A Pacific Star with BURMA clasp, silver gilt, full size, worn on a replacement ribbon with felt backing, light wear and small knocks to edges, lovely patina, in very fine condition.
A British War Medal, in silver, full size, worn on a replacement ribbon with felt backing, small edge knocks, remains in very fine condition.
A 1939-45 Star, in silver gilt, full size, worn on a replacement ribbon with felt backing, light wear, lovely patina, remains in vey fine condition.
Accompanied by the original named Condolence (named to "Signalman C.F. Marshall" and indicating that he was entitled to "3" awards, 101 mm x 141 mm, fold marks, soiled, edge tears)and copied examples of POW slips and Commonwealth War Graves Commission document.
Footnote: Charles Frederick Marshall was born on August 11, 1915, the son of Frederick Marshall and Nellie Marshall. He was the husband of Joyce Elizabeth Marshall of Kingsbury, Middlesex and is documented as having been a resident of North Kensington, London, England and was a Bookkeeper by trade. 2345268 Signalman Charles Frederick Marshall, Royal Corps of Signals was with 3 (I) Corps Signals in Malaya and attached to the III Indian Corps Signals, Indian Signal Corps when he was in action during the Battle of Singapore (also known as the Fall of Singapore), when the Empire of Japan invaded the British stronghold of Singapore, nicknamed the "Gibraltar of the East". Singapore was the major British military base in South-East Asia and was the keystone of British imperial interwar defence planning for South-East Asia as well as the South-West Pacific. The fighting in Singapore lasted from February 8 to 15, 1942, although this was preceded by two months of British resistance, as Japanese forces advanced down the Malaya peninsula. It resulted in the capture of Singapore by the Japanese and the largest surrender of British-led military personnel in history. About 80,000 British, Indian and Australian troops became prisoners of war, joining 50,000 taken by the Japanese in the earlier Malayan Campaign. Marshall was one of those captured in Singapore onFebruary 15th, and was subsequently taken as a Prisoner of War. He was conscripted to work on the notorious Burma-Siam Railway, which was built by Commonwealth, Dutch and American prisoners of war.
The railway was a Japanese project driven by the need for improved communications, to support the large Japanese army in Burma. During its construction, approximately 13,000 prisoners of war died and were buried along the railway. An estimated 80,000 to 100,000 civilians also died in the course of the project, chiefly forced labour brought from Malaya and the Dutch East Indies or conscripted in Siam (Thailand) and Burma (Myanmar). Two labour forces, one based in Siam and the other in Burma, worked from opposite ends of the line towards the centre. The Japanese aimed at completing the railway in fourteen months and work began in October 1942. The line, 424 kilometres long, was completed by December 1943. 2345268 Signalman Charles Frederick Marshall, Royal Corps of Signals died on Friday, January 21, 1944, at the age of 28, shortly after the completion of the notorious Burma-Siam Railway and is buried in Chungkai War Cemetery, Grave Reference: 2. E. 8. The cemetery is located approximately five kilometres west of the town of Kanchanaburi, which is 129 kilometres north-west of Bangkok, at the point where the river Kwai divides into two separate rivers; the Mae Khlong River and Kwai Noi River. The graves of those who died during the construction and maintenance of the Burma-Siam railway (except for the Americans, whose remains were repatriated) were transferred from camp burial grounds and isolated sites along the railway into three cemeteries at Chungkai and Kanchanaburi in Thailand and Thanbyuzayat in Myanmar. Chungkai was one of the base camps on the railway and contained a hospital and church built by Allied prisoners of war. The war cemetery is the original burial ground started by the prisoners themselves, and the burials are mostly of men who died at the hospital. There are now 1,426 Commonwealth and 313 Dutch burials of the Second World War in this cemetery.