29/06/2026
We are always interested in discovering stories of those who served in the forces and also have a connection to Undercliffe Cemetery and it was therefore fascinating to have the opportunity of reading Sharon Knox’s book – The Long Shadow of War – Hanson Boys Remembered. In the book are the stories of three young men whose parents are buried but sadly the sons are not commemorated in the cemetery. Sharon’s accounts of these three lives are gripping but for the sake of brevity, only an abridged account can be told here.
The first is Jack Bradford whose parents John Herbert and Christiana Shaw are buried in the cemetery.
The night of 30/31 August 1943 was one of those rare nights when the weather favoured Bomber Command. At 00:24, Jack and his crew left RAF Mildenhall in a Short Stirling III, serial number BK764, heading towards the Ruhr area of Germany. The Stirling was already becoming the workhorse no one wanted to fly. Its broad wings and heavy frame made it stable, but its low operational ceiling meant it could not climb above the flak belts or escape the hunting grounds of German night fighters. A total of 660 aircraft were dispatched, one of the largest forces sent out that summer. The Pathfinder Force marked Mönchengladbach using radar, 37 then, after a planned two-minute interval, marked the neighbouring town of Rheydt. Conditions were clear, and the markers were accurately placed, allowing the main force to attack as intended. By morning, significant damage had been inflicted on both towns, including factories, workshops, rail facilities, and surrounding residential areas. For the crews, however, the outward and return flights remained hazardous. After crossing the Dutch coast, the bombers entered the defensive network of the Kammhuber Line, Germany’s radar-controlled night-fighter system. Ground controllers directed fighters toward the bomber stream, and the airspace over the Netherlands became an area of concentrated defensive activity, including searchlights, flak, and night-fighter interceptions. Some accounts indicate that BK764 may have been intercepted by Lieutenant Helmut Perle, a night-fighter pilot flying a Messerschmitt Bf 110.
Perle represented a newer generation of Nachtjagd aircrew, trained in the latest radar-guided interception methods. Bomber Command assessed the raid as a tactical success, with substantial damage inflicted on industrial targets in Mönchengladbach and Rheydt. The losses, however, were considerable: 25 aircraft failed to return, and 168 aircrew were killed. Jack and his crew were among those who did not come home.
Jack is commemorated at Reinberg War Cemetery, Germany. The headstone says, “buried near this spot.” The personal inscription from his family is: AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN, AND IN THE MORNING, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM 38 39
Wm Evelyn Shaw only child of Ernest and Lucy Shaw
On 15 February 1942, William who had joined the Royal Artiliary was among ten men of the Intelligence Corps who were swept up in the chaos of the Fall of Singapore.
That day, Japanese General Yamash*ta demanded surrender, and the mighty fortress, once thought impregnable, collapsed. In its wake, nearly 80,000 Allied soldiers were marched into captivity, joining the 30,000 already taken prisoner in the preceding days. For those captured, the ordeal was relentless. Stripped of freedom, they were driven into backbreaking slave labour, surviving on little more than handfuls of rice and scraps of vegetables. Disease stalked every camp, hunger hollowed everybody, and hope became a fragile ember. Under these brutal conditions, thousands wasted away, claimed by the slow cruelty of malnutrition and starvation.
For William and thousands like him, captivity began not with chains but with uncertainty. They were herded into makeshift holding areas, forced to sit for hours under the blazing sun, unsure whether they would be marched, beaten, or shot. The Japanese guards barked commands in a language they did not understand, and any hesitation was met with the crack of a rifle butt. The men quickly learned that survival depended on obedience, endurance, and luck. As the days turned into weeks, the prisoners were dispersed across camps throughout Malaya, Thailand, and Burma. Some were sent to the docks, others to airfields, and many to the infamous railway that would later be known as the Death Railway. Wherever they were taken, the pattern was the same: endless labour, meagre rations, and the constant shadow of disease. Dysentery, malaria, and cholera claimed men with terrifying speed. Those who survived did so through sheer will, the kindness of comrades, and the stubborn refusal to let their identities be erased.
On 6 September 1944, more than 2,400 POWs were loaded onto the Kachidoki Maru and the Rakuyo Maru at Keppel Harbour in Singapore. These men had previously worked on the Thailand–Burma railway, where approximately 12,000 POWs died during its construction. On 12 September 1944, Allied submarines sank both the Kachidoki Maru and the Rakuyo Maru in the South China Sea. The ships, known as “Hell Ships,” were not designed to carry large numbers of people. Prisoners were confined in overcrowded holds with the hatches closed, described by Australian Private Philip Beilby as “a layer of men, lying shoulder to shoulder, with a shelf above them to contain another layer of men.” A further Japanese vessel was sunk on 18 September, bringing the total loss of life across these incidents to about 7,000 men.
Although William’s father dies in 1932, his mother, Lucy lived until she was 98. A long time to be haunted by her son’s fate.
Signalman Philip Musgrave Verity son of Wilfred and Verity Verity. Husband to Flossie Redgrave (m.1940)
Philip was captured during the Battle of Gazala in the Western Desert Campaign, which was fought from May 26th to June 21st, 1942. The Allied forces suffered around 40,000 casualties, and a further 35,000 were captured and became Prisoners of War (POWs). The Axis powers of Italy and Germany also suffered significant losses.
Philip was one of around 800 POWs onboard the cargo ship S.S. Scillin on the 14th of November 1942. The Italian ship, which was designed to carry a maximum of 300 men, was transporting POWs from Tripoli to Sicily when HMS Sahib sank it. The Commander of HMS Sahib gave orders for the crew to fire, and with no response from the unmarked ship, he gave orders for a single torpedo. S.S. Scillin, sank quickly.
Prisoners in the hold (like Philip) had little chance of survival with no lifeboats or survival equipment. It is also believed that the Italians had battened the hatches, so the POWs would be locked in, with no means of escape. After an enquiry, the Commander was cleared of any wrongdoing, claiming he believed the cargo ship was carrying Italian troops. Philip is commemorated at the El Alamein Memorial, Egypt.
Died 14th November 1942, aged 24
Thank you Sharon.
