People   (Re-unions, trace old friends and relatives.)

My Uncle was in the 1st Manchester regiment l/cpl Richard Olsson killed at Singapore 14 th February 1942, six days before I was born.
His story from a forum,
On 13 February 1942 the Japanese had been on the island of Singapore for six or seven days. Fighting continued everywhere. The commanding officer, Lieut Colonel Holmes, received a secret and confidential message from GOC Malaya which was that in view of the situation he was ordered to select 2 officers and 24 warrant officers and NCOs, issue them with official passes authorising them to leave Singapore and proceed to Australia by any means they could find. They had to be specially selected so that when they reached Australia, their qualifications would fit them to be the nucleus of a new 1st Battalion to be formed round them.

Corporal Olsson was one of the men selected. The party managed to get away on HMS Dragonfly a Royal Navy gunboat which had been operating on the Yangtse River and Hong Kong before the Japanese attacked. They sailed away in the early hours of 14 February, the day that Singapore surrendered. Later that day they were attacked by aircraft and the first two bombs landed amidships right on the Petty Officers mess where the Manchester Regiment NCOs were, almost certainly killing the majority immediately.

There were about sixteen survivors in total of which only four were Manchesters: Lieutenant Arthur Hesford and Corporals Bostock, Taylor R and L/Cpl Taylor J.

Only Hesford and R Taylor survived the war.