234179 Pte. Arthur Victor Passmore British Army 308 Res M.T. Coy Royal Army Service Corps from:Willenhall (d.26th April 1941) My father's father, Arthur Passmore, was born in 1916, and was the son of Alice and James, and one of ten children: Harold, Benjamin, Blanche, Bertha, Daisey, Doris, Elsie, James, Daisey.
He was a coal miner when the war began, with a baby boy called Michael Arthur. He had married in 1938 at Bilston, Staffordshire, and his wife was Gladys Baugh, who was born in 1918.
He joined the army as a driver in the Royal Army Service Corps. Arthur was believed to be dead in April of 1941 as part of the disastrous BEF invasion of Greece. This information was not known until my father was a married man with children of his own, because information released by the government and the MOD was sparse. My grandmother was widowed and never got over his loss. She remarried, but Arthur was a fixed member of the family and she would wistfully relay details of her wedding to Arthur, his features, and how heartbroken she was to have lost him. The period of his assumed death resulted in a nervous breakdown, so facts were difficult to pin down. My father was her only child.
In the past few years, the tragedy of the Greek evacuation has attracted more interest and books. Memorial ceremonies for the soldiers of the Greek Campaign have been held at the National Arboretum of War Dead in Staffordshire and more family members of those who were there have begun to put the pieces together.
My grandfather is also commemorated in Athens on the Athens Memorial, Arthur Victor Passmore T/182010, driver aged 25, 26th of April 1941. This date has changed recently, from 24th to 26th and it was assumed this is where he was most likely killed.
I have recently found another document that lists him as a dead prisoner of war in Singapore, Changi hospital, with the correct name and service number. No date is given, details and archival number are given a ref number in a list compiled by a Rev. Chambers. How do I find out more information to validate what happened as much as you can expect in the chaos of war and how only now have we learnt about the Changi list? My father has now died and his mother died in 2000. Neither would have guessed he could have ended up in Singapore. No date is given on the list of dead prisoners as to when they died. I know about the Slamat and Diamond ships that were bombed in the evacuation and have found that other evacuees captured in Greece were sent to Austria, I think to Poland and to Germany, and again (I think) Malaysian prison camps. Any information would be gratefully received. His loss affected every life he touched and the family he would have known if he had survived. I give thanks every day for what was sacrificed for my own family, but it's a high price.
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