Edward George BOSWELL
The Singapore Memorial in Kranji War Cemetery, 14 miles north of the city of Singapore. Image from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
Edward Boswell was born in...
Edward joined the 144th Battery of the 35th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery, a Territorial unit formed at Oxford specifically for the defence of RAF airfields. Edward was a Gunner, service number 1523727. The initial work of the regiment was to defend Oxfordshire, and later other southern counties, against air attack. In November 1941 however, the regiment set sail from Greenock in Scotland. Their intended destination was the Middle East, but they were diverted to Singapore, reaching there in January 1942.
Between 8 and 15 February 1942 there was intense fighting between British and Japanese forces, resulting in Japan capturing Singapore (said to have been the largest British surrender in history). About 80,000 British, Indian, Australian and local troops became prisoners of war, including Edward Boswell. On 18 October, he was among the 600 men of the Royal Artillery who were taken from Singapore to Rabaul in Papua New Guinea. At the end of November, 517 of those men (including Ernest) sailed from Rabaul to Ballalae, one of the Solomon Islands, leaving behind 82 of their colleagues, most of whom were considered too sick to make the journey. Only 18 of those 82 survived to the end of the war. Those taken to Ballalae were forced to construct an airstrip for the Japanese that is still in use today. None of these 517 men survived. Approximately 100 died from overwork, exhaustion and tropical diseases, and about 300 were killed by an allied air raid on the island. After completing the runway, the remaining prisoners – including Edward Boswell – were executed and their bodies thrown into mass graves. Another of our '24 Men of Grandpont’, Ernest Finch, was also one of the victims. The official date given for what became known as the Ballalae Massacre is 5 March 1943, but it is generally accepted that it probably occurred in late June. Edward was 29 when he died.
Edward, Ernest, and the other victims are commemorated on the Singapore Memorial in the Kranji War Cemetery, which bears the names of over 24,000 casualties of the Commonwealth land and air forces who have no known grave. Another of our '24 Men of Grandpont’, Alan Martin, is also listed on the memorial.
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