The Scottish Military Research Group - Commemorations Project

Kenneth Morrison · Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 12:59 pm Post subject: Civilian - prisoner of Japanese?

On the WW2 section of the Dalton War Memorial http://warmemscot.s4.bizhat.com/viewtopic.php?t=127
the first entry is for A H CARRUTHERS Pte VDF MALAYA
CWGC list him as Andrew Henry Carruthers, age 27, died 1/9/1945 - Civilian War Dead, buried Sumatra. The cemetery report gives nearly 200 names and seem to be all civilian.
I assume prisoners of the Japanese?
_________________
Ken

Adam Brown · Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 8:56 pm Post subject:

VDF Malaya is perhaps the Federated Malay States Volunteer Forces?

Regards

Adam

kinnethmont · Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 1649 Location: Aberdeenshire

Ken

There were a number of Volunteer Forces ( similar to our T.A. ) in Malaya, the Federated Malay States Volunteer Force being one of them.
To my knowledge there was none titled Volunteer Defence Force ( V.D.F. ) Malaya.

Carruthers may have served with one of these reserve forces at some point, but was not embodied at the time of his death and is therefor reported as a Civilian casualty.
Looking through the report ( it is not a cemetery report with his place of burial) it is clear these are civilian casualies who died in the " care " of the Japanese. Sumatra is given as the Reporting Authority as most of them died at Palembang or Muntok on nearby Banka Island. Both were the site of Japanese POW camps.
_________________
Jim

If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

www.kinnethmont.co.uk

Kenneth Morrison · Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2017 11:33 am Post subject:

An update:

Andrew Henry Carruthers – age 27 – Civilian, Federated States of Malaya Volunteer Force.
Andrew was educated at Wellington College and worked for Bousteads & Co. Ltd. (East Indian Merchants) and latterly was an announcer for the Malaysian Broadcasting Corporation in Singapore. He and his wife escaped from Singapore but their ship was bombed and beached on Banka Island.
He died from cerebral malaria and beri-beri in a civilian internment camp at Palembang in Sumatra.
His wife, who was held in the women's section of the same camp, survived.
(Source: muntokpeacemuseum.org)
Born 1918 registered at both Dalton and Canongate, Edinburgh. Son of the late Colonel Francis John Carruthers and of Olive Christian Johnstone (Douglas) Carruthers of Dormont, Dalton, Lockerbie, Dumfriesshire. Husband of Emily Marguerite (Edwards) Carruthers who he married in October 1941 in Kuala Lumpur. Malaya. (Source: CWGC and D&G Standard 4/10/1941 p.4)
Died on 1 September 1945 and buried in Labut Lengau, Sumatra but re-interred in Djakarta War Cemetery, Indonesia.
(Source: family grave in Dalton Parish churchyard)
Also named on the Dalton Parish Church memorial.
Andrew's brothers William Nigel and Michael George were also POWs of the Japanese but survived. (Source: D&G Standard 10/10/1945 p.4)
_________________
Ken