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This data is related to World War 2
Sapper

John Henry Trueman

Service number 14358317
Military unit 54 Field Coy Royal Engineers
Address 34, Ilkeston Road, Trowell, Nottinghamshire.
Date of birth 15 Feb 1924
Date of death 20 Jun 1944 (20 years old)
Place of birth Trowell, Nottinghamshire
Employment, education or hobbies

He was a wire worker bench hand in 1939.

Family history

He was the son of John Harold and Annie Trueman and the brother of Ivy, Harold and Maureen Trueman of 34, Ilkeston Road, Trowell, Nottinghamshire.

Military history

54th Field Company, Royal Engineers operated in Burma as part of the 14th British Infantry Brigade (code-named Javelin). They functioned as part of Orde Wingate’s Chindits (Special Force) during the intense jungle campaigns of Operation Thursday.

The company was attached to the 14th Infantry Brigade to provide vital engineer support. They conducted long-range penetration, demolition, obstacle clearance, and field fortification work behind Japanese lines in the Burmese jungle.

The unit faced extreme monsoon conditions, tropical diseases, and heavy combat operations in northern Burma (such as areas around Mogaung and the-railway/road corridors) during June 1944.

Sapper Trueman was killed during the final, brutal weeks of the second Chindit expedition (Operation Thursday).

By June 1944, the 14th Infantry Brigade (and the 54th Field Company attached to them) had been reassigned to reinforce General Joseph Stilwell’s Northern Combat Area Command.

They were operating under intense monsoon conditions in northern Burma, tasked with clearing the railway corridor and fighting toward the strategic town of Mogaung.

Sapper Trueman probably lost his life during the heavy jungle skirmishes, artillery exchanges, or hazardous demolition work that characterized the push through the Mogaung valley that June.

Extra information

Unknown

Photographs

No photos