Herbert Reginald Humphrey
- Family History
- Military history
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Son of Herbert and Mildred Annie Humphreys, of South Carlton, Lincolnshire.
Captured at the Fall of Singapore 15/02/42. He appears on the Royal Corps of Signals Roll as being shipped by train to Thailand to work on Burma Thailand Railway as part of 'F' Force at Kami Sonkrai POW Camp No 1.
7000 POWs (3600Australians and 3400 British) left Changi for Banpong arriving by rail 21/4/1943. They were force marched 200 miles in 15 stages on rough jungle tracks taking 2 1/2 weeks. At the work camps Cholera, Dysentery, Beri-Beri, Tropical Ulcers, Typhus and Malaria became rampant, and many showed signs of malnutrition as the health of the men grew worse the demands of the Japanese and Korean Engineers were more and more difficult to meet and their treatment of the weak men while at work became more and more brutal. The guards well known for their own brutality often stepped in to stop the engineers killing the work force by maltreatment. The work was often beyond what could be reasonably expected of fit men and it was certainly beyond the strength of the weaker ones, this especially related to the carriage of heavy logs. It became common for men to be driven with wire whips or bamboo sticks throughout the whole of the working day. The beatings were not for disciplinary measures but solely for the purpose of driving men to efforts beyond their strength. The hours of work were also excessive and fourteen hours a day was a common occurrence and work went on day after day without a break for months for some men who never saw their camp in daylight hours for weeks.
After the completion of the railway the POWs were returned by rail to Changi. Out of the original force of 7000 men who left Changi on 21/4/1943, only 3800 men remained alive after eight months on the construction of the railway and the ensuing convalescent back at Changi, the officially known death roll of all personnel of F Force was 1100 Australians and 2100 British.
Died POW at Changi, from Beriberi and Malaria. Buried Changi grave G-A-11 29/1/1944, reburied Kranji War Cemetery 2/5/1946.
KRANJI WAR CEMETERY 16. C. 12. Singapore
Unknown
Photo of Herbert Reginald Humphrey