Ben was descended from the Titheridges of Cheriton, being the 6 times great grandson of John Titheridge and Anne Quallat. His parents were William Henry Titheridge and Annie Eliza Springate and he was one of four boys, all born in Portsmouth. The boys were
• William Brownelle Titheridge born 1910 and died in 1967 in Gosport
• Peter Alistair Gordon Titheridge born 1914 and died 2010 in Lee on Solent
• Ben Springate Titheridge born 17 April 1920 and died 1 December 2008 in Gosport
• Robert Springate Titheridge born 1922 and died 1963 in Portsmouth.
Ben’s father’s family tree can be found at these links Family Tree of Cheriton leading to the Family Tree of Alverstoke . Ben was just 14 when his mother, Annie, died aged 43 in 1934. Three years later his father, William, remarried to Edith Walker. William had served in the Royal Navy during WW1, more about his story can be found at this link . William retired from the Navy in 1926 aged 50. In August 1939 at the outbreak of war he was recalled to the Navy, and on the 1939 Register, taken in September 1939, he is shown Naval officer with the rank of Lieutenant Commander. On the 1939 Register Ben was at home with his father and stepmother living at Penlee, Montserrat Road, Lee-on-Solent Hampshire. He was working as an apprentice joiner.
All of William’s four sons answered the call to arms and fought in World War 2. Eldest son, William, was already serving in the Royal Air Force at the outbreak of war. Peter joined the Royal Navy and after the war served in The Royal Navy Reserve for many years, retiring with the rank of Commander. Robert served in the Royal Marines and later the Fleet Air Army as a glider pilot.
Ben joined the Army and the records show he was in the Royal Engineers, 22 Fortress Company, service number 2116437 with rank of Sapper. According to Ben’s brother he was 21 when he joined up, probably joining early in 1941. Ben was sent to Hong Kong in the latter half of 1941. According to his brother he had only been there a few weeks when on 8 December 1941 Japan declared war on the USA by attacking Pearl Harbour. Hours after the Pearl Harbour attack the Japanese attacked Hong Kong. Around 1,500 troops were killed by the Japanese in the subsequent fighting. After 18 days of fierce fighting the allied troops were overwhelmed by the large number of Japanese that had invaded this British territory. On Christmas Day 1941 the Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Mark Young, was forced to surrender to the Japanese. The Japanese continued to occupy Hong Kong throughout the war, until Japan surrendered on VJ Day (15 August 1945).
Over 6500 survivors of the conflict were taken into captivity. Those taken prisoner endured terrible suffering or death. Japanese prisoners of war were either held in Japan or in the far east countries occupied by the Japanese. The prisoners were both members of the military and civilians who had been in the far east at the outbreak of war. Conditions endured in the camps were tough with no obeyance of the Geneva Convention. Ill health was rife with the major problems being malnutrition, dysentery, malaria and cholera. The death toll from these conditions was high but other causes of death included the work the prisoners were made to do and the punishments they had to endure.
Ben Titheridge was among those taken prisoner. For those fearful sitting at home news was slow to filter back to England. It was 23 January 1942 before Ben’s name appeared on the War Office Casualty List, reported as missing on 25 December 1941 (the day of surrender). It was 18 August 1942 that his name again appeared on the War Office Casualty List, this time reporting that he was a prisoner of war. His family had suffered 8 months not knowing what had happened to him. This article appeared in the local paper.
Hampshire Telegraph 6 November 1942
Serving Family
Sapper B S Titheridge, R.E., who was missing after the capitulation of Hong Kong, has since been reported as a prisoner of war in Japanese-occupied territory. Ben Titheridge was well known locally and is the third son of a family of four, all of whom are serving – one with the RAF, one with the Royal Marines, and another in the Royal Navy. Their father, Lieut-Comdr. Titheridge, of Penlee, Montserrat Road, Lee-on-Solent, is also serving with the Royal Navy.
Ben remained a prisoner of war for over 3 years 8 months. He was liberated on 2 September 1945 from Shamshuipo Prisoner of War Camp in Hong Kong. For the family at home they still had to wait until 27 September 1945 before the War Office Casualty List reported he was alive and had been freed from the Prisoner of War Camp.
Ben returned home to Portsmouth, but was left permanently disabled from his war time experience. He never married and lived in Gosport until his death in December 2008 aged 88.
VJ Day commemorations in August this year made me aware that I knew very little about World War 2 in the far east. Since then I have been reading about the war against Japan and Japanese Prisoner of War camps. I have been deeply moved by the numerous personal accounts of survivors of these prisoners of war camps and the terrible conditions they endured.
If you are related to Ben and can add to this story please get in touch. Email: titheradgegenealogy@gmail.com
