Real names of some people mentioned in Railroad of Death
H. Cary Owtram 1983, Their Name Liveth. Privately Published: Newland Hall, Near Lancaster
MacArthur (2005). The section on the theatre at Chungkai was invaluable.
Prisoners of war, Far East: 4th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment; nominal roll, 1942. National Archives (TNA), WO 361/2120
Prisoners of war, Far East: 4th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment, nominal roll, 1942. National Archives (TNA), WO 361/2125
Summers (2006)
| Given in Railroad of Death | Real Name/other information |
| Bill Butcher | Lieutenant W.D.V. Burton 4th Battalion Royal Norfolk Regiment |
| Bill Reeves | Captain Bill Drower 135th Hertfordshire Yeomanry Regiment |
| Bill Wills | Bill Wilson |
| Bobby Dale | Bobby Spong RAOC died 21/9/1944 http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/ 2072236/SPONG,%20ROBERT%20ALBERT [Accessed 4 January 2014] |
| Camp Commander | Lt Colonel Sainter |
| Chungkai April to June 1943 | |
| Camp Commander Chungkai from June 1943 | Lt Colonel H. Cary Owtram 137th Field Artillery Regiment RA |
| Colonel Day | Lt Colonel Alfred Knights 4th Battalion Royal Norfolk Regiment |
| Colonel Champaigne | Lt Colonel Philip Toosey 135th Hertfordshire Yeomanry Field Artillery Regiment |
| Donald Forrest | Donald Webber |
| Dudley Brown | Captain Dudley Gotla RAMC |
| Dutch Representative Chungkai Concert Party | Rene Den Das |
| Eddie Evans | Eddie Edwins |
| Fizzer Plumbton | Fizzer Pearson |
| Freddie Mills | Freddie Thompson |
| Freiman | Louis Taylor-Weber. According to Coast ‘His father was a Dutchman of Anglo-German origin who had married a girl from an aristocratic West Javanese family . . . Taylor Weber became my new Indonesian teacher and while talking with him, I suppose, that the course of my life was changed’. (Coast 1952: 4) |
| George Tilly | Leslie William (George) Sully Manchester Regiment |
| Gerard le Fevre | Gerald Angier |
| Gibby Field | Gilbert Inglefield |
| Ginger de Huguenot | Hugh de Wardener RAMC |
| Government Anthropologist | Pat Noone |
| Gus Watt | Gus Harffey |
| Henry Baird | Henry Fowler 4th Battalion Royal Norfolk Regiment |
| Ian White | Ian Watt |
| Jacko (made escape attempt with Sully) | Lieutenant Jackson 1st Battalion Manchester Regiment |
| Jan Hellder | ‘There is a very delightful Dutchman, Jan Verhoef, who had been the headmaster of a school in central Java, taught me Dutch as intensively as possible’ (Coast 1952: 5) |
| Jim Dixon | Jim Richardson FMSVF, Intelligence Corp and former Malayan Government Geologist |
| Johnny Duncan (bald-headed Corporal in a Highland Regiment) | Probably John ‘Nellie’ Wallace |
| Joop | Joop Nittel |
| Leider | Otto Liddel (amazing string bass player) |
| Leo Frick | Leo Britt Corporal RAOC |
| Lt Colonel Featherstonhaugh | Lt Colonel John Rowley Williamson (Com - mander Chungkai until April 1943) |
| Major Woolley | Everard Woods |
| Max Forrest | Max Webber |
| Mick Donovan | Captain Michael O’Reilly RAMC |
| Mike Oakley | Lieutenant Michael Alfred Ashton 4th Battalion Royal Norfolk Regiment |
| Noel Scott | Noel Ross |
| Norman Broad | Norman Smith |
| Nuts Joyce | Lt Colonel AA Johnson 4th Battalion Suffolk Regiment |
| Peter Ayre | Captain Maurice Parke Gaymer 4th Battalion Royal Norfolk Regiment |
| Philip ‘Flip’ Brugman | Filippe van de Broek (Dutch Theatre manager) |
| Professor from Raffles College | Graham Hough http://newspapers.nl.sg/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19410415.2.93.aspx [accessed 31 December 2013] |
| Q.M. theatre Major Bill King | Major Alfred ‘Bill’ Pycock ROAC |
| Reginald Benson | Reginald Harry Rennison Signalman Royal Corp of Signals, died 12 September 1943 http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2091047/RENISON,%20REGINALD%20HARRY [accessed 5 December 2013] |
| Russian Doctor | Lieutenant Constantine Petrovsky RAMC? |
| Sandy McCulloch | Sandy Munnock Chungkai Camp RSM |
| Senior Manchester Battalion Officer February 1943 Sully escape attempt | Major M.P.E. Evans 1st Manchesters |
| Stan Fane ‘Nuts’ second in command | Major Samuel G. Flick Suffolk Regiment? |
| Tari | Edouard Bertling In Jim Richardson’s diary ‘Sept 16 [1944] Koronchong dancing by Bertling’ and ‘Sat 15th [July 1944] Edouard Bertling, Javanese (Dancer to Sultan Soeman of Solo Central Java), danced the Monkey Dance (Hanuman) and Princes Dance (magnificent) . . .’ (IWM Documents 1705: 85-86) |
| The Brigadier (18th Infantry Division, 54th Brigade) | Brigadier E.K.W.Backhouse |
| The Padre (Bukit Timah) | Probably Rev C.E. Allcock (Royal Army Chaplains Department) attached to 4th Battalion Royal Norfolk Regiment |
| The Singing Padre of Changi | Rev John Foster Haigh (Royal Army Chaplains Department) http://www.230battalion.org.au/history/stories/NX56826.htm [accessed 31 December 2013] died 23 September 1943 http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2089877/HAIGH,%20The%20Rev%20JOHN%20FOSTER [accessed 31 December 2013] |
| Tom Stuart | Lieutenant Tom Douglas Royal Corps of Signals |
Editor’s Note
Many sources have been used to help decipher the names, some of which are listed here. The dedication page for Railroad also made it easy to decode the names of the people who John obviously wanted to be known to the readers in 1946. Full bibliographical references can be found at the end of the introduction unless the source has only been used here in which case a full reference is given.