SGT GRANVILLE LAWRENCE 3853372

[tonibarker]

Hello,

I am trying to get information regarding my grandfather's war service.  The only information I have is his service number 3853372 and that he was a prisoner of war of the Japanese, from the fall of Singapore until the end.  There is much debate in the family with regards to which regiment he served in, therefore any information I can get will be a great help.

Cheers

Toni

[mack]

hiya toni.
cliff or roy will be able to help with your enquiry,they should be on the forum later.
welcome to the forum.

mack

[rafboy]

Hi Toni

I will get back to you later today on this, I have to go out for a while now.

Roy, I don't have his POW Card or QL Card could you ad him to your list for your next visit to Kew please.

Cliff

[rafboy]

Hi again Toni
He would have been in The 1st Battalion The Manchester Regiment as my father was.  The 1st Bn were taken prisoner at the fall of Singapore.  His Service Number is a Manchester Regiment one.
Attached is a list of Web Sites that may be of interest, use the last one on the list is you wish to obtain his Service Records.  You will need the permission of his Next of Kin to get them, anyone other than his wife/widow will have to pay for them, last time I checked it would cost £30.00 and may take quite a while.
As you would see in my earlier message I have asked Roy (themonsstar) if he can get his POW Record Card and QL from Kew for you.  The POW Record Card will have his personal details etc and in Japanese where he was held as a POW, I can help get some of the Japanese translated but some is very old Kanji which my contact cannot translate.  The QL is a Liberation Questionaire which your grandfather would have completed himself.
If you can, visit the Regimental Museum and Archive in Ashton Under Lyne, the archive is in a separate building to the museum, if you let them know you are coming and what you are interested in they will have any relevant documents available for you to see.
Available from the Museum for a small fee is a document you may be interested in "First Battalion The Manchester Regiment Malaya, Thailand, Burma 1939 ~ 1945 reference is MR1/3/1/18.
From the Archive you should be able to get a copy of The Order of Battle reference MR1/3/1/15 I only have the page with my father on and your grandfather is not on that page.  Also you can get a copy of the relevant page of the Nominal Roll reference MR1/8/13 from the Archive.
Have a look at the Forum Section Photos and Postcards by Battalion, in the Photos From The Far East there are two of groups of POW's taken in Singapore, if you have photos of your grandfather you can use as a coparison you may find him in one of them.  Those few identified so far have all been 1st Bn men but all the Bn are not in them.  I can let you have higher resolution files of them, PM me with a contact email address if you would like them sent.
Cliff  

[tonibarker]

Cliff,

thank you for the information, I would love to visit the museum unfortunately it is a bit difficult at the moment as I live in Australia.  My email address is <<email removed to protect you from SPAM. Please use the PM function>>.  I have a photo of him which I will send to you when I get home, I am at work at the moment.

Toni

[rafboy]

Hi Toni
I just realised that my initial reply to you was wrong.  He was in The Loyals not The Manchesters.
The Manchesters number range is 3511001 to 3589000.
The Loyals number range is 3846001 to 3902000.

I am a bit surprised nobody picked me up on my mistake.
Very sorry.
Cliff