Arthur Sheldon
He was a builder and joiner.
- Family History
- Military history
- Extra information
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He was the son of Arthur and Mary Sheldon and the brother of Joseph, Martha, Annie, Mary, Muriel and Gladys Sheldon. In 1939, they lived at 13, Wentworth Street, Cossall, Nottinghamshire. Arthur Sheldon and Nora Godber were married in 1940 and were to have two sons - Arthur and Roger. Nora and her sons lived at Stapleford, Nottinghamshire.
SINGAPORE MEMORIAL Column 30
In March 1943, 144 Battery, 35th Light Anti-Aircraft (LAA) Regiment, Royal Artillery was no longer an active fighting combat unit; its men were Far East Prisoners of War (FEPOWs) enduring captivity under the Imperial Japanese Army.The date 5 March 1943 stands out as a dark milestone for this specific battery, as a vast group of its personnel were killed on or around this exact day during an overseas forced-labour transport.
The history of 144 Battery in March 1943 unfolded across several phases:
The "Gunner 600" PartyOctober 1942 Departure: Having been captured at the Fall of Singapore in February 1942, 600 artillerymen from the 35th LAA Regiment (including Major Edward Bullock, the commander of 144 Battery) were selected at Changi.
The Transit: Designated as the "Gunner 600" Party under the command of Lt. Col. J. Bassett, they were crammed into the hold of the hell-ship Kenkon Maru.
The Destination: Instead of being sent to Japan as they were told, they were transported to the South Pacific to construct an airfield for the Japanese military.
The Ballale Island Tragedy (March 1943)The party was split, and a core group of 144 Battery men was sent to Ballale Island (a tiny island in the Shortland Islands group, near Bougainville and the Solomon Islands).
The Massacre: By early 1943, Allied air raids intensified, and the prisoners were starving and dying of disease. On 5 March 1943, the remaining survivors on Ballale Island were systematically executed by their Japanese captors as Allied forces advanced.The Records: Because the Japanese military destroyed all camp records, the War Office could not confirm individual fates. Most men of 144 Battery who died here have their official date of death listed permanently as 5 March 1943.
Because their bodies were buried in mass, unmarked graves (some were later recovered and reburied as "unknown" soldiers in Papua New Guinea), the men of 144 Battery are collectively named on the Singapore Memorial at Kranji War Cemetery, where rows of names—such as Major Edward Bullock, Sergeant Alec Blinko, and Gunner James Rowland—bear the exact death date of 5 March 1943.
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