2/4th MGB recently received an email from Nicholas Charlesworth who resides in England. Charlesworth’s nephews who are resident in USA contacted Nicholas, alerting him to our facebook and webpage story on Bennett’s escape.
FRANCIS GEORGE CHARLESWORTH
13842 Vol Light Artillery Battery, Federated Malay States Volunteer Forces
FATHER TO NICHOLAS CHARLESWORTH
One of the eight English Officers mentioned in General Bennett’s escape from Singapore – Sumatra – Java – Broome Feb 1942.
Please go to the original story of Ever wondered how Bennett escaped from Singapore?
Nicholas Charlesworth’s English-born father Francis George Charlesworth was a barrister practicing law in Kuala Lumpur in 1941/1942 with a firm known as Shearn Delamore. When the emergency occurred in Malaysia (Japanese invasion) Francis Charlesworth joined the territorial army in Malaya, probably as a bombardier. Charlesworth’s wife Kathleen Vivian with their two young sons Peter and Nicholas aged two years were retreating down the Malay peninsula when the Japanese invaded. They safely reached Singapore and embarked on the ‘Empress of Japan’ which sailing on 31 January 1941 returning to UK via South Africa.
**The Malay campaign began 8 December 1941 when Japanese forces landed in Singora and Patani in southern Thailand, and Kota Bharu in northern Malaya. The campaign ended on 31 January 1942 with the Japanese forces gaining control of the Malay Peninsula.
The Territorial Army along with Australia’s 8th Division, British and Indian Forces fought the advancing Japanese south through Malaya to Singapore where they finally faced their enemy for the last time during the Battle for Singapore.
Frank Charlesworth was in Singapore during the surrender and escaped in what Nicholas believed was a “single sail junk”, the same one on which General Bennett escaped.
On his father’s death Nicholas found a handwritten account of the escape and a few years ago he typed Frank’s notes. Sadly the wriiten account it is not the full story as it ended when they ran into some fishing stakes near to Sumatra. Frank told Nicholas the remaining notes were amongst his belongings, but to date Nicholas has not been successful in finding them.
As is the case with most soldiers, Nicholas’ father rarely spoke of his wartime service, well certainly not to his family. Nicholas recalled being able to listen in as a third party only. He remembers Frank saying they only had a hand-held compass. He thought his father said they had a piece of a wall map of the world so they knew to sail west. All his life Frank kept a prismatic compass on his dressing table – which he clearly valued and Nicholas suspects it was the one they used during their escape.
Francis George CHARLESWORTH – known as ‘Charles’ to many and as ‘George’ to his family when growing up – the following is his story……
‘While stationed at Punggol (with British Troops on the north eastern coastline) and some days prior to Surrender, Charlesworth and his mate Henry Oppenheim discussed their chances at escaping. They had already decided they did not wish to be taken prisoners. The two men believed crossing overland was risky with planted mines. They agreed their best chance was by sea – a boat to Sumatra! However, the two men also agreed it would be safer with four persons rather than two. They approached King and Hardy who readily agreed.
Shortly after their Battery was withdrawn from the Punggol area and they took up a position on the edge of Seletar Airfield. (Seletar Airfield was the British Royal Air Force’s main base in the Far East, supposedly equipped to protect Singapore’s naval base in Sembawang). Following Surrender, Seletar became the location for a POW Camp for the Indian Army.
At about 8 PM on the evening of 15th February 1942 the men received news of the capitulation of Singapore and at about the same time, a party who had come down from the Battery’s guns position arrived at the Wagon Lines (area within a battery’s position where majority of its vehicles are deployed whilst not in use) to where Charlesworth and Oppenheim were stationed. The party included H. T. Ross, M.C. Hay, Harvey, H. R. Ross and Wilkes. Shortly after their arrival they met Oppenheim, Hardy and Charlesworth. The larger group of men told them they intended escaping by way of a boat to Sumatra. Oppenheim, Hardy and Charlesworth decided they would join them, making a party of eight men.
Earlier Charlesworth enquired about Task King who had originally agreed to leave with them – King had decided the escape risks were too high to be taken.
The eight men met to discuss a means of locating a boat. They decided to visit the Master Attendants Office to seek advice on the location of any minefields and any known craft. They returned about 11pm that night with the information that there were two Chinese Thetkaws lying off the reclaimed ground. (The Master Attendant was appointed when Singapore became a trading port in 1819. He was responsible for the control of shipping lying in the roadstead and he also acted as advisor on nautical matters to the Governor of the SS. Over the years, the function of the Master Attendant’s Office expanded to include the control of shipping throughout the port of Singapore together with maintenance of signal stations and navigational aids, registry of shipping, the engagement and discharge of seamen and the examination of masters and mates. Information from National Archives Singapore).
There was no night moon, but the sky was well lit by many fires burning to the south and the oil fires on the islands lying off the coast.
Opposite the lower entrance of Arab Street (north east of Singapore city) they were also told that a course set to the north of Pulah Sempah, clearly distinguished by its burning oil installations would keep them clear of any minefields and after passing that island, a course set south west would take them to Sumatra. Thankfully the Master Attendants Office also told them to head for the mouth of the Indragiri River or further south as they had reports the Japanese had landed and occupied north Sumatra.
The party proceeded to collect personal items and it was agreed to take a 2 gallon petrol can of water and some food. They did not expect to be at sea more than 48 hours!
Shortly before midnight the party of eight men left the Wagon Lines and walked about half an hour to reach the sea and the place they had been directed to. Shortly after arriving at the sea wall they came upon a jetty with steps down to the water. The whole party moved onto the jetty where they discussed the best means of locating the Thetkaws. A number of sanpans and small craft could be seen anchored a few yards from the water’s edge.
During their discussions a small boat drifted to the jetty and a voice called out asking who we were and what were we doing. We disclosed our intention to escape and the speaker in the boat (Gordon Walker) said they (meaning those in the advancing craft) had better say who they were, and that in the boat was Major General Gordon Bennett and two other Australian officers, Lt. Gordon Walker and Capt. Charles Moses.
On hearing this, Charlesworth who had known both Bennett and his wife in Kuala Lumpur, said who he was and a short conversation took place.
It appeared the General and his party had formed the plan to escape and had with them a young Malay who would lead them through Japanese lines. The General’s intention was to try to escape as far as Malacca he said, and from there he proposed to make his way to Burma.
In his notes Charlesworth made mention of the fact that Bennett was then on the east coast of Singapore, some distance away from the channel between the island and mainland, a distance of about 175 miles by road to Malacca.
The three men were in a sampan which Walker had swam out to and brought ashore for them to board. Their plan sounded rather fantastic and the eight men decided they would have nothing to do with the General and his party. It was however decided that Gordon’s sanpan would take two of the eight men on the jetty with them to locate the Thetkaws and for them to bring one back to the jetty to collect the remaining six men. The eight men never mentioned they were looking for two Thetkaws. It was intended only that the General and his party would ferry two men out and then for the General to be on his way.
Hay and H.R Ross got into Bennett’s boat and made their way out to the small boats anchored offshore. They were away some time and came back with a rather larger boat with decking covering 3/4s of the length. Hay reported later when they found the Thetkaw the General had found by this time the two men had expert knowledge of Malay, and ‘Bennett had suggested the two men remain with them and this new boat and leave the other six behind to find their own boat.’ Hay continued that an altercation then took place between the General and himself which was only settled by Capt Moses saying ‘as they had originally agreed, they must return to the steps for the other men.’
It seems very likely that having seen this rather longer and more seaworthy boat General Bennett had decided if anyone was to have the boat, it should be him and his party. The dispute was settled when they all boarded the Thetkaw and returned to the steps. Bennett’s party Malay guide by this time expressed a desire to leave them and so was able to take away the sampan to do whatever he wished to do.
At the steps all the men boarded the Thetkaw and set forth, with the General and Capt Moses urging them to hurry and get away. Their progress was extremely slow as one of the oars was one short sampan paddle and the sweep was about three times the size of the first. Charlesworth operated the sweep with his back to the bows and Capt Moses the paddle with his face to the bows. After erratic rowing for half an hour somebody spied a larger boat off our starboard side and we decided this must be one of original Thetkaws we came to look for so headed to it. It was quite a struggle, but they eventually pulled under the stern of the larger boat and managed to clamber aboard with all their baggage. On board were a number of British soldiers and it was indeed one of the Thetkaws they were originally directed to. The Chinese owner and his takings were onboard.
Immediately General Bennett and Capt Moses were again insisting the owner make haste. The owner protested vigorously insisting he could not find his way in the dark and as well he had a load of barrels on board and with the weight and low tide he was not prepared to run the risk of crossing the mine fields. At this point Bennett and Moses got loud inclining to lose their heads, they first offered to pay $500 to the Captain if he left at once, then threatened to throw him overboard and take over the ship themselves. At this point, Hay with some knowledge of Chinese intervened and after some discussions a payment of $100 was offered and a threat to throw the owner’s opium pipe overboard rather than himself persuaded the Captain to lift his anchor and move his boat out a mile two into the harbour. The Captain refused to go any further but promised as soon as the tide began lifting and dawn broke he would proceed.
Charlesworth remembered the great relief he felt when the ship began moving. He fell asleep he did not wake until the skies were grey and he found they were anchored two miles offshore. It must have been about 6.30am on 16th February 1942 when they began sailing setting their course to the east of Puloh Sahwoh on which oil installations were burning fiercely. There was a fair wind and the tide was with them.
After passing the Island the passengers attempted to explain to the Captain they wanted to sail to Sumatra. Following discussions he professed he understood and agreed to take us, however he first needed to sail to a small fishing village to collect a supply of opium and a pilot.
Occasional aircraft flew over and we agreed as they were Japanese we should remain undercover until we were some miles away from the Singapore coast. The escapees remained hidden throughout most of the 16th – happy to sleep.
Charlesworth wrote he was feeling great sadness and depression not because Singapore had fallen nor that his possessions were lost, rather he had left behind his friends. He felt like a deserter having run away from his duties and he should have remained.
During that first morning a stock take was made of their supplies, water and an estimation of how long their journey would take to Sumatra. It was reckoned it would take five days before they could replenish supplies. On this basis it was calculated each man was allowed ¼ litre of water per head each day, two tins of bully between the whole group each day and four army biscuits per man. Further it was decided two biscuits in the morning and the ration of bully at lunch time. The ship owner augmented their lunch providing small bowl of rice daily to each man.
At about 11 am we anchored off a small island village and the ship owner went ashore after obtaining a further $20 from us to pay for the opium. As he was away for some time the men began to fear the worst, he was not returning and/or he had given them up to the Japanese – which of course was ridiculous as he would lose his boat and supplies aboard. He returned about 2 hours later with a man whom he said would pilot us to Sumatra.
As they set sail there was a loud crash of tarpaulins covering the well and a large man appeared announcing his intention to remain onboard. He was not welcome but as the alternative was to throw him overboard he could remain. He was a Canadian named Wray and claimed he was a gunner on the Connaught Battery on Blakau Mati until it was destroyed by Japanese bombing on 14 February. He later proved to be an invaluable member of the group.
Their sailing direction was now left in the hands of the pilot, however it was soon discovered he was set on a due easterly course. The pilot declared he knew where he was going and where he wanted to go – so matters were left in his hands until later again the passengers realised they remained landlocked to the west and south west which was the direction they would eventually have to sail to reach Sumatra. When the pilot refused to sail west, Roy who had some sailing knowledge now insisted on taking charge to the consternation of the pilot, owner and Taikong. Roy successfully sailed them through the channel to the west which they had refused to sail, and now they were in more open sea. There were many islands in their way so they sailed mostly south to avoid them. By evening they were able to sail west and take advantage of a decent wind.
Fearing the perils of darkness amongst the islands the Chinese owner insisted we anchor at darkness. The breeze was too good and Roy appeared competent so took over the steering until about an hour later there was a loud crash. They ran into a row of fishing stakes breaking part of the rigging and tearing holes in the rigging.’
It is at this point that Nicholas has been unable to locate his father’s continuing writing of the journey to Sumatra. However his search continues.
Above: Francis George Charlesworth
We know the group managed to reach the Sumatran coast where Bennett quickly parted company.
Charlesworth reached India where he served in the Forces.
The following is from Bennett and his two officers:
‘They reached Sumatra in four days having shared very limited rations of water and food. The junk’s captain refused to take them any further, but fortunate as they were, a RAF launch picked them up and they began a journey down the sumatran coast to Java. Major-General Bennett however, managed to continue his journey to Batavia separately by flying boat.’
‘From the junk, Bennett and party transferred to a ‘Tern’ a 30 foot police launch previously used in Singapore Harbour which they had seen and hailed. By this time there were up to 19 escapees on board. They sailed through to Sumatra by way of Sambi, Muaratebo (believed northern Sumatra) to Padang and to Java.’
‘Another source wrote ‘they they came across a larger boat, a twakaw loaded with ammunition with three crew and 2 British officers.They paid the owner $150-00 to take them to Sumatra’ . By this time there were 19 men aboard the twakaw.
On 21 Feb Bennett and three companions had seen and hailed a ‘Tern’ – a former Singapore Harbour launch. Those remaining in the tongkan arrived at Rengat. There were now 21 people in the Tern. On the same evening of 21st February Bennett left the Tern at Djbami and was provided with a land pass by a Dutch official.
On 24th February Bennett was at Padang (Sumatra) where he met up with Brigadier Paris of 12th Indian Brigade. During the evening Bennett had a telephone conversation with General Wavell and discussed the stragglers and deserters at Singapore during last days before capitulation! (of course he was not a deserter!).
The next morning 25th February Bennett took a catalina to Batavia where he was driven to Bandeong. The next day Bennett went to the Port of Tjilatjup with a party of British officers and a wife of one of them. On the 27th, at dawn Bennett was flown out to Broome.’
When Bennett reached the shores of Australia, Charlesworth and the others were continuing with their escape.
Please read further about Federated Malay States Volunteer Forces.
Understanding the Volunteer Forces of Malaya & Singapore
We wish to acknowledge and thank the author of the following – as her story is about Charlesworth’s Regiment giving us an insight into their movements in Malaya into Singapore. ‘Playing for Malaya – a Eurasion Family in the Pacific War’ by Rebecca Kenneison.
The Malay Volunteers were mostly poorly equipped and poorly trained. For many there had been little time for training before they were mobilized a day or so after 1 Dec 1941 when a state of emergency was declared.
The Light Battery of FMSVF had 4 guns, 2 in Perak Section and 2 in Selangor Section. Their Commander was Major Ronald Wilshaw, a chemist from the Department of Agriculture. Senior Officers were all Europeans, some NCOs were Eurasians.
The Battery was mixed with 50-60 Europeans and equal number of Eurasions, some Chinese in the Perak Section and one Malay. However work was not equal. The Europeans aimed and fired the 3.7 inch Howitzers while the Eurasions and the one Malay worked entirely on transport, wood chopping, latrine digging, loading and unloading of munitions from trucks.
The Volunteers had spent little time together because of the importance of rubber and tin production for the war effort. Little use was made of these well-educated Volunteers who nearly all spoke Malay and were intimately familiar with the country.
The LBFMSVF were sent to the North where after three weeks of mobilization they gave up their Howitzers to an Indian Mountain Battery who had lost their guns during action at Jitra. They were replaced with 4 X 18 pounders, one of which was a display piece and was best described as a relic. The European gunners began improving the gun sights and replace the carriages with salvaged axles and parts mostly by tin miners who were trained engineers.
The poorly equipped Volunteers obtained and salvaged trucks, cars, bikes, weapons and equipment from abandoned airfields hastily abandoned by the RAF. Lance Bombardier Harry Oppenheim from the Perak Section noted the saying “He runs like a RAF grounder when anybody bolts.”
The LBFMSVF were stationed at Ipoh and in Kampar by Christmas where CSM Ian Patterson joined Spencer Chapman to go behind the lines for intelligence gathering. After Christmas the Battery moved to Kuala Lumper to tents on the race-course. They continued south-west to the coast to help regular artillery units repel coast landing by the Japanese.
Cecil Hays (also believed to be one of the eight escapees) recorded “2nd January afternoon, Right Section (Selangor) stood to and took up positions on Kuala Selangor Hill. At 6.30pm, along with 73rd RA, fired at attempted Japanese landings.”
The 2nd Selangor FMSVF was deployed inland at Batu Tigah crossroads to prevent infiltration from the flanks which would have cut off the Allied forward units. However, there was no opposition when the Japanese landed at Sabak Bernam.
By 27th & 28th January the Battery had drawn further south and across to Singapore. They camped at Paya Lebar, eastern Singapore, preparing for the last weeks of fighting.
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The Ordnance Quick Firing (QF) 18-pounder gun was the primary British field gun during World War I and early World War II, used by British and Commonwealth forces, and was later replaced by the 25-pounder gun. It was introduced in 1904 and was the main gun for WW1. It saw service on all front during WW1 including Western Front, Gallipoli and Middle East.
It was known for its rapid-fire rate and with an experienced crew able to fire up to 30 rounds per minute.
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Following a 1945 court of enquiry and a Royal Commission, it was found that General Gordon Bennett was unjustified in relinquishing his command and leaving Singapore after the surrender of the 8th Division in February 1942.