Eric David Jones

A Private with the 5th Battalion, Eric died on 11th of July 1943 aged 23. 

Eric was born at Lowestoft on 12 September 1919, a son of Charles and Ida Jones. In 1921 his family lived at 19 Southwell Road. Eric’s mother died in 1935 and in 1939 his family lived at 69 Waveney Drive. 

Eric served with the 5th Battalion Royal Norfolk Regiment. In May 1940 the battalion took over coastal defences at Weybourne, Norfolk. Later that year they moved to Holt and then King’s Lynn. In January 1941 they were sent to Scotland for advanced training and in April to Liverpool. In October 1941 they went to Glasgow and on 9 December they embarked the Duchess of Atholl, part of a convoy of ships carrying the 18th Division to Halifax. In Canada they changed ship to the U.S.S. Mount Vernon and then sailed for South Africa. They were due to sail to Bombay on 13 December 1941, but instead were taken to Mombasa. On 28 December they sailed for Singapore, arriving there on 13 January 1942.

The battalion underwent some jungle training before moving to reserve positions at Ayer Hitam. The battalion’s first contact with the Japanese took place on 21 January. For the next few days they tried to hold positions, but, on 26 January, they were ordered to engage in a fighting retreat to Singapore. For the next two weeks they were involved in the defence of Singapore but Eric, like many of his battalion was captured when Singapore fell on 15 February 1942. 

On 29 October 1942 Eric was among a party of men taken overland to work on the Burma Railway. In July 1943 he was at Takaneen also known as Tha Khanun, a camp on the Burma Railway, where he died from acute enteritis. Eric was buried at Takaneen and, in 1946, was re-buried at Kanchanburi War Cemetery. 

Eric’s brother-in-law, George Tatler, served with the Royal Artillery and died in 1944.