Gloucester Castle

[Jo Hughes]

Hi Lou. I've just joined this site as my mum gave me some info on her dad/my grandfather Harold Baker and I've been doing some research into his past. I'm so excited to see your post above that you knew him and bumped into him in a pub in Dunedin all those years ago! How amazing. She was about 10 when he died and would love to hear from someone who knew him during the war. Hope you get this post and would love to hear from you. Best wishes, Jo

[Lou Barron]

How amazing i have just come across your post 21 .
well as you have read my post on Harold Baker you will know i how we come to meet .
We both did have a couple of years together in Dunedin Before he died both my late wife and Harolds wife(i cannot think of her name )had a few good times together but i lost track of her after Harold died .
It is very nice to hear from you because Harold and i were vey good friends .
i do have some old photos of him somewhere i will try and find them and put them on a EM to you it might take a bit of time regards Lou Barron

[Jo Hughes]

Hi Lou. Great to hear back from you. I spoke to my mum today and she was delighted that I had found your post, and gave me a few more details. She said your name rang a bell and she thinks she may have met you when she was a little girl. She remembers going to see a film about a pilot who had lost his legs and survived, and thinks she could maybe have met you at that?? Harold married Marie in Dunedin and they had 3 children, Christine (my mum), Ronnie and Ann. Harold died in March 1961 when my mum was 12. After that, Marie and the 3 children moved to Auckland where Marie eventually remarried and where she died 15 years ago. We have Harold's navy books and other bits and bobs, and my Mum also will also have some photos I'm sure, but I would love to see yours at some point too. My mum has been on a quest to find out more about her dad for years now, and I know would love to hear any stories you have. If you would be happy to meet with her then she would definitely arrange a trip to Dunedin to see you. Best wishes, Jo

[Keith Tindell]

this is an example of why this site is the best, a very heartwarming story here, and regards to you both KT

[Lou Barron]

I am pretty sure that Harold was with me in the POW camps in Singapore .
i lost track of him after the war till we met again in the Victoria pub in Dunedin.
Both Harold and his wife lived in Castle St North Dunedin i got him to join the NZ ex POW assc in Dunedin and we went to a ex Japanese pow social in CHCH.
I will try and find a photo of that social it might take a little time as i have a couple of trips away from home then i am going to Australia for a short trip

[Jo Hughes]

Hi Lou, I've just posted a pic in my album (you should be able to see it if you click to my profile), it's the only one I can find right now. I'll ask my mum for some more. He was definitely in singapore, and yes their address was Cumberland Street, which is an extension of Castle Street.

[j.sabourn]

I have been racking what little brain I have left trying to remember a ch stwd. who did one trip from Port of Spain to Montreal in about 1967. He had worked previous on the Sun boats running from the Mackenzie river across to Chageramus ( Trinidad) with Bauxite. He was from Liverpool and must have been about the same age as Lou. He was released when Singapore was freed, he used to tell me stories over a beer how they went berserk stole a jeep and went shooting what they thought was the enemy. Just cant remember his name his face is as clear as it was then. He obviously had aged and looked older than he was, I was 30 at the time and he looked an old man. Used to shuffle. He wasnt the type for that particular vessel as we had passengers which he kept clear of. Even in 1967 he appeared to be still traumatised. Cheers John S

[Lou Barron]

Hi Jo i saw your photo of Harold he was a lot younger in them days since i last saw him in Dunedin he was a bit older than me .
When we met in the pub we caused a bit of commotion as we both looked at one another hugged and clasp hands .
The people i was with was my late wives family as we celebrating her sisters wedding but both Harold and i got into a huddle and yapped away and drank a few beers and we got talking about the POW days as he was one of the only i met bar for a guy i met when my wife and i went to the UK in 1993 his name was Barry Lane .
I think that Harold was in the next cell to the one i was in that was in Changi Jail.
If you trawl through the this site you should see some of the stories i wrote.
Seeing as Harold came from Liverpool we guys stuck together in the pow camp. i will keep in touch regards Lou

---------- Post added at 11:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:49 PM ----------

As for them guys who broke out of the camp John i think they had been taken out of Changi Jail just before the end and ended up in another small camp i knew one of them very well in fact i knew two of them .
They could have been some of the POWs got out of the jail and those in the huts around the jail but our own administation stopped that as the planes that flew over just a short time of the surrender dropping leaflets advising us to stay in the camp .
Shortly after that they dropped paratroops to keep us in.
I have told this a couple of times.
there was that much excitement going on its pretty hard to remember it all . i often think of some of the things that happened in them days long ago

[Jo Hughes]

Hi Lou, I still can't get over how amazing it was that you two bumped into each other in a pub! I've spent a bit of time today trawling through your posts (I should have been working , and found lots of great information and stories. This forum is fantastic, thank you so much for contributing what you have, and I'm so grateful to have found it and that you responded to my posts. Did you ever get your book published... my sister is a publicist if you ever need one. Yes, do keep in touch. I will see my mum later this week and pass on some of your stories etc, she'll be over the moon! Best wishes, and good travels, Jo

[Jo Hughes]

Lou, just saw mum, and she said yes they used to live in Castle Street, then they moved to Cumberland Street. The map is different today (as you know and I did not know