herbert frank fellowes.

[robbie]

hi i am looking for information on this soldier. he was my grandad.
i dont know his date of birth or anything about him. he appears to have been killed on the hms dragonfly.

Name:   FELLOWES, HERBERT FRANK
Initials:   H F
Nationality:   United Kingdom
Rank:   Colour Serjeant
Regiment/Service:   Manchester Regiment
Unit Text:   1st Bn.
Age:   38
Date of Death:   14/02/1942
Service No:   724269
Casualty Type:   Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference:   Column 75.
Memorial:   SINGAPORE MEMORIAL

i am interested in finding out if he had any medals awarded  and what they were. i would then like to get them or buy them for my mum. she is 70 and never met her dad as he died when she was a baby. she had to be sent home with her mum from sigapore in 1940 or there abouts i believe.
any help or advice would be appreciated. thank you.

[rafboy]

Hi Robbie and welcome.
You may like to take a look here http://themanchesters.org/forum/index.php?topic=4025.0 where there is some references to the HMS Dragonfly loss.  The document MR1/3/1/18 mentioned in my posting on this page is relevant.
This site could also be of interest http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-23RGB-Dragonfly.htm There is a link to a casualty at the bottom but it only lists crew.
Try a Google search on HMS Dragonfly for more information.
Cliff

[mack]

hiya robbie.
your grandfather would have been entitled to medals,you can apply for them at kentigern house

mack

[Wendi]

Hi Robbie and welcome to our Forum 

They have changed it mack, you now have to apply to Innsworth House in Gloucester

Robbie if you read this it tells you what you have to do to get his medals, and where to apply http://www.veterans-uk.info/medals/claiming.html

Wendi 

[Wendi]

Just another bit of info for you Robbie, about your mum

she had to be sent home with her mum from sigapore in 1940 or there abouts i believe.

It is more lightly that she was sent home later than 1940, probably late 1941 or early 1942, during "The evacuation of Singapore" If you google there is lots about it, and some if it is very sad,

but

The Museum of the Manchester Regiment has a history of The 1st Battalion on the web and it says:

"A number of the wives in the Regiment were employed in military offices as clerks and in hospitals as auxiliary nurses. They remained at their duties until evacuated from the island. This evacuation to Australia, South Africa, India and England began at the end of December and continued until about the 8th February, when the last of the families were evacuated."

You can read for yourself here: http://www.tameside.gov.uk/museumsgalleries/mom/history/1919-1945

Wendi 

[robbie]

hiya guys,
i looked at the item on the dragonfly.
on the link you provided if you look at the picture you will see my grandads name on the second colm about four from the bottom. the first tiime i and my mum had seen that.
it is kind of ermmm .....not really sure how i feel, sad , happy upset emotional i suppose.
i have tears welling up. i cannot believe it.
i will have to pay for his army service records, i think that will shed more light on him.
i will let you know how i go on.

[Wendi]

It's certainly an emotional journey when you start researching !

There is also this:

http://www.cwgc.org/search/certificate.aspx?casualty=2131351

Wendi 

[Robert Bonner]

Robbie.
Your Grandfather was a Sergeant in the 1st Battalion with seniority from 18th November 1928 when the battalion was stationed at Shorncliffe. He probably stayed with the battalion when they went to the West Indies in 1934. 50 families with 69 children accompanied them to Bermuda and Jamaica.They returned to the UK in1935 when the families were dropped off and the battalion sailed on to the Middle East.  Some families rejoined the battalion in Palestine shortly before the battalion sailed to Singapore.

If you will send  your home address to me at Rabvbx[at*]aol.com I will send you more detail regarding the loss of HMS Dragonfly.

Robert

* when emailing please replace the [at] with a @
This message has been modified to avoid spam.  Thank you, Wendi 

[Wendi]

Robert do you know if there are any passenger lists of those on board evacuation ships?

Wendi 

[Robert Bonner]

Wendi.
Although I  have never come across any, I feel sure that there were. Once clear of imminent danger the  ships routine administration and documentation would have gone into motion.
It would be a very fruitful exercise to find out.
Robert

[BarryEBirch]

Robbie

Is your grandmother's name Kathleen Fellowes aged 31 in 1942 and your mother Shirley Ann aged 1, proposed address in the UK: 17 Caroline St., Bishopsgate Rd., York, Yorkshire?

If so, they departed Singapore on The Duchess of Bedford, arriving Liverpool on 4 April 1942 via Cape Town. Shipping line Canadian Pacific.

Source: Ancestry.com. UK Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008.
Original data: Board of Trade: Commercial and Statistical Department and successors: Inwards Passenger Lists. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA). Series BT26, 1,472 pieces.

Barry

[mack]

i think you have cracked it barry,excellent work
also on board this ship,was lena,margurite dawson and her 11yr old daughter eleanor,dulcie dawson,they were the family of pte 3525595 albert,stanley dawson
1st manchesters
their intended address,was 83 bennett st,ashton.

sadly,that was the last time they saw him,he died on 21st sept 1944,aged 26,no known grave

mack

[Wendi]

Oh Barry! thank you so much for that look-up, I greatly appreciate it   

It confirms 2 things for us, most of all the date that robbie's grandmother left Singapore, but also that lists are available for families of those who were evacuated.

I also noticed that COFEPOW are trying to compile lists that will be helpful to future researchers.  Their website, via this link http://www.cofepow.org.uk/pages/ships.html

Wendi 

[Wendi]

I found this regarding anecdotes from "SS Duchess of Bedford" http://www.duchessofbedford.com/

And someone has written a very interesting account of "Leaving Singapore on the 'Duchess of Bedford'  in February 1942.

Wendi 

[robbie]

yes my nana was called kathleen. my mum is shirley anne gibb-kirk nee fellowes.
i am amazed at you guys you are very helpful thank you.
i just need to find his date of birth then i can apply for his service records.