Aircraftman 1st Class 977552 John Aloysius Morris

BMD details:
D.O.B. 08/01/1920

Family details:
Son of Christopher and Gertrude Morris, of Eccleston Hill, St. Helens, Lancashire.

Census details:
1939 Register. Unfortunately John Aloysius is redacted. Father Christopher Morris born 28/01/1898 a Bricklayer, mother Gertrude Morris born 05/05/1883 an Unpaid Domestic and siblings Francis G Morris born 05/04/1912 a Bricklayer, Mary P Spence (Morris) born 29/04/1924 At School are living at 58 Lowther Crescent, St Helens.

[b]Far East PoWs & Japanese shipping.[/b] Contary to either the Geneva Convention or the Hague Convention, the Japanese made free use of FEPoWs and impressed natives as forced labour. These men were transported in large numbers in appalling conditions, usually in unmarked cargo vessels, as far as Japan. As the balance of war swung to the Allies from 1943 onwards, Japanese shipping came under increasingly heavy attack by submarine. Among the losses were 11 ships carrying prisoners, of whom nearly 18,000 died.In September 1944 the [i]Junyo Maru[/i] was transporting forced labour from Java to Padang in Sumatra. She was sunk on 18 September by HM Submarine [i]Tradewind, [/i]near Moeko Moeko, Sumatra. Aboard ship were 2,200 FEPoWs of mainly Dutch and UK origin, together with 4,200 Javanese forced labourers (most of whom perished). Of the FEPoWs, there were 723 survivors (47 of them RAF), leaving 1477 missing (64 RAF).In all, there were 14 men of 211 Squadron aboard [i]Junyo Maru[/i]. George Blake was one of just five survivors, the others being CA Cains 568367 (Cpl Fitter II), R Darley 1125462, HC Wood 1265183 and FG Worrell (AC1 Photographer). The nine lost were: Anholm, Ronald 1302851 LAC Beveridge, James 1361272 AC2 Dalby, James Edward 917767 AC1 Armourer, Bomb Hawkins, William Reginald 1211134 AC1 [b]Morris, John Aloysius 977552 AC1 Wireless Operator[/b] Preece, Sydney Charles 637297 Cpl Aircrafthand General Duties Sinclair, Robert 1171745 AC1 Fitter II Airframe Stevens, Ronald Victor John 1336749 AC1 White, Thomas Dillon 1287897 AC1 [pic]imgs/WW2_misc/977552JohnAloysiusMorris_1.jpg[/pic][caption]National probate calendar[/caption] [pic]imgs/WW2_misc/977552JohnAloysiusMorris.jpg[/pic][caption]Soldier, Veteran & Prisoner Rolls & Lists[/caption] [pic]imgs/SingaporeMemorial/Morris_JA.JPG[/pic][caption]Inscription on Singapore Memorial (Picture by John Belcher GWF and Ste M)[/caption] [list=1] [/list]