinner when we get out of here. Food is a frequent topic of his conversation, he misses his English food.
10th: Yesterday, propaganda newspapers, (Greater Asia, published every Sunday in Rangoon) distributed. Began a big drive against lice, took to wearing only a loin cloth (small towel that prisoner's called a 'jap-happy'). Reading as many books as I can. Read 'Ten Stories of Dickens'. I can think of no modern writer, except perhaps Priestley, who makes the characters walk from the page so realistically.
16th: Today the medical orderly borrowed my comb and so in return I asked to have his scissors as a sort of 'quid pro quo'. He coughed up and Leese and I had a great time cutting each others hair. We also cut our beards down to just three days stumble and then cut out finger and toe nails. Sadly, the day ended badly as I received my first real beating from a Jap guard who hit me on the side of the face with his open hand.
This evening, rations for the officers only, were supplemented by a small slab of sugar candy. This was a great joy to us. I usually share all special officers food with Cpl. Leese, but by some superhuman will power, he refused all but a very small piece. I can rarely get him to take any of the boiled egg, which has become the regular officers breakfast now.
NB. Officer survival rate inside Rangoon Jail was noticeably higher than that of the Other Ranks. Perhaps this superior access to supplementary foods, like sugar and eggs, played some part in this statistic. The sugar candy mentioned by John Kerr was probably 'jagri' a type of solidified raw sugar popular with Burmese.
17th: More Japanese propaganda newspapers issued today, claims they have occupied Buthidaung in the Arakan.
19th: Yesterday I signed for my POW pay, but none received as yet.
21st: I can't remember if I have mentioned the rats? Since moving to the lower floor I have made the acquaintance of large numbers. After our meals they try to steal the rice spilled between the cells. They often stay with us for the rest of the night and even attempt to share Cpl. Leese's bed. Large flying beetles about two and a half inches long are also a nuisance at night. Tropical rain very regular and heavy now. My ankle wound has healed over and the other one is closing in finally, but still exuding pus. The one on my heel is looking like turning into an ulcer.
22nd: Received my pay; Rs (Rupees) 15 in special notes printed by the Jap Government of Burma. My total pay should be Rs. 85, but I am charged Rs. 60 for messing (food) and Rs. 10 for my Japanese savings bonds. I learned that Other Ranks receive no pay at all until they are released from solitary confinement, after which they are put to work. I have begun to read through a copy of the bible.
NB. By the end of his captivity in Rangoon Jail, John would become the Adjutant for all Allied prisoners and one of his duties was recording POW pay. The Japanese kept back Rs 10 from prisoners in lieu of savings, this was ordered on the assumption that Japan would win the war and that all POW's would eventually re-locate to the Japanese mainland to work. The savings bonds would form part of their pension and help pay for their existence in old age.
24-25th: (John mentions it is one of the family's birthday, but I cannot make out the name). I keep all the family birthdays marked with a cross on my wall calendar, though I'm not likely to forget them. In body I am as weak as a kitten and have been on my back nearly three months now. The slightest effort, such as getting up on one foot to look out of the window, exhausts me for a while.
Cpl. Leese too is much weaker, just through our confined life. Four officers left the block today; bound for God knows where!
NB. In May 1943 seven officers from various units including the Chindits were taken by the Kempai-tai to Singapore for further interrogation. All these men survived their POW experience and were liberated from Changi Jail in November 1945.
26th: Had a bath. Monsoon is setting in and temperatures are dropping considerably. With dinner tonight we had one ounce of brown sugar..delicious.
27th: John talks about the diet inside Rangoon and the reliance on rice as the staple. He correctly forecasts the danger of this diet for European men. It is possible that the outbreak of the disease beri beri, which would end up accounting for many of the Chindit prisoners, had begun to show itself inside Rangoon Jail. He also recalled:
Today I received several articles I ordered with my pay. These were: two hundred cigarettes, one hundred Burmese cigars, two toothbrushes (one for Leese), two bars of soap, one mirror, one pair of scissors, one pair of clogs and three boxes of matches.
The mirror is useful for many purposes besides pandering to vanity. Had a good look at myself; I find I am thinner in the face, with lines on my forehead and eyes sunken quite deep, I remember Leese drew my attention to this weeks before. The clogs are wooden with a loop of rubber nailed over the forward part; these will protect my left foot if I had to get about on my crutches. Ants are beginning to bother us now; they come in at the windows.
Oh! for 'Pen-y-Turnpike' and clean sheets!
NB. 'Pen-y-Turnpike' was the name of John Kerr's family home back in Glamorgan, South Wales.
This is where the diary ends in relation to the early months inside Rangoon Jail and John's period of acclimatisation as a long term prisoner of war. We now turn our attention to Corporal Leese and his Chindit pathway to becoming a prisoner war in 1943:
John William Leese was born on the 4th June 1917. He was the son of Jonathan and Sarah Jane Leese from Longton, a district of Stoke-on-Trent. 5116013 Corporal JW. Leese was originally a member of the 8th Battalion, the Royal Warwickshire Regiment and served with the BEF in France in 1940 and was eventually evacuated from the beaches of Dunkirk in late May that year. He was sent overseas to India sometime during the first half of 1942 and joined Chindit training at the Saugor Camp on the 26th September. John was posted to D' Company of the 13th King's and became a member of 8 Column, commanded by Major Walter Purcell Scott.
According to his prisoner of war index card (seen in the gallery above) Corporal Leese fell into Japanese hands on the 7th March 1943. This is an extremely early date of capture for a Chindit soldier on Operation Longcloth. Around this time 8 Column had been patrolling the area close to the Burmese town of Pinlebu, where gathering intelligence reports had suggested there might be a large garrison of enemy troops. To help illustrate this period of time, here is an extract from the 8 Column War diary:
“4th and 5th March: column moved into the area around Pinlebu, there were said to be 600-1000 enemy troops in this locality. The Burma Rifle Officers had spoken to a native of the area, he turned out to be a Japanese spy and was shot. Water parties were sent out to replenish supplies, these units were engaged by enemy patrols but most managed to disengage and return to the main body”.
More minor clashes with the Japanese were incurred late on 5th March, the column moved to the agreed rendezvous on the Pinlebu-Kame Road. The party halted one mile north of Kame and settled down for the night. Their position was chosen by Major Scott and units were deployed to prevent any Japanese movement toward Pinlebu from this direction.
“At first light on the 6th March, the Sabotage Squad led by Lieutenant Sprague and 16 Platoon set out toward Kame to secure the road block. At about 1100 hours Sprague’s men were attacked by the Japanese from all sides, he called dispersal in an attempt to extract his men, it was here that Lieutenant Callaghan was shot and killed”.
“At 1600 hours the whole column moved away toward the agreed Supply drop rendezvous area.”
It is possible and seems likely that John Leese was involved in the road block set on the Pinlebu-Kame Road and had somehow become separated from his platoon which eventually resulted in him falling into enemy hands on the 7th March. We know that he was taken to a POW Camp at Myitkhina in the far north-eastern sector of Burma, before being transported down to Rangoon Central Jail about three weeks after his initial capture. John Leese and Lieutenant Kerr must have been some of the first Chindit prisoners to reach Rangoon in 1943, with the vast majority of Chindit POW's not arriving until late May or early June after a period of imprisonment at the concentration camp at Maymyo.
After sharing a cell with Lieutenant Kerr for some 8-10 weeks, John Leese, who was given the POW number 94 whilst inside Rangoon Jail was eventually sent over to join the majority of the Chindit Other Ranks in Block 6 of the prison. Here he remained for just over two years before being liberated by Allied personnel from the advancing 14th Army on the 3rd May 1945. Within a few short days the surviving POW's from Rangoon were back in India and recovering from their ordeal in Calcutta General Hospital, both John Leese and John Kerr were amongst these fortunate men.
Seen below are some images in relation to Corporal Leese's story, these include some extracts from the Column 8 War diary for the time around his capture and the action at Pinlebu. Also shown is a map of the area around the Pinlebu-Kame Road. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
The two other men mentioned at the time of the move from Myitkhina on the 31st March, did not survive their time as prisoners of war in Rangoon.
3780506 Pte. Lawrence Ashcroft was an original member of the 13th Battalion, the King's Regiment, that travelled to India aboard the troopship 'Oronsay' on the 8th December 1941. He was posted to Northern Group Head Quarters in Burma under the overall command of Lieutenant-Colonel S.A. Cooke. This unit remained in the company of Brigadier Wingate and Columns 7 and 8 for most of the operation in 1943.
According to his POW records, Lawrence was captured on the 17th March, it is not known for sure where he was taken prisoner, but there is a witness statement in regards to his last known movements. Pte. Leon Frank of 7 Column remembered speaking with Ashcroft during their time inside Rangoon Jail; Pte. Ashcroft told Leon about his capture and the fate of the two men with him at that time.
From a letter Leon Frank sent to the Army Investigation Bureau after his own liberation in May 1945:
"This is the story of Pte. F. Turner and Pte. J. D. P. O'Donoghue, told to me by Pte. Ashcroft, who sadly died of cholera in Rangoon. The three of them were out on their own, when they were fired on by the Japanese. Turner fell dead and O'Donoghue was wounded. The Japanese then bayonetted O'Donoghue to death and took Ashcroft prisoner. Pte. Turner was fairly tall and of portly build, he was a gamekeeper in civilian life. O' Donoghue was also tall, slim and a dark and dour sort of person. Both of these men I believe, came from the south of England."
Both Turner and O' Donoghue were members of 7 Column on Operation Longcloth and belonged to Platoon 15 led by the enigmatic Captain Erik Petersen, a Danish soldier serving in the British Army. Platoon 15 had been separated from the main body of 7 Column in early March and had taken part in an engagement against the Japanese in conjunction with Chindit Column 3 at a place called Nankan on the 6th. It took nearly three days for the platoon to safely re-join 7 Column, but unfortunately both Turner and O' Donoghue had gone missing after acting as rearguard for the unit on the 9th March. It is possible that Lawrence Ashcroft was with them at this moment and that all three had failed to find the agreed rendezvous point.
We know that after his capture Lawrence was taken to Myitkhina, where he remained in solitary confinement for around two weeks, before making the journey down to Rangoon alongside, Pte. Hose, Corporal Leese and Lieutenant John Kerr. He then would have spent just over a year in Block 6 of the prison in the company of all the other Chindit POW's, before he became one of the unfortunate prisoners to contract cholera during an outbreak lasting approximately two weeks in mid-June 1944. Lawrence Ashcroft was given the POW number 299 by the Japanese guards during his time in Rangoon.
For once, the Japanese were extremely concerned, if not panicked about the occurrence of such a disease within the jail. This of course was not out of concern for their prisoners, but due to the fact that this disease could easily spread and infect their own number. Around 10-12 men lost their lives to the cholera outbreak in June 1944, the Japanese guards insisted that the bodies of these victims be cremated in the grounds of the prison. I cannot be certain of this fact, but I do believe that the remains of these men were taken to the English Cantonment Cemetery and were buried alongside their already fallen Chindit comrades. According to his POW details, Lawrence was buried in the Cantonment Cemetery and his grave was recorded as being number 191.
To view Pte. Ashcroft's CWGC details, please click on the following link:
http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2259671/ASHCROFT,%20LAWRENCE
From the pages of the newspaper, The Liverpool Echo, dated Friday 8th June 1945 and under the headline:
Local Casualties
Mrs. E. Ashcroft of 30 Wentworth Street, Everton, has been informed by the War Office that her husband, captured by the Japanese on March 17th 1943, has died in a Japanese Prison Camp. Private Ashcroft, who was an old boy of Steers Street Council School joined up in June 1941 and went overseas to the Far East. Mrs. Ashcroft appeals for information from any ex-POW's.
3773482 Pte. Philip Hose was also an original member of the 13th Battalion of the King's Regiment and came from the Aintree area of Liverpool. He was another member of 7 Column on Operation Longcloth. Philip has always been on my research radar, as he and my own grandfather share the same grave reference, 9.B.2 at Rangoon War Cemetery. To read more about his life and time in Burma, please click on the following link and scroll down to the third story on the page: Philip Hose
Once again, we know that Pte. Hose was held in solitary confinement at Myitkhina for a short period after capture, before being moved down to Rangoon in late March 1943. He also spent most of his time as a prisoner of war in Block 6 of the jail, holding the POW number 365 before his untimely death on the 18th February 1944. Philip was originally buried in the Cantonment Cemetery situated in the eastern sector of the city, close to the Royal Lakes, his grave number was recorded as 155. His missing in action date is exactly the same as Pte. Ashcroft's date of capture; the 17th March 1943. I now wonder if Pte. Hose could also have been a member of Captain Petersen's platoon?
The 13th King's War diary for the 17th March, may well give us some more pointers for this being the case:
"Column 7 had terrible hardship in getting their mules to swim the Irrawaddy and many were lost and some left on the western bank. Platoon 15 led by the Free Dane William Petersen was also engaged in minor skirmishes with Japanese patrols around this time."
To view Philip's CWGC details, please click on the following link: http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2260100/HOSE,%20PHILIP
Seen below are some images in relation to Lawrence Ashcroft (sometimes referred to as Herbert on POW documents) and Philip Hose. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
3780506 Pte. Lawrence Ashcroft was an original member of the 13th Battalion, the King's Regiment, that travelled to India aboard the troopship 'Oronsay' on the 8th December 1941. He was posted to Northern Group Head Quarters in Burma under the overall command of Lieutenant-Colonel S.A. Cooke. This unit remained in the company of Brigadier Wingate and Columns 7 and 8 for most of the operation in 1943.
According to his POW records, Lawrence was captured on the 17th March, it is not known for sure where he was taken prisoner, but there is a witness statement in regards to his last known movements. Pte. Leon Frank of 7 Column remembered speaking with Ashcroft during their time inside Rangoon Jail; Pte. Ashcroft told Leon about his capture and the fate of the two men with him at that time.
From a letter Leon Frank sent to the Army Investigation Bureau after his own liberation in May 1945:
"This is the story of Pte. F. Turner and Pte. J. D. P. O'Donoghue, told to me by Pte. Ashcroft, who sadly died of cholera in Rangoon. The three of them were out on their own, when they were fired on by the Japanese. Turner fell dead and O'Donoghue was wounded. The Japanese then bayonetted O'Donoghue to death and took Ashcroft prisoner. Pte. Turner was fairly tall and of portly build, he was a gamekeeper in civilian life. O' Donoghue was also tall, slim and a dark and dour sort of person. Both of these men I believe, came from the south of England."
Both Turner and O' Donoghue were members of 7 Column on Operation Longcloth and belonged to Platoon 15 led by the enigmatic Captain Erik Petersen, a Danish soldier serving in the British Army. Platoon 15 had been separated from the main body of 7 Column in early March and had taken part in an engagement against the Japanese in conjunction with Chindit Column 3 at a place called Nankan on the 6th. It took nearly three days for the platoon to safely re-join 7 Column, but unfortunately both Turner and O' Donoghue had gone missing after acting as rearguard for the unit on the 9th March. It is possible that Lawrence Ashcroft was with them at this moment and that all three had failed to find the agreed rendezvous point.
We know that after his capture Lawrence was taken to Myitkhina, where he remained in solitary confinement for around two weeks, before making the journey down to Rangoon alongside, Pte. Hose, Corporal Leese and Lieutenant John Kerr. He then would have spent just over a year in Block 6 of the prison in the company of all the other Chindit POW's, before he became one of the unfortunate prisoners to contract cholera during an outbreak lasting approximately two weeks in mid-June 1944. Lawrence Ashcroft was given the POW number 299 by the Japanese guards during his time in Rangoon.
For once, the Japanese were extremely concerned, if not panicked about the occurrence of such a disease within the jail. This of course was not out of concern for their prisoners, but due to the fact that this disease could easily spread and infect their own number. Around 10-12 men lost their lives to the cholera outbreak in June 1944, the Japanese guards insisted that the bodies of these victims be cremated in the grounds of the prison. I cannot be certain of this fact, but I do believe that the remains of these men were taken to the English Cantonment Cemetery and were buried alongside their already fallen Chindit comrades. According to his POW details, Lawrence was buried in the Cantonment Cemetery and his grave was recorded as being number 191.
To view Pte. Ashcroft's CWGC details, please click on the following link:
http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2259671/ASHCROFT,%20LAWRENCE
From the pages of the newspaper, The Liverpool Echo, dated Friday 8th June 1945 and under the headline:
Local Casualties
Mrs. E. Ashcroft of 30 Wentworth Street, Everton, has been informed by the War Office that her husband, captured by the Japanese on March 17th 1943, has died in a Japanese Prison Camp. Private Ashcroft, who was an old boy of Steers Street Council School joined up in June 1941 and went overseas to the Far East. Mrs. Ashcroft appeals for information from any ex-POW's.
3773482 Pte. Philip Hose was also an original member of the 13th Battalion of the King's Regiment and came from the Aintree area of Liverpool. He was another member of 7 Column on Operation Longcloth. Philip has always been on my research radar, as he and my own grandfather share the same grave reference, 9.B.2 at Rangoon War Cemetery. To read more about his life and time in Burma, please click on the following link and scroll down to the third story on the page: Philip Hose
Once again, we know that Pte. Hose was held in solitary confinement at Myitkhina for a short period after capture, before being moved down to Rangoon in late March 1943. He also spent most of his time as a prisoner of war in Block 6 of the jail, holding the POW number 365 before his untimely death on the 18th February 1944. Philip was originally buried in the Cantonment Cemetery situated in the eastern sector of the city, close to the Royal Lakes, his grave number was recorded as 155. His missing in action date is exactly the same as Pte. Ashcroft's date of capture; the 17th March 1943. I now wonder if Pte. Hose could also have been a member of Captain Petersen's platoon?
The 13th King's War diary for the 17th March, may well give us some more pointers for this being the case:
"Column 7 had terrible hardship in getting their mules to swim the Irrawaddy and many were lost and some left on the western bank. Platoon 15 led by the Free Dane William Petersen was also engaged in minor skirmishes with Japanese patrols around this time."
To view Philip's CWGC details, please click on the following link: http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2260100/HOSE,%20PHILIP
Seen below are some images in relation to Lawrence Ashcroft (sometimes referred to as Herbert on POW documents) and Philip Hose. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page.
Towards the end of April 1945 the Japanese in Rangoon realised the writing was well and truly on the wall for their continued occupation of the Burmese capital city. The decision was made to evacuate Rangoon before the advancing 14th Army reached the city and to retreat back across the Thai border. The Japanese Commandant in Rangoon Jail, Major-General Tazumoi Tai, called a meeting with the senior Allied command in the prison and demanded a list be drawn up of all those men fit enough to march with Japanese on their journey south.
On the 26th April, 450 POW's were marched out of the jail and headed north-east towards the Burmese town of Pegu. Back inside the prison some 200 plus men remained under the overall leadership of Wing Commander Lionel Hudson. Hudson, an Australian Mosquito pilot, had assumed command of the remaining men after the departure of the previous leaders inside Rangoon, Brigadier Hobson and Lieutenant-Colonel Power had left with the marching POW column.
Lionel Hudson engaged John Kerr as his prison Adjutant, asking the Chindit officer to take responsibility for the running of the prison in the absence of any Japanese hierarchy. From then on Lieutenant Kerr organised all aspects of prison life; food rations, medical supplies and most importantly of all the defence of the premises. By this point, it was clear that the enemy had fled Rangoon and that a power vacuum had been created as to who would take control of the city. Hudson and Kerr ventured out into the rubble filled streets and sort out the leaders of the previously deposed Burmese government. All they found were groups of the Burmese and Indian Independence Armies and a struggle for control of the city took place.
Through skilled negotiations and a little bluff and bluster, Hudson and Kerr persuaded the other parties that it should be the Allied personnel present within the jail that took charge of the city. John Kerr then preceded to re-raise the Union Jack over the town hall building, before sending out patrols to assess the condition of communication centres and most importantly of all the former RAF Airfield at Mingaladon.
Although John's wounds had healed by late December 1943 (something he credits to the care of both Corporal Leese and Medical Officer Raymond Ramsay) he was not pronounced fit enough to leave the jail with the marching column. There is no evidence that Corporal Leese had been wounded or suffered overly with sickness or disease during his time in Rangoon, but nevertheless, he too remained within the jail in late April 1945. I wonder whether he had continued to serve as Lieutenant Kerr's batman throughout the years in Rangoon and wished to stay with him to the end of their imprisonment.
On the 3rd May 1945, Allied troops reached Rangoon expecting a serious fight to recapture the city, to their great relief all they found were a group of former Allied POW's waiting for them and eager to hand over control. Lionel Hudson, John Kerr and the rest of the men were evacuated to India aboard the Hospitalship HMHS 'Karapara'. The men were treated in the first instance at Calcutta General Hospital, before returning to their various regimental bases across the sub-continent. Hudson and Kerr were debriefed at Calcutta and spent a few welcome nights of luxury at the Governors Residence, before they too returned to their original units in India.
Seen below is the final gallery of images in relation to this story. These include Wing Commander Hudson's letter recording his appointment of John Kerr as his Adjutant in April 1945 and some photographs of the liberation of Rangoon Jail. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page. For more information about Rangoon Jail and the Chindit POW story, please click on the following link: Chindit POW's
On the 26th April, 450 POW's were marched out of the jail and headed north-east towards the Burmese town of Pegu. Back inside the prison some 200 plus men remained under the overall leadership of Wing Commander Lionel Hudson. Hudson, an Australian Mosquito pilot, had assumed command of the remaining men after the departure of the previous leaders inside Rangoon, Brigadier Hobson and Lieutenant-Colonel Power had left with the marching POW column.
Lionel Hudson engaged John Kerr as his prison Adjutant, asking the Chindit officer to take responsibility for the running of the prison in the absence of any Japanese hierarchy. From then on Lieutenant Kerr organised all aspects of prison life; food rations, medical supplies and most importantly of all the defence of the premises. By this point, it was clear that the enemy had fled Rangoon and that a power vacuum had been created as to who would take control of the city. Hudson and Kerr ventured out into the rubble filled streets and sort out the leaders of the previously deposed Burmese government. All they found were groups of the Burmese and Indian Independence Armies and a struggle for control of the city took place.
Through skilled negotiations and a little bluff and bluster, Hudson and Kerr persuaded the other parties that it should be the Allied personnel present within the jail that took charge of the city. John Kerr then preceded to re-raise the Union Jack over the town hall building, before sending out patrols to assess the condition of communication centres and most importantly of all the former RAF Airfield at Mingaladon.
Although John's wounds had healed by late December 1943 (something he credits to the care of both Corporal Leese and Medical Officer Raymond Ramsay) he was not pronounced fit enough to leave the jail with the marching column. There is no evidence that Corporal Leese had been wounded or suffered overly with sickness or disease during his time in Rangoon, but nevertheless, he too remained within the jail in late April 1945. I wonder whether he had continued to serve as Lieutenant Kerr's batman throughout the years in Rangoon and wished to stay with him to the end of their imprisonment.
On the 3rd May 1945, Allied troops reached Rangoon expecting a serious fight to recapture the city, to their great relief all they found were a group of former Allied POW's waiting for them and eager to hand over control. Lionel Hudson, John Kerr and the rest of the men were evacuated to India aboard the Hospitalship HMHS 'Karapara'. The men were treated in the first instance at Calcutta General Hospital, before returning to their various regimental bases across the sub-continent. Hudson and Kerr were debriefed at Calcutta and spent a few welcome nights of luxury at the Governors Residence, before they too returned to their original units in India.
Seen below is the final gallery of images in relation to this story. These include Wing Commander Hudson's letter recording his appointment of John Kerr as his Adjutant in April 1945 and some photographs of the liberation of Rangoon Jail. Please click on any image to bring it forward on the page. For more information about Rangoon Jail and the Chindit POW story, please click on the following link: Chindit POW's
John Kerr and John William Leese's story is a wonderful example of both a devotion to duty and of a natural friendship forged in the face of adversity. After writing this article, I wondered if the two men had remained in contact with each other after the war? I would very much like to think that they did and that Lieutenant Kerr made good his promise of that 'very expensive dinner.' According to the magazine Dekho, John William Leese died in December 1996 and had been a life-long member of the North Staffordshire branch of the Burma Star Association.
Once again, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Miranda Skinner for all her help in bringing this story to these website pages and for allowing me to use some of John Kerr's personal diary and papers.
Once again, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Miranda Skinner for all her help in bringing this story to these website pages and for allowing me to use some of John Kerr's personal diary and papers.
Update 18/12/2022.
Whilst re-reading the book, Return via Rangoon, written by former 5 Column officer, Philip Stibbe, I came across the following recollection of John Kerr and his rehabilitation in Rangoon Jail. For context, Major Raymond Ramsay, the senior Medical Officer with 77 Brigade in Burma had been captured and held in solitary confinement at Rangoon for several weeks. On his eventual release into Block 6 of the jail, he hurriedly began to treat the numerous ailments facing the men who had served on Operation Longcloth. Philip Stibbe remembered:
Soon after his arrival into Six Block, Major Ramsay had told John Kerr that he was going to walk without crutches within a few months. This seemed extremely optimistic as John's ankle joint was stiff and almost unmovable and the nerves of that part of his foot were completely dead. However, under the Major's instructions, he persevered with some exercises and I (Stibbe) gave him a daily massage. There came a day in the Spring of 1944, when John managed to limp unaided for a short distance. This was a moment of real triumph and he yelled with a joy that we all shared. From then on he made rapid progress, so that later in the year he could move about inside the jail compound quite easily.
Whilst re-reading the book, Return via Rangoon, written by former 5 Column officer, Philip Stibbe, I came across the following recollection of John Kerr and his rehabilitation in Rangoon Jail. For context, Major Raymond Ramsay, the senior Medical Officer with 77 Brigade in Burma had been captured and held in solitary confinement at Rangoon for several weeks. On his eventual release into Block 6 of the jail, he hurriedly began to treat the numerous ailments facing the men who had served on Operation Longcloth. Philip Stibbe remembered:
Soon after his arrival into Six Block, Major Ramsay had told John Kerr that he was going to walk without crutches within a few months. This seemed extremely optimistic as John's ankle joint was stiff and almost unmovable and the nerves of that part of his foot were completely dead. However, under the Major's instructions, he persevered with some exercises and I (Stibbe) gave him a daily massage. There came a day in the Spring of 1944, when John managed to limp unaided for a short distance. This was a moment of real triumph and he yelled with a joy that we all shared. From then on he made rapid progress, so that later in the year he could move about inside the jail compound quite easily.
Copyright © Steve Fogden, March 2015.