Mystery crash, S. Burma, 6 Sept 1946 ('45?)

[Matt Poole]

At Thanbyuzayat War Cemetery in southern Burma there are 20 unknown soldiers and RAF airmen who, I'm told, were killed in a plane crash near DUYINZEIK, Burma (16° 58' 47N, 97° 26' 59E), located northeast of THANTON. Unfortunately the resolution in a photo of one grave marker sent to me is not quite good enough for me to confidently make out the final digit in the year of the crash. It is either 1945 or 1946. The date of the crash clearly is 6 September.

The wording on the grave marker:

A SOLDIER OR AN AIRMAN
OF THE
1939 – 1945 WAR
THE QUEEN'S ROYAL REGIMENT
OR
ROYAL AIR FORCE
6TH SEPTEMBER 1945 [1946?]
KNOWN UNTO GOD.

I don't know if all 20 are identical, though I have a hunch that they are.

Before I ask the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to verify the year of death, I thought I'd ask if anyone has any information on this crash. I would like to learn which names can be linked to these particular graves.

Thanks,

Matt

[lauriebe]

Matt, in his latest book, The Price of Peace, Colin Cummings gives the following detail for a loss on 6 September 1946:

6 Sep 46 KK118 Dakota IV 117 Sqn 20 miles south of Binhli 26 fatalities

The aircraft was carrying 21 soldiers from the 1st Battalion of The Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) for garrison duty at Saigon. The aircraft entered a cu-nim cloud and broke up in the air; either due to overstressing in heavy turbulence or because the pilot lost control.

He lists the casualties thus:

RAF:

Fg Off R H T Squire
Flt Sgt E W Trail
Fg Off J M Ross
Fg Off E M Sissons
Believed to be: AC2 J Brown

Army:

Pvt D J Auburn
Pvt L Bass
Pvt H W Crankshaw
Pvt L Finch
WO II (CSM) V J Goodchild
Pvt J Hillier
Pvt B E Jones
Lance Sgt R H B Kemp
Pvt R L Munt
Pvt W W Oliver
2nd Lt B P Pattie Royal Fusiliers attached
Lance Cpl C E Pritchard
Lance Cpl G A Rackett
Pvt S J Reed
Pvt W S Reed
Pvt E C Smith
Pvt W J Stokes
Pvt F J Stone
Pvt E J Sullivan
Pvt A C Swinchatt
Pvt S G T Vickery.

Hope that helps.

Laurie.

[Amrit]

The CWGC gives the date of all those killed as 1945, not 1946.

[Dick]

Hi Matt
The RAF casualties on Lauries list are all on the Singapore Memorial suggesting no known grave.This includes AC2 J Brown who died on the same day but is not given a Unit where the others are all 117 Sqn.From the description of the loss of the a/c it must have been difficult to locate any bodies at all let alone in a recognisable condition, so it is not inconsistent with a batch of "Unknown" burials in a Burmese Cemetery and a set of known lost personnel on a Central Memorial in the Theatre.
A check on the 1st 4 Army personnel has them on the Rangoon Memorial
Regards
Dick

[paulmcmillan]

There is a death notice for 2nd Ltd Pattie Royal Fusiliers in the Times for 3rd October 1945, which says he was killed in an aircrash in Burma fon 6th Sept 1945

So 1945 it si then

BTW Flight OCTOBER 3RD, 1946 has deaths as 'PREVIOUSLY REPORTED MISSING, NOW PRESUMED KILLED IN ACTION" - Including Brown, which may have confused Cummings

[Errol Martyn]

"Matt, in his latest book, The Price of Peace, Colin Cummings gives the following detail for a loss on 6 September 1946:"

'The Price of Peace' records losses between VE-Day and end of 1945 (not 1946).

Errol

[lauriebe]

My apologies for the typo. The date should indeed read 1945.

Laurie.

[Matt Poole]

Thanks to all, starting with Laurie, for solving this one, in excellent detail.

I have forwarded the info to Rangoon, and it will make its way to the manager of Thanbyuzayat War Cemetery. I have also forwarded it to Burma-Siam Railway historian Rod Beattie in Kanchanaburi, Thailand. Rod walked the entire Thanbyuzayat cemetery a couple of years ago and has endeavored to find a name associated with every unknown grave there, and also at the two war cemeteries he manages in the Kanchanaburi area. While the individual identities of the KK118 victims' graves will remain unknown, at least we know that there are only 26 possibilities for the 20 graves.

It's almost certain that the kin of the 26 airmen and soldiers killed in the loss of KK118 were never officially notified of the existence of the 20 graves in Thanbyuzayat. They would only have been told that their particular loved one, missing, was commemorated on the Singapore Memorial. Not quite full disclosure...

My very best,

Matt

[Stewart McLoughlin]

Matt
Is your friend Mr. Beattie amenable to approaches about the Kanchanaburi cemetery?

One of our village's casualties is buried there, and a photo of the grave would go with the other research we are doing to build up a bio. of our casualty.

Many thanks

Stewart McLoughlin

[Matt Poole]

Stewart,

Absolutely Rod would be happy to take a photo. I've not heard from him in a few months, but I'm sure a photo can be arranged through the museum Rod founded. You can contact Rod through his website:

http://www.tbrconline.com/

Do mention my name. I'll also write to Rod. Contact me at feb2944 AT aol DOT com (make the obvious changes) if you have any questions.

Cheers,

Matt

[Stewart McLoughlin]

Matt

PM forwarded, but just for others, reply with everything and much, much more with 24 hours.

Gratitude off the scale!!!

Stewart McLoughlin

[ColinR]

Glad I've found this forum, I've been hunting down info about this a/c crash for a lady who's uncle was on the aircraft.
Has anyone pics of the graves which could be the ones for this flight?
I have the AM form 1180 for the aircraft but nothing else other then info from 'The price of peace' then and the following - 49310 (c/n 15126/26571) to RAF as Dakota IV KK118. - Remains found 20 mi S of Binhli Sep 6, 1945. Aircraft had broken up while flying in cloud between Hmwabi and Bangkok.
Any help would be great.

[Lyffe]

Colin,

In the event no-one on this Forum can help with photos, it's possible that the 'War Graves Photo Project' might be your way forward. Go to http://www.twgpp.org/ ; the website is quite easy to navigate.

Brian

[Matt Poole]

Colin,

I have e-mailed you the two photos I have -- one close-up of an unknown victim of the Dakota crash, and a shot of the general layout of these graves. I'm not sure if my Rangoon friend can get to Thanbyuzayat for some more shots, but I'll ask her to keep you in mind. If she has any other connections, I'm sure she'll let me know. I'm not sure who took the photos I've sent -- probably the cemetery manager.

Cheers,

Matt

[langranm]

I have been trying to get in touch with you about the Mystery Crash in Burma 1945. I understand that the Identification of the body parts is in progress, and I may be able to help in some very small way, One of the soldiers who went down with the plane was an uncle of mine, and I do have a very good photo of him, if a DNA test is to be done on the bodies I may be able to direct the investigaters on to a full brother of the deseased, or at least children of the brother, The name of the deseased being the S J Reed, of the West Surreys, No close relation to the other Reed on board! I hint at the fact that S J Reed was half brother of my mother, different fathers, so the full brother or his children would be the persons to contact. I may be able to help there, Sorry about the time delay hope I'm not too late in my approuch, regards S J Langran, (John)

[Peter Tennison]

My Father F/O Geoff Tennison flew this aircraft on 1 August 1945. I just thought you may be interested in the notes in his logbook for that day.

"Forced landing-engine failure on take off. 6000lbs freight & 1 IOR. Landed wheels down- no casualties or damage: cause:- 30 gallons of water in starboard main tank, airbourne 30 secs."

He was in 117 Squadron chittagong. Seems like this aircraft had something of a jinx on it.
I have no idea what or who the IOR was.
He flew the aircraft until 9 August 1945

[Oldduffer]

Peter,

IOR stands for: Indian, Other Rank.

There are records of numerous issues such as large quantities of water in the fuel at about this time. Some will have been because of poor standards of supervision and quality control checks on the fuel but there are suspicions that some problems were deliberate tampering.

Colin Cummings

[Peter Tennison]

Thanks for the info Colin. I have two log books of my Fathers, the RAF in India, and the African Air force where he did his flying training.I am also ex RAF, but some of the terminoligy used goes over my head. Many thanks for your reply,
Peter

[StuartLaw]

Hi, my Grandfather Edward James Sullivan died on this flight. I have letters from the Father of the pilot, to my Grandmother, in the months and years after the crash. I too, have photos of the graves in Thanbyuzayat cemetary. I have also found footage of a film shot in Burma a few weeks earlier in the Sittang Bend in which I am 99% sure my Grandfather can be seen washing and cleaning boots with other members of the Battalion.

i also have a letter from my Grandfather's commanding officer etc. one of which indicates the flight took off at 6 minutes past 6 on the 6th.

if anyone is interested I can pass on details. I also hope to visit Thanbyuzayat soon.

Stuart.

[Paul Stanyer]

There is a death notice for 2nd Ltd Pattie Royal Fusiliers in the Times for 3rd October 1945, which says he was killed in an aircrash in Burma fon 6th Sept 1945

So 1945 it si then

BTW Flight OCTOBER 3RD, 1946 has deaths as 'PREVIOUSLY REPORTED MISSING, NOW PRESUMED KILLED IN ACTION" - Including Brown, which may have confused Cummings

2nd Lt Pattie was my uncle, and the Times notice was written by my grandfather. Bryan Pattie was tall and smartly turned out, and was therefore chosen to fly to Rangoon for Slim's parade.

[COL BRUGGY]

Hello,

The following doesn't add much to the mix, but I'll pop it in for what it is worth:

6-9-1945
No.117 Sqn.
Dakota KK118

Japanese search party located red? near Bingyi(?), 16.59N:67.31E. Only 25 unidentified bodies recovered, therefore all classified missing - particulars unknown.

163768 F/O SQUIRE, R.H.T.
1566944 F/Sgt TRAILL, E.W.
164723 F/O ROSS, J.M.
179971 F/O SISSONS, E.M.

1 RAF Passenger, and 21 Army passengers

This was on a contemporary Roll from 1946.

Col.

[Paul Stanyer]

Naming inconsistencies:
Crash site was reported as 20 miles south of Binhli, in Bayin state


Bayin Nyi - current name used in Myanmar
Bingyi - name used in Indian Official History of 8th Burma Rifles
Byngi - name used in Commonwealth War Graves Commission copy of War Office graves concentration list
Binhli - name used in Colin Cummings book "Price of Peace"

[Paul Stanyer]

Naming inconsistencies:
Crash site was reported as 20 miles south of Binhli, in Bayin state


Bayin Nyi - current name used in Myanmar
Bingyi - name used in Indian Official History of 8th Burma Rifles
Byngi - name used in Commonwealth War Graves Commission copy of War Office graves concentration list
Binhli - name used in Colin Cummings book "Price of Peace"


The war against Japan ended in August 1945. This was followed by the Recovery of Allied Prisoners of War and Internees, known as RAPWI. In Bangkok, the arrival of two hospital units by air gave an immediate fall in death rates, according to the official New Zealand war history. This led to an urgent operation to fly PoWs to ports for hospital convalescence, and homeward travel by sea.


Five Dakota transport squadrons in Burma (now Myanmar) were therefore tasked to fly 100 sorties per day to recover PoWs, according to Nigel Warwick's book Constant Vigilance. Their principal task was to fly from east to west with PoWs for medical care and ships at Rangoon. Flying west to east, they mostly carried garrison troops to Bangkok in Siam (now Thailand), and to Saigon in French Indochina (now Viet-Nam). This shuttle began on Monday 3rd September 1945.


On 25th August 1945, Lt Bryan Pattie wrote to his sister Mary “The food is excellent although the rations are being cut down due to our POWs coming back. We don’t mind giving rations up for these poor fellows.” He added “It rains most of the time, so we are generally pretty wet.” He ended “I had hoped to get into Rangoon today, but unfortunately I couldn’t make it. I hope to next week.”


As this was the monsoon season, it was dangerous flying weather. Two RAF Dakotas flying RAPWI missions in Burma crashed with the loss of life on 6th (KK118) and 8th (KN593) September 1945. It is probable that pilots were then instructed to take no risks in bad weather, but to return to base. Brigadier Eric Goodman reported that his RAPWI Dakota on 8th October returned to base, due to monsoon weather.


On Thursday 6 Sept 1945, a Dakota IV registration KK118 of RAF 117 Squadron took off from Hmawbi airfield, near Rangoon, Burma. It was en route for a refuelling stop at Bangkok, Siam, before heading for Tan Son Nhat airfield, near Saigon in French Indochina. That morning, sunrise was at 5.52 am, and the plane took off at 6.06 am.


The regimental history of the Queen's Royal Regiment states that "A party of two officers and thirty-seven other ranks had on 3rd September been sent to Bangkok, in Siam, on special duty. A week later the tragic news came that the plane carrying Lieutenant Pattie, C.S.M. Goodchild and nineteen men had crashed and there were no survivors."
The departure three days after the movement order suggests that there was a two-day wait for an available aircraft.


On board were three RAF crew, two RAF passengers, and 21 QRR troops. The grandson of one of the passengers, Private Edward Sullivan, states "he had been chosen to represent his division 1st Battalion Queen's Royal Regiment and the forces for an inspection from General Slim." This is consistent with a Pattie family memory that 2nd Lieutenant Bryan Pattie, Royal Fusiliers - attached to the Queen's Royal Regiment - had been chosen for the Bangkok ceremonial parade owing to his tall and well-turned-out appearance.


The Dakota KK118 crashed at 6.40 am, 80 miles into the journey to Bangkok. Colin Cummings, author of The Price of Peace, states "The aircraft entered a cu-nim cloud and broke up in the air; either due to overstressing in heavy turbulence or because the pilot lost control."


The crash site was attended by local villagers and Japanese troops. Of the 26 aboard, 20 bodies were recovered but not identified. The 20 were buried in individual plots at Thanbyuzayat Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery.


The 20 grave markers are each engraved:


"A soldier or an airman of the 1939 – 1945 war, the Queen's Royal Regiment or Royal Air Force, 6th September 1945, known unto God."


Shropshire soldier Edwin Kearsley was waiting that afternoon in Saigon. He recalled "On September 6th, the first party of PoW’s were to be repatriated by air, but no planes arrived, so it was cancelled.”


There is no record that the planned September Bangkok parade and inspection took place.


Before the arrival of British troops, SOE agents Hector (Brigadier Victor Jacques) and Priam (Major Tom Hobbs) had hidden in the house of a Siamese prince to represent British interests. This may have led General Bill Slim to expect a prompt September agreement between the Siamese government and his forces, to be marked by a ceremonial parade.


However, historian Nicholas Tarling has stated that no agreement was signed until 1 January 1946, since a slow four-sided tussle took place between the British government, the friendly Siamese government, the suspicious Siamese opposition, and the US State Department (which suspected British colonial ambitions). At stake were 1.5m tons of surplus Siamese rice, needed for famine relief in neighbouring countries.


After the New Year agreement, King Ananda Manidol and Lord Louis Mountbatten held a ceremonial parade in Bangkok on 19 Jan 1946, four months after the loss of life in Dakota KK118.