263673 Pte. Owen Peers British Army 18th Btn. Reconnaissance Corps from:36 Laurel Crescent, Hindley Green, Wigan Owen Peers was my Grandad, 36 years old at the start of WW2 and in a reserved occupation, but he still volunteered. He was captured by the Japanese at the fall of Singapore. He used to recall with wry humour that his battalion landed just in time to surrender. He also clearly remembered loosing his false teeth when his troopship was sunk, although judging by what he had to eat over the next three and a half years, it didn't really trouble him. He returned to spend the rest of his working life in the coal mines and passed away, age 70, in 1973.
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