Rifleman
26/994
4th Bn. 3rd, N.Z. Rifle Brigade
who died on
Friday, 15th September 1916. Age 22.
Additional Information: Son of Eleanor Jackson (formerly Garbett), of 43, Sutherland Rd., Melrose, Wellington. Native of Lyell, Westport.
Commemorative Information
Memorial: CATERPILLAR VALLEY (NEW ZEALAND) MEMORIAL, Somme, France
Location: Longueval is a village approximately 13 kilometres east of Albert and 10 kilometres south of Bapaume. The Memorial is situated on a terrace in Caterpillar Valley Cemetery, which lies a short distance west of Longueval, on the south side of the road to Contalmaison. Commemorating those officers and men of the New Zealand Division who fell in the Battles of the Somme, 1916, and whose graves are not known, the Memorial takes the form of a screen wall behind the Great War Stone, with sheltered seats at either end, and consists of eleven panels of Portland stone. On ten of the panels are inscribed, in alphabetical order under their Regiments and ranks, the names of over 1200 soldiers of the New Zealand Division; and on the centre panel are carved the New Zealand fern leaf badge and the following words: HERE ARE RECORDED THE NAMES OF OFFICERS AND MEN OF NEW ZEALAND WHO FELL IN THE BATTLES OF THE SOMME, SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER, 1916 AND WHOSE GRAVES ARE KNOWN ONLY TO GOD.
Serjeant
T/142371
18 Div. Petrol Coy., Royal Army Service Corps
who died on
Tuesday, 3rd August 1943. Age 25.
Additional Information: Son of George Clement and Lucy May Garbett, of Blakenhall, Wolverhampton.
Commemorative Information
Cemetery: THANBYUZAYAT WAR CEMETERY, Myanmar
Grave Reference/
Panel Number: B4. G. 7.
Location: The village of Thanbyuzayat is 65 kilometres from Moulmein, and the war cemetery lies at the foot of the hills which separate the Union of Myanmar from Thailand. At present the only way in which the cemetery may be visited is by train. This is a long and uncomfortable journey and three days should be allocated. Only those in good health should attempt the journey. Prior permission is needed to travel to the cemetery, which is close to areas of unrest. Enquiries about the possibility of obtaining permission to visit the cemetery should be made to the nearest Union of Myanmar (Burmese) Embassy, or a Commonwealth Embassy in Yangon (Rangoon).
Historical Information: The notorious Burma-Siam railway, built by Commonwealth, Dutch and American prisoners of war, was a Japanese project driven by the need for improved communications to support the large Japanese army in Burma. During its construction, approximately 13,000 prisoners of war died and were buried along the railway. An estimated 80,000 to 100,000 civilians also died in the course of the project, chiefly forced labour brought from Malaya and the Dutch East Indies, or conscripted in Siam (Thailand) and Burma (Myanmar). Two labour forces, one based in Siam and the other in Burma worked from opposite ends of the line towards the centre. The Japanese aimed at completing the railway in 14 months and work began in October 1942. The line, 424 kilometres long, was completed by December 1943. The graves of those who died during the construction and maintenance of the Burma-Siam railway (except for the Americans, whose remains were repatriated) were transferred from camp burial grounds and isolated sites along the railway into three cemeteries at Chungkai and Kanchanaburi in Thailand and Thanbyuzayat in Myanmar. Thanbyuzayat became a prisoner of war administration headquarters and base camp in September 1942 and in January 1943 a base hospital was organised for the sick. The camp was close to a railway marshalling yard and workshops, and heavy casualties were sustained among the prisoners during Allied bombing raids in March and June 1943. The camp was then evacuated and the prisoners, including the sick, were marched to camps further along the line where camp hospitals were set up. For some time, however, Thanbyuzayat continued to be used as a reception centre for the groups of prisoners arriving at frequent intervals to reinforce the parties working on the line up to the Burma-Siam border. Thanbyuzayat War Cemetery was created by the Army Graves Service who transferred to it all graves along the northern section of the railway, between Moulmein and Nieke. There are now 3,149 Commonwealth and 621 Dutch burials of the Second World war in the cemetery.