George William Webb

February 1942 British Malaya and Singapore had surrendered to the Japanese Army. Over 100,000 British and Empire military personnel had become prisoners as well as thousands of civilians. A few thousand more were escaping to the nearby Netherlands East Indies and from there to Australia, Ceylon or India in any ship that could be found. Many of these ships were lost to Japanese attacks among the islands scattered around Sumatra and Java while attempting to escape. SS Rooseboom under Captain Marinus Cornelis Anthonie Boon was
taking around 500 passengers (mainly British military personnel and civilians) from Padang to Colombo in Ceylon. On 1 March 1942 at 11:35pm Rooseboom was steaming west of Sumatra when it was spotted by the Japanese submarine I-59 under the command of Lieutenant Yoshimatsu and torpedoed. Rooseboom capsized and sank rapidly leaving
one life boat (designed to hold 28) and 135 people in the water. Eighty people were in the lifeboat the rest clung to flotsam or floated in the sea. Two of these survivors were picked up nine days later by the Dutch freighter Palopo. By the time the boat had drifted for more than 1,000 miles (1,600 km), to ground on a coral reef less than 100 miles (160 km) from Padang, Rooseboom's starting point, only five of its 80 passengers remained alive, and one of those drowned in the surf while trying to land.

S/Sgt George Webb left the ship alive but died in the sea sometime later.

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