Can anyone out there help me unravel a mystery?
My Dad, Michael Stringer, sucessfully escaped from Singapore in February 1942. I do not know what he was doing there and certainly there seems to be no record of him in the Navy or Army (it is fairly unlikely he was RAF).
He escaped on or about 12/13 February on a small boat called "Daisy". This was one of two water tugs that used to service the big ships in Singapore harbour. Daisy made it to the mouth of the Djambi river, but was too big to go further. The men from Daisy joined a group of RNVR from the launches
P10 and P12, travelled upstream, eventually transferring to the roads and were finally evacuated from Padang. Howver I do not know where they went.
I have no further record of my Dad's wartime exploints until Nov/Dec 1942 when he shows up in the West Indies! He spent the latter stages of the war in the Merchant Navy, mostly in the Mediterranean.
I am most interested to find out what he was doing in Singapore and how he got there. Also, how he left Padang and where he went. Books I have read say that lists of men were taken as they left Padang but these records do not appear to exist!
Any help or suggestions gratefully received.
My Dad, Michael Stringer, sucessfully escaped from Singapore in February 1942. I do not know what he was doing there and certainly there seems to be no record of him in the Navy or Army (it is fairly unlikely he was RAF).
He escaped on or about 12/13 February on a small boat called "Daisy". This was one of two water tugs that used to service the big ships in Singapore harbour. Daisy made it to the mouth of the Djambi river, but was too big to go further. The men from Daisy joined a group of RNVR from the launches
P10 and P12, travelled upstream, eventually transferring to the roads and were finally evacuated from Padang. Howver I do not know where they went.
I have no further record of my Dad's wartime exploints until Nov/Dec 1942 when he shows up in the West Indies! He spent the latter stages of the war in the Merchant Navy, mostly in the Mediterranean.
I am most interested to find out what he was doing in Singapore and how he got there. Also, how he left Padang and where he went. Books I have read say that lists of men were taken as they left Padang but these records do not appear to exist!
Any help or suggestions gratefully received.