The occasional story of my family, over 200 years.
The main story on the front page of the Derby Evening Telegraph for Saturday April 17th was the news that the largest RAF bomber raid of the year had been successful. “Over 600 Bombers In Greatest Raids This Year: 55 Lost: Czechoslovak and Rhine Armaments Works Pounded.”
Elsewhere the war news from North Africa centred on the Allied advance against German and Italian forces which was going to be “slow, laborious and costly.”
Most of the cinemas were showing comedy or light musicals and across the town there were dances including one for the Derby Home Guard. Lew Stone and His Band were at the Grand Theatre, and the paper was full of Easter attractions.
A fairly usual days reporting in the middle of what was already a long war, except tucked away on and I guess the reason for the survival of the newspaper in the other war documents of my grandparents was the news that “Mrs Hall of 12 Hope street, Derby, has been informed that her son, Aircraftman R.J. Hall (21) is now listed as missing in Java.”
Uncle Roger had arrived in the Far East in February 1942, just three days after the surrender of Singapore to the Japanese. Mother maintained that the Government had known they were sending these men into the hands of the Japanese. Perhaps, but I am no student of the Far East campaigns and it might just be that it was a combination of poor communication and bad luck. But it was a powerful belief which she never lost.
Of course Nana had no idea where he was in that February of 1942. It had been his birthday on the 15th, just three days before he arrived in the Far East and she had sent a telegram and then wrote reflecting on his first twenty years. The letter also contained much domestic news, including the slow recovery of my mother from “what the doctor says is nerves” and messages from the family.
Trusting that missing meant captured and not worse, Nana wrote on April 23rd “575348 R J Hall JAVA PRIS O WAR C/O Red Cross Tokyo Japan hope it gets there.” At the same time she turned to the Red Cross, but in the September of ’42 as they explained they could do little until they had some idea where he might have been.
But Uncle Roger had been a prisoner since the December of 1942. The official news did not reach her until July and another month later came the last personal communication. It had been sent on December 25th 1942, and arrived on August 20th 1943. “Java, My health is excellent. The Nippons treat us well, so don’t worry about me and never feel uneasy. There are plenty of entertainments on the camp so the time passes fairly quickly. All love.”
It was little enough and had been damaged by fire.
Sometime perhaps around the same time came some of the air grams she had sent to him. The covering envelope told its own story of the confusion of war, and the plight of one individual. In total there were 6 date stamps from February 1942 through to March 1943. It must have followed him from the different theatres of war, at one point shuffling around India before receiving the simple message, “Not in India Command” and at some stage “Last seen in Java February 18” before being stamped “Return to Sender.”
Undeterred she continued to write, noting in her diary “Wrote several letters of 2 pages. New rule is 25 words on Postcard every 14 days wrote 1 PC today”
It was September 1943; Italy had surrendered to the allies. A month earlier the Germans had been defeated by the Red Army at Kursk, and in the Far East the Japanese were on the defensive.
Nana might well have pondered on how long the war could now continue and how long it might be before her son returned.
Pictures; front page of the Derby Evening Telegraph, Saturday April 17th 1943 and missing report from the same paper on the same day, in the collection of Andrew Simpson
The main story on the front page of the Derby Evening Telegraph for Saturday April 17th was the news that the largest RAF bomber raid of the year had been successful. “Over 600 Bombers In Greatest Raids This Year: 55 Lost: Czechoslovak and Rhine Armaments Works Pounded.”
Elsewhere the war news from North Africa centred on the Allied advance against German and Italian forces which was going to be “slow, laborious and costly.”
Most of the cinemas were showing comedy or light musicals and across the town there were dances including one for the Derby Home Guard. Lew Stone and His Band were at the Grand Theatre, and the paper was full of Easter attractions.
A fairly usual days reporting in the middle of what was already a long war, except tucked away on and I guess the reason for the survival of the newspaper in the other war documents of my grandparents was the news that “Mrs Hall of 12 Hope street, Derby, has been informed that her son, Aircraftman R.J. Hall (21) is now listed as missing in Java.”
Uncle Roger had arrived in the Far East in February 1942, just three days after the surrender of Singapore to the Japanese. Mother maintained that the Government had known they were sending these men into the hands of the Japanese. Perhaps, but I am no student of the Far East campaigns and it might just be that it was a combination of poor communication and bad luck. But it was a powerful belief which she never lost.
Of course Nana had no idea where he was in that February of 1942. It had been his birthday on the 15th, just three days before he arrived in the Far East and she had sent a telegram and then wrote reflecting on his first twenty years. The letter also contained much domestic news, including the slow recovery of my mother from “what the doctor says is nerves” and messages from the family.
Trusting that missing meant captured and not worse, Nana wrote on April 23rd “575348 R J Hall JAVA PRIS O WAR C/O Red Cross Tokyo Japan hope it gets there.” At the same time she turned to the Red Cross, but in the September of ’42 as they explained they could do little until they had some idea where he might have been.
But Uncle Roger had been a prisoner since the December of 1942. The official news did not reach her until July and another month later came the last personal communication. It had been sent on December 25th 1942, and arrived on August 20th 1943. “Java, My health is excellent. The Nippons treat us well, so don’t worry about me and never feel uneasy. There are plenty of entertainments on the camp so the time passes fairly quickly. All love.”
It was little enough and had been damaged by fire.
Sometime perhaps around the same time came some of the air grams she had sent to him. The covering envelope told its own story of the confusion of war, and the plight of one individual. In total there were 6 date stamps from February 1942 through to March 1943. It must have followed him from the different theatres of war, at one point shuffling around India before receiving the simple message, “Not in India Command” and at some stage “Last seen in Java February 18” before being stamped “Return to Sender.”
Undeterred she continued to write, noting in her diary “Wrote several letters of 2 pages. New rule is 25 words on Postcard every 14 days wrote 1 PC today”
It was September 1943; Italy had surrendered to the allies. A month earlier the Germans had been defeated by the Red Army at Kursk, and in the Far East the Japanese were on the defensive.
Nana might well have pondered on how long the war could now continue and how long it might be before her son returned.
Pictures; front page of the Derby Evening Telegraph, Saturday April 17th 1943 and missing report from the same paper on the same day, in the collection of Andrew Simpson
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