Troopships singapore 1945

[Johnsonsyard]

Nick,
If his service record states: "date of movement 17/11/45" then forget 'DUCHESS OF RICHMOND'. I thought you meant he arrived in Liverpool on or about that date.
Regards
Hugh

Thanks Hugh , Just replied to John. " City of Canterbury " left Singapore 17/11/45 for Calcutta, I know its not Liverpool , but also discovered my Dad was sent to 3 REC from Singapore , which was at Worli , Bombay. When he first went out to SE Asia he arrived at Worli from Liverpool on the "Mooltan ",followed by a 5 day train journey to Calcutta and onto Chittagong. Exploring possiblility he did the journey in reverse from Calcutta. Trying to find out if "City of Canterbury" was RAF. Any ideas.

Thanks Nick

[John Callon]

Hi Nick,

The only way you could find out as to whether the City of Canterbury was classed as an RAF troopship would be to try and access the archives of Ellerman City Line, the owners of the vessel.
I may add that it did not matter what branch of the armed forces one was in, everybody travelled on the same ship - Army, RAF and Royal Navy. Military personnel were transported on the next available troopship.

Regards,
John.

[Lou Barron]

i was one of the lucky ones the ship i left singapore on was the ss monawai we had a number of raf guys on board we arrived in liverpool on the 9th october 1945 could that be the ship

[Johnsonsyard]

Hi Nick,

The only way you could find out as to whether the City of Canterbury was classed as an RAF troopship would be to try and access the archives of Ellerman City Line, the owners of the vessel.
I may add that it did not matter what branch of the armed forces one was in, everybody travelled on the same ship - Army, RAF and Royal Navy. Military personnel were transported on the next available troopship.

Regards,
John.

Hi John Thanks for reply. Learning something new all the time. So it is not really relevant if it was RAF or anything else. Do you know how long the voyage from Singapore to Calcutta could have been ? Are there records of everyone who was on board ? It's really tricky one this as even though his date of movement was 17/11/45 he may have gone on another ship a few days either way. Depends on accuracy of his records. I do know that from Singapore he went to Worli Bombay to 3 Release embarkation centre. The City of Canterbury link is possible as when he went out he went to Worli then by train to Calcutta then onto Chittagong so I was thinking he may have done part of his journey out in reverse . Would love to hear your comments. Many thanks Nick

[Johnsonsyard]

i was one of the lucky ones the ship i left singapore on was the ss monawai we had a number of raf guys on board we arrived in liverpool on the 9th october 1945 could that be the ship

HI Charles Thanks for reply. See my reply to john in this thread. My Dads service record states date of movement from singapore 17/11/45 so I don't think it was your ship. Nevertheless I am very interested and would love to know what it was like on your ship and its journey back to Liverpool. How long did your voyage take ? What happened when you disembarked at Liverpool ? Regards Nick

[Hugh]

Hello Nick,

Normally there is a passenger list for all passengers travelling aboard but this is not the case for troopships. You will not find the name of the individual airman, soldier, sailor listed. There may or may not be a note in the ship's Official Logbook noting the military units carried.

I am sure his name will be recorded as travelling aboard a troopship but most probably this list will be with the military. When there were losses aboard troopships the names of the military casualties were recorded in WO files at Kew so they must have been listed somewhere.

Regards
Hugh

[Johnsonsyard]

Hello Nick,

Normally there is a passenger list for all passengers travelling aboard but this is not the case for troopships. You will not find the name of the individual airman, soldier, sailor listed. There may or may not be a note in the ship's Official Logbook noting the military units carried.

I am sure his name will be recorded as travelling aboard a troopship but most probably this list will be with the military. When there were losses aboard troopships the names of the military casualties were recorded in WO files at Kew so they must have been listed somewhere.

Regards
Hugh

Thanks Hugh. So does this mean I will have to determine if the ship was RAF Army etc to see who would hold a list of names?Would these be held at Kew ?

Nick

[Hugh]

Nick,
Short answer - I don't know. As with most WW2 records it is easier to find the lists of those who were casualties rather than those who survived. I don't know a lot about the RAF but can you break it down to a smaller unit or organisation. If you knew this you could research the unit history/movements during that period. I note you posted on WW2 Talk - you should continue asking on there if you could supply more information I am sure you would get some help.

What you need to do is work one step at a time.

If I were you I would continue to try and establish the ship's name first. Once you have that I would look at the Official Logbook and take it from there.

Regards
Hugh

[Johnsonsyard]

Nick,
Short answer - I don't know. As with most WW2 records it is easier to find the lists of those who were casualties rather than those who survived. I don't know a lot about the RAF but can you break it down to a smaller unit or organisation. If you knew this you could research the unit history/movements during that period. I note you posted on WW2 Talk - you should continue asking on there if you could supply more information I am sure you would get some help.

What you need to do is work one step at a time.

If I were you I would continue to try and establish the ship's name first. Once you have that I would look at the Official Logbook and take it from there.

Regards
Hugh

Thanks hugh. Great Advice, I have started making enquiries with the National Archives with 273 Squadron ORB's.

Thanks again

Nick

[Lou Barron]

hi nick i have mention about the ss monawai and my arrival in liverpool on another post but here is the story i was one of the lucky ones to be picked to go home after over three years as guest of the japs we embarked on the monawai on about the 8th of september 1945with about 800 hundred bods mostly army with a few air force and navy with a handful of merchant navy guys it was to be the best trip i ever did in my time at sea we left singapore bound for colombo in ceylon now sri lanka it was not long before myself and my mate ex mn got talking to some of the crew with the climate being very hot it was pretty sticky down in the troop sections so one of the crew got us a lovely spot on the boat deck to sleep we had alot of red cross nurses to lookafter us and boy did they do that when we got medical going over i was just six stone in weight they gave us a lot of pills what ever for i had no ideathe food was excellent on reaching columbo this took ashore to a service club and we had free food and drinks after leaving there we set off for the suez canal and was we enjoying this we arrived at a place just by suez i cannot remember the name but they outfitted us with a suit shirts other clothing as we had some exnavy gear was wearing giving to us in singapore we was also able to send one cable to my mother which i had no clues if she was still alive she got to know that i was alive in 1944 as we was posted as lost at sea set off again through the canal fo the uk and sailing up the mersey will live in my memory till my dying day we stood on deck as we approached the princess land stage there were bands playing and flags flying and crowds and crowds of people ithink a few of us shed a few tears we the mn guys was the last to leave the ship and i think we got thev biggest cheer after we got ashore we got all kind of gifts giving to us then a red cross lady came over to us mn guys and said that wewas to be taken to a camp in the wirral as we was loaded into a bus we went through the tunnel to birkenhead in the meantime im telling this nurse that i lived in rockferryand could they drop me and let me get home she said that we had to go to camp im getting very hot under the collar but anyhow to cut the story a bit short another red cross person said they would take me home so into a car they put me and off we went to rockville st rockferry as we drove up the street i saw a big banner stretched across the street saying welcome home lou they must have got word to my people as igot out of the car the street was very quiet then all of a sudden i got mobbed as i aproached the house my mother lived my father came out and hugged me then my mother came out crying that got me crying too so thats how i got home