Gunner George Arthur Bareham, 95th Battery, 48th Lt. A.A. (Light Anti-Aircraft) Regiment, Royal Artillery, Died while a Prisoner of War of Japanese at Jesselton, North Borneo: 1939-1945 Star; Pacific Star; and War Medal 1939-1945. Un-named as issued, un-mounted, replacement ribbons with pads on the back from previous board mounting, extremely fine. Accompanied by a Medal Awards Condolence Slip (named to "GNR. G.A. BAREHAM" and indicating that he was entitled to "3" awards, 102 mm x 142 mm, fold marks, lightly soiled); Medals Cardboard Shipping Container (addressed to "L.D. Bareham, Harringay, Oakleigh Rd. St. Clacton, Essex.", 60 mm x 85 mm x 21.5 mm); along with assorted research papers.
Footnote: George Arthur Bareham was the son of George and Ellen Bareham of Great Clacton, Essex and the husband of Louisa Daisy Mary Florence Bareham of Great Clacton. He was a Gunner (6001252) with the 95th Battery, 48th Lt. A.A. (Light Anti-Aircraft) Regiment, Royal Artillery. Convoy WS14 sailed from the Clyde on December 6, 1941, bound for the Middle East, carrying 21st and 48th Lt. A.A. (Light Anti-Aircraft) Regiments, along with 77th H.A.A. (Heavy Anti-Aircraft) Regiment. The 48th was a wartime regiment formed in 1940, comprising 49th, 95th and 242nd Batteries. By the time the convoy reached Durban, South Africa in early January 1942, the destination of the regiments had changed to Singapore. Their destination was changed again, this time to Batavia in Java, Dutch East Indies (now Jakarta, Indonesia), arriving there aboard the Empress of Australia on February 4, 1942. Upon arrival, the 95th Battery, 48th Lt. A.A. was sent to Oosthaven in Sumatra (now Bandar Lampung, Indonesia), en route for the airfield around Palembang, in order to reinforce the air defence already there. When they arrived, the evacuation had already begun, the 95th Battery returning to Batavia via Oosthaven. The 95th Battery was subsequently deployed around Andir Airfield near Bandung. All British troops capitulated on March 9, 1942, with Gunner George Arthur Bareham taken as a Prisoner of War and placed in a Japanese Prisoner of War camp at Jesselton, North Borneo (now Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia). The prisoners were quartered in what was then a local prison, which contained two concrete buildings, the rest being all wooden buildings surrounded by a corrugated iron fence. There were 800 in the prison, which was built for not more than about 400 and it was incredibly crowded. The quality of the food supplied to the prisoners was absolutely abysmal. For example, they were supplied with sacks of rice that had congealed, the rice hardening to the consistency of cement. In order to use it as a food, it had to be broken up with hammers. The camps in North Borneo at Jesselton, Sandakan and Sebau were notorious for these types of conditions and their cruel treatment of the prisoners. 6001252 Gunner George Arthur Bareham, 95th Battery, 48th Lt. A.A. (Light Anti-Aircraft) Regiment, Royal Artillery died on January 14, 1943, at the age of 39 and is buried in Labuan War Cemetery, Grave Reference: F. D. 2.. The cemetery is located in Labuan (part of Sabah, Malaysia), a small island in Brunei Bay, off the coast of north-west Borneo, which was specially constructed to receive graves from all over Borneo. The total number of burials is 3,922. The preponderance of unidentified graves is due to the destruction of all the records of the camps by Lieutenant-Colonel Suga, the Japanese commandant, before the Australians reached Kuching, his headquarters. When apprehended, this man committed suicide rather than face questioning on his conduct of the Borneo Camps.