1st battalion Manchester reg Singapore 1942

[Bleaseydoesit]

Hi all

When researching my relative who was a pow on the Burma railway I came across the post on this forum about the Manchesters of Singapore and their fate. In that long and detailed post (thank you to original poster who dedicated a lot of time to creating that list) the details of my ancestor were there as follows: 

Liberated from POW Camp Ubon Thailand.

3528232 Cpl. Charles George Blease (CO's Bodyguard). 6 Railway Cottages, Barton Moss, Eccles.
He shot down a Japanese aircraft with a Bren Gun whilst defending Singapore.
Killed by a train at Barton  Moss level crossing on 8th May 1946 aged 28.
Buried in Peel Green Cemetery Section E. Grave 16521.

What I wanted to know was the shooting down a Japanese aicraft with a bren gun, and the info on being the CO’s bodyguard. I’m aware already of his address before and after the war and when and how he died and where he’s buried, but I would like to know if anyone knows where this information about him shooting down an aircraft with a bren gun would have been sourced from. It would be interesting to see so I can include it in the story of his life that I am compiling for my family. 

Much appreciated all,

Kim Blease 😎

[rafboy]

Welcome Kim, I put most of the Singapore information on the Forum and sorted it all into order so it could be read from top to bottom, normally the subject threads read from latest to first post.

A good 95% of the information came to me from Mack one of the Forum Moderators, unfortunately Mack has not been active on the Forum for a considerable time so I'm not sure if anyone else can answer your question. His liberation Q is on the COFEPOW site here:  https://lq-cofepow.org/products/blease-charles-g?_pos=1&_sid=80bf23fcd&_ss=r the originals are held in the National Archive at Kew George's may have a second page with the information on it, I cannot find this page.

I will see if any of my contacts can help and let you know here if I get any more information.

Best of luck.
Cliff

[Bleaseydoesit]

I mentioned this on my other post but just wanted to repeat it here to say thanks to the forum for helping me and in particular to you Cliff for reaching out to me personally to help with my research, you’ve been a big help and it is always lovely to talk to you! If it wasn’t for sites like these and the people who keep them running a lot of stories like that of my ancestor would be lost so I’m very thankful for those who created this site and keep it running, everyone has contributed to allowing me to tell my ancestors life story! Thank you again everyone!