Thread: 250 MRU & 307 AMES Singapore

Hi Stan, and welcome to Chat

250 MRU = Mobile Radio Unit
307 AMES = Air Ministry Experimental Station

Both were radar systems

You may find this report of interest (be patient as it is a big file - 266 pages)

http://www.radarreturns.net.au/archive/EchoesRRWS.pdf

The following has been summarised from The Ministry of Defence History - Signals Vol 4 - Radar in Raid Reporting to give the reader an insight into this region. The English War Cabinet fully appreciated the strategic importance of Malaya and Singapore and a brief survey was made in 1939 but no equipment was then available. The question was considered again in March 1941 when recommendations were made for the establishment of a Radio Installation and Maintenance Unit (RIMU) and the deployment of one Mobile Radio (Radar) Unit (MRU), one TRU and two COLs to Malaya and Singapore. Immediate action was taken with the MRU and TRU arriving in the same month and the two COLs in April.

MRU No. 250 was soon erected on the south-east side of Singapore Island at Tanah Merah Besar, near Changi. It was a single line-of-shoot system at a bearing of 67 degrees covering the sea approach. Good height measurements were obtained over an arc from a bearing of 20 to 160 degrees.

TRU No. 243, which arrived with MRU No. 250, was ultimately erected at Mersing on the east coast of Malaya about 100 miles from Singapore. Once again, a single line-of-shoot on a bearing of 45 degrees. Performance was affected by large permanent echoes (PEs) from the 2000 ft hill on the island of Pulau Tioman but reasonable height finding was achieved.

The two COLs immediately ran into delays even though sites were selected when they arrived in April 1941. The installations were not completed until December! To quote from page 197 of Chapter 13 of the history:

It was a marked characteristic of the Far East Theatre, that the whole of the RDF [radar] programme was consistently held up by the extreme slowness of the Directorate of Works. Provision of hutted buildings for the COL stations took at least six times the time required for similar work in the United Kingdom, apart from which the huts were badly built and seldom completed.

Part of the reason for this slowness was undoubtedly the extreme peace-time control which the Ministry Auditors appeared to exert over the Chief Engineer.

COL No. 511 was sited at Bulit Chunang, on the extreme southeast tip of Johore overlooking the sea with a clear sweep from 10 degrees over the sea round to 290 degrees covering Singapore and south-west Johore. COL No. 512 was located on the corresponding south-west tip of Johore at Tanjong Kupang.

Three more COL type stations were sent to Malaya and Singapore but once again difficulty was encountered in getting them established. The official MoD History states ‘More often it was just the administrative machinery was not used to or designed for working at any great speed’.

Nevertheless stations Nos 511 and 512 at Bukit Chunang and Tanjong Kupang respectively
became operational at the beginning of December 1941 with No 518 at Kota Tinggi nearing
completion.

It sounds like the whole units were captured, with many dying in POW camps

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307 AMES - POWS (including those who died)
Surname First Names Service Rank Service No
BALDWIN Ernest Edward John AF Cpl. 1163540
BELL Frank Coyle AF A.C. 1/c 1101958
BOUGOURD Lloyd Francis AF A.C. 2/c 552725
CANARD Henry John AF Air. 907728
CAPON Walter Stanley AF Air. 1256149
CLEVES Stanley Irwin AF Cpl. 1071426
DOWN Aubrey John AF L.A.C. 1084986
HAYNES Edwin AF L.A.C. 1134761
HORNE Charles William Bertram AF A.C. 2/c 1275851
JONES Eirfin Lewis AF L.A.C. 974647
JONES William Eric AF Cpl. 1018824
KENNEY Lionel Meneer AF A.C. 1/c 1194732
LADD Charles Henry AF Cpl. 924782
LANDER Harry AF L.A.C. 1153813
LLEWELLYN Harry Cuthbert AF Cpl. 1004392
MAGGS John Reginald AF Cpl. 907800
MAIR George AF A.C. 2/c 1366673
McLELLAN Robert Crosbie AF A.C. 1/c 1367192
MERRIMAN Ronald AF Air. 1014312
MORLING Hugh Riches AF Air. 1209502
NEWMAN Arthur Cyril AF L.A.C. 638073
NOAKES Henry Thomas Alfred AF Cpl. 1133980
NOTT Hubert William AF Air. 1375971
RYDER Reginald Edward AF F/Off. 86907
SPRIGGS Samuel Cecil AF Air. 1376263
STEGGLES George William AF Air. 1174887
SUTER Percival Rudolph AF A.C. 1/c 1375724
WARDELL Maurice Thomas Holiday AF L.A.C. 1072655
WILLIAMS Ronald Harry AF A.C. 1/c 1089246
CARROLL Daniel P AF Cpl. 1154111
PARROTT Gerald William AF Cpl. 969416
DURNE Joseph Edward AF Air. 1123370
PHILLIPS Dennis AF A.C. 2/c 1103174
WATSON William Gemel AF Cpl. 1105454
RICHARDS Bertram AF A.C. 1/c 1214865

According to Unsung Heroes of the RAF - the Far Fast Prisoners of War by Stubbs and Stubbs, 250 MRU and 250 AMES were the same thing so the following list is correct:

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Surname First Names Service Rank Service No
BROADBENT Gerald B A Lt. 77799
ARMSTRONG Ronald William AF No record 77799
BAKER William AF L.A.C. 1101227
BARLEY Albert AF L.A.C. 1173871
BOOTH Harold Leslie AF A.C. 1/c 978946
BOWLER Leonard Stanley AF L.A.C. 947573
BRETT Alfred Clive AF Air. 1375782
BROWN Henry Vivien AF L.A.C. 1180564
BULLOCK Leslie William Matthew AF W.O. 2/c 915503
COKER Arthur AF Air. 1261651
DAVEY John Edwin AF Cpl. 915792
DOBSON Frederick Harold AF L.A.C. 1169985
GERRISH Albert Edward AF A.C. 1/c 1159920
GREEN George Cyril AF A.C. 1/c 1274844
GUNNER Ronald Charles Ernest AF L.A.C. 575627
HAIG Edward Hugh Stuart AF Air. 1195599
HALL James AF A.C. 1/c 1006471
HARGEST Arthur James AF Cpl. 1165619
HILL William Reid AF Sgt. 946736
HODGKINSON Donald Christie AF Cpl. 992162
HULL Trevor George AF Air. 1195308
INGRAM Edward Albert AF A.C. 1/c 1108888
JONES Raymond AF A.C. 1/c 991811
KELLY Denis Matthew AF L.A.C. 970610
LANSDOWNE Reuben Herbert AF Air. 1283315
McGAHAN Terence Philip AF Cpl. 545748
NETTLETON Hubert AF Cpl. 702301
PHILLIPS Albert Percy AF L.A.C. 1182935
PLEAVIN Basil AF Cpl. 968522
REITH Alexander AF Air. 1179228
RICHARDS William AF A.C. 1/c 1205627
ROLPH Walter Arnold AF L.A.C. 940543
SIMMONDS Albert Bernard AF L.A.C. 754741
STARLING Eric Downs AF Cpl. 909248
STRIKE Henry AF L.A.C. 981358
VERRILL Addison William George AF Sgt. 550562
WEBB James Henry AF A.C. 1/c 1002665
WEBB Geoffrey Herbert George AF A.C. 1/c 1286184
WHITE Joseph George AF L.A.C. 981363
FRAZER Raymond AF L.A.C. 942533
HALL Robert Arthur AF Cpl. 9011306
McKENZIE Arthur Ashton AF L.A.C. 634144
SAVIDGE James Windslade AF L.A.C. 907012

Note that this list is of those who were taken POW (and those who died in captivity)

Hi Kyt,

Thanks for the quick reply, very informative. Certainly answers a few queries. Picked the bones out of it and will get it all read in the near future. I know he was not taken prisoner and was believed drowned. Going to Pompong for the 14th Feb next year.

Cheers,

Stan

Originally Posted by Stan P

Hi Kyt,

Thanks for the quick reply, very informative. Certainly answers a few queries. Picked the bones out of it and will get it all read in the near future. I know he was not taken prisoner and was believed drowned. Going to Pompong for the 14th Feb next year.

Cheers,

Stan

Hi Stan and welcome !

Is this him ?

In Memory of
Corporal STEWART PYKE

550881, Royal Air Force
who died
on 14 February 1942
Son of Ezra and Amelia Pyke; husband of Jessie Beattie Pyke, of St. Cyrus, Kincardineshire.
Remembered with honour
SINGAPORE MEMORIAL

SS Kuala - left 13.02.42 at about the same time as Mata Hari and Vyner Brook. Bomb damaged while waiting to leave Singapore, 2 killed and buried at sea, many casualties. Sunk by bombing while at anchor off Pompong island. 14.02.42. Many searing survivor stories
5/600 people on board including most of Public Works Department, RAF Radio Location Unit with gear, various troops and women and children of many nationalities, large group of nurses and 5, IWM-S says 7 women doctors, ordered to leave.

The digitised copy of the 1943 Bulletin of the Malayan Research Bureau in the National Archives of Australia (see NB 2 above) contains a list of 77 names of people whom Japanese Radio claimed to have taken prisoner, after they had sunk Tandjong Pinang on 16/02/42. Tandjong Pinang was heading for Australia, carrying women and children from Pom Pong Island, who had already survived the sinking of their escape ships, including Kuala. There were very, very few survivors of the sinking, so the question remains of how Japanese Radio got hold of the list. It could have been a cruel piece of propaganda or psychological warfare.

COFEPOW - Civilian Internees & Evacuees - Women & Children Evacuees

Hi liverpool annie,

Thanks for the reply. Yes that is him, I have been to Kranji and seen the Memorial, very moving when you can eventually take it all in. I know from reports and the communications my mother got that he was suspected drowned. My mother can't remember very much, at 93 her memory is not so good these days, and she didn't get much back them.

I am trying to make up for lost time especially now there is a lot more info around on the net and available thru the various archives. His service records answered a lot of questions but then generated some new ones, the reason for this posting.

Thanks again,

Stan

Welcome Stan. Glad to see you've had some great help already.