125th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery

Introduction and background

For a short history of the Regiment readers are referred to the War Memorials dedicated to 125th Anti-Tank Regiment (which the Field Regiment became as is described in the War Diary) which can be found on the North East War Memorials Website at references S140.006, S140.140 and S140.147. The names listed in these Memorial files are being incorporated into the Manpower list below.

The period for which the War Diary is documented here covers that part of the Second World War when the Regiment was associated with 70th Infantry Brigade and concludes at the time - June 1940 - when the Brigade became Independent and was stationed in the far South-West of the UK.

The Field Regiment went on to other duties and, as mentioned, was converted to an Anti-Tank Regiment and was sent to the Far East. Readers wishing to study that period of the Regiment's existence are recommended to consult the Far East Prisoners of War resources on the Internet. and the material held by the Royal Artillery Museum.

In addition, the archive of the Imperial War Museum holds a copy of the Unit's War Diary for January and February 1942, covering the arrival at Singapore and their eventual capture. This can be accessed here.

Almost 200 members of the Regiment died as Prisoners of War in Japanese hands in the three and a half years following their capture at Singapore, where they served as Infantry - their guns and equipment having been lost when their troop transport was attacked and sunk by Japanese aircraft just short of Singapore.

Many of those casualties perished at sea when the cargo ships carrying them to work in Japan were sunk by Allied ships, submarines or aircraft, the vessels not being marked, as required by International Law, to show that they were transporting Prisoners of War.

Links are included from this page to the Commonwealth War Graves Website pages covering the relevant Cemeteries in the Far East - some of which were visited by the lead researcher and his wife on a trip to Thailand some years ago, or, in the case of the Sai Wan War Cemetery, when they worked in Hong Kong in the late 1990s.

Where men were lost at sea, or have no known grave, details will be included as appropriate on their personal pages as to where they are commemorated. Those men who survived the Japanese Prison Camps and returned home will be identified, again, on their personal pages linked from the list below.

It is hoped that our attempt to include all the names from the Regimental Memorials, and combine those with the material extracted from the War Diaries, represents a suitably respectful presentation, and indeed further Memorial, to the names of those who served and died with the Regiment, many of whom came from the Sunderland area.

A considerable debt is due to the "Children of Far East Prisoners of War" organisation whose search facilities and database provided a significant amount of information to add to that gleaned from the Regimental History and the specific War Memorials mentioned above. Their excellent Website can be found here.

Additional "family" material on the individuals is always welcome and can be supplied using the contact details given on the Website Main Page, or via the e-mail link at the foot of each page on the Unit.

War Diary

125th Field Regiment, War Diary 1939

125th Field Regiment, War Diary 1940

Personnel Records for 125th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery.

Information on those Commonwealth War Graves Cemeteries which are the final resting place for many of the men listed above can be found by clicking on the links below.

Chungkai War Cemetery, Thailand

Kanchanaburi War Cemetery, Thailand

Kranji War Cemetery, Singapore

Thanbyuzayat War Cemetery, Burma

Sai Wan War Cemetery, Hong Kong

Images of, and from, the Regimental History :-