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General => Armed Forces => World War Two => Topic started by: Tony Freeman on Tuesday 08 August 17 14:40 BST (UK)
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The following photograph show Gordon serving in Burma during WW2.
He was captured and was held prisoners for several years.
Can anyone identify his rank and unit?
All help appreciated.
Tony F
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The top two pics don't seem to have any distinguishing uniform features at all. In the third picture he is wearing the rank badge and Sam Browne belt of a Warrant Officer Class One. His appointment as a WO1 would depend on what regiment/unit he was with. Guesswork on the cap badge which may be Royal Engineers.
maxD
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Thanks for your help.
That will allow me to do some more research.
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The top 2 photos with a US soldier. The 4 inverted chevrons on the soldier's sleeve are US Army and not British in anyway.
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Thanks for the comment .... I missed that one :-)
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His army records are now viewable on Ancestry
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/62682/records/33416
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His army records are now viewable on Ancestry
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/62682/records/33416
Shaun, I don't have access to Ancestry. Does his record indicate his time as a POW? There is only one Hirst GS (or variants) that I have been able to find among the Japanese POWs records, and that is for 878352 Acting Sgt Gordon Spencer Hirst RA of 122 Field Regt, captured around 15 Feb 1942 and released from captivity c. Oct 1945. Obviously these details don't match the OP's description.
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Was he born 10 July 1910, Scarborough married 1934 .
Your local library will have a subscription to ancestry so you can view his record.
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Stanley Gordon Hirst 10533874
Born Scarborough 10 July 1910
Address: 10 Hillside Gardens Scarborough
Wife Charlott Ellen Taylor (married 10 September 1934)
Served with RAOC and REME, rising to WO1 by 1945
India 1941-1945
Was not a POW
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Thanks Shaun.
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There is this one, but I can't find anything else on him:
G. S. Hirst
L/Sgt
Military Date 1939-1945
Regiment 122 Army Fd Regt R. A.
Service Number 879352
Description 2067: Prisoners of War, Far East: Parties Transferred Over Seas
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G. S. Hirst
L/Sgt
Military Date 1939-1945
Regiment 122 Army Fd Regt R. A.
Service Number 879352
His service number was wrongly transcribed in one of the War Office lists. That was Geoffrey Spencer Hirst, 878352.
See https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/62114/records/63258
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His service number was wrongly transcribed in one of the War Office lists. That was Geoffrey Spencer Hirst, 878352.
See https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/62114/records/63258
Thanks Shaun, I can stop digging around on him now!
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Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions.
Whilst his army record does not show that he was a prisoner in Burma, he was actually a prisoner. I know that he was missing for quite a while.
Tony F
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Family stories contain some reality the rest is fiction.
The family may not have heard from him for a while and assumed he was missing.
All services kept meticulous records, especially the Japanese and Germans.
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I think you are correct.
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It would have been most unusual for a serviceman's record not to be annotated when he was listed as missing, not least because his next of kin would need to have been informed, and there would be implications for his pay and allowances etc. Any soldier missing for more than 28 days would be transferred to the Y List and this action would most certainly be recorded on his record.
Missing of course does not necessarily mean he became a prisoner of war, or if he was, that the British were officially informed by the Japanese that he was a POW. Japan did not ratify the 1929 Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War and so the International Committee of the Red Cross had very little opportunity to verify the whereabouts of missing servicemen.
That said, the National Archives claim that their records of WW2 Prisoners of War are 'virtually complete' so it would be surprising if WO1 Hirst did not turn up on any War Office casualty reports as either missing, or missing believed to be a POW, or finally as a prisoner of war.
More on TNA's POW records can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WvD_mI9CvU