page_title: 6th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery
section_title: Imprisonment
hierarchical_section_title: 6th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery / Imprisonment
caption_attribution_description: 日本語: 勝鬨丸
context_page_description: 6th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery was an air defence unit of the British Army raised in the years leading up to World War II. It served in the Battle of France and was evacuated from Dunkirk. Re-equipped, it defended London and the West Midlands during the Battle of Britain and The Blitz. It was then sent to the Middle East theatre, but was diverted en route to the Far East, where the Japanese Army had invaded British Malaya. Split up, ill-equipped and fighting against overwhelming odds, the regiment was captured in Java, Dutch East Indies, in March 1942. Many of the men taken prisoner later died working on the Burma Railway and in the 'Hell Ships' taking them to work in Japan. Its successor unit served in the post-war British Army until 1958.
context_section_description: The survivors of 3 HAA Bty at Singapore were first put into PoW camps in and around Changi Prison. A large number were then shipped to Saigon to work in the docks, airfields and rubber plantations. Later they were moved to work on the notorious Burma Railway on which many died, including around 60 from 6th HAA Rgt. The PoWs from the regiment on Java were moved around various camps until October 1942 when they were transported by sea to Singapore and then on to Japan: 65 men of 6th HAA Rgt died aboard ship or shortly afterwards. In Japan they were set to work in the coal mines, docks and ironworks at Ube. Others were sent to Borneo to construct airfields and died in the infamous Sandakan Death Marches, and at least 20 men of 6th HAA Rgt were killed in the Balalae Island massacre.
  After the completion of the Burma Railway in March 1944, most of the PoWs were to be transported from Saigon to Japan, but there was no shipping, so they were moved to Singapore, where they worked in Keppel Harbour. In September, the ships Rakuyo Maru and Kachidoki Maru became available and the PoWs were loaded aboard in appalling conditions. The convoy was intercepted by US Navy submarines and both ships were sunk, with heavy loss of life among the PoWs; 15 men from 3 HAA Bty were killed. Several other men from the regiment died aboard other Japanese 'Hell Ships' bringing prisoners from Java that were torpedoed on other occasions, including 15 men aboard the Tokyo Maru, who either drowned or were murdered in the water by the Japanese escort vessels. Others died building the Sumatra Railway.
  In June 1945, the mines and town of Ube were destroyed by USAAF bombers and the PoWs from 6th HAA Rgt were moved to other mines and  camps, including Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where they witnessed the atomic bombs that ended the war. Some members of 3 HAA Bty were still working on maintaining the Burma Railway when they were rescued.
  According to Commonwealth War Graves Commission records, 6th HAA Rgt's fatal casualties during World War II comprise 29 buried in France and Belgium, 19 in the UK, and 447 in the Far East. The regimental historian has identified 738 men who survived the Far East campaign.
caption: The 'Hell Ship' Kachidoki Maru: men of 3 HAA Bty were lost when it was torpedoed.
exif: {"Image ExifOffset": "26"}