His Story
Wilson Thomas (Tommy, to his friends) was part of a large troop deployment sent to defend Java from invasion by the Japanese. At that time Java was part of the British Commonwealth and had precious commodities such as oil, rubber and tin which needed to be protected, especially in time of war.
Java was invaded by the Japanese, but Wilson and a few close comrades managed to escape by small boat to Sumatra. They were subsequently captured by the Japanese Army, and transported to Japan on one of the many notorious 'hell ships'.
Wilson was assigned to Camp 6A, Fukuoka
detachment, based in a small town called Tanoura, about 12km south of
Kumamoto, on the island of Kyushu.
The camps location was designed so that the prisoners could provide labour
to the nearby Carbon Factory.
The factory still remains on the original site
and is part of the multinational
Tokai
Carbon Company (Japan). There was a visit to this site as part of the
pilgrimage to Japan in March 2005.
View a timeline of his time in the Far East
Details of his 'Certificate of Commendation' held on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission web site may be viewed via this link.