Bertie Parkin 1941
Bertie Parkin 1941
Meadows Barracks Trimulgherry
Missing in Action letter
Rangoon Memorial Myanmar
Andrew Bayles has submitted the following information about his great uncle:-
Bertie Parkin was born 21st March 1916. His parents were Theodore (a coal miner) and Catherine Parkin. They lived at 1 Wood Row, Butterknowle.
Bertie Parkin worked as a conductor on the buses.He joined the 1st Battalion of the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) as a rifleman.
In 1941 Bertie was stationed at Meadows Barracks, Trimulgherry, India. He was, along with many others especially those serving with the Cameronians, seriously wounded and then taken prisoner by the Japanese. According to accounts, this took place during a firefight as they were retreating along the Mandalay Road in Burma. Bertie was taken to a POW camp somewhere in Burma where he died of his wounds on or around the 19th of April 1942. He was 26.
Bertie’s name is engraved on the Rangoon Memorial in Burma (now Myanmar) which lists over 27000 men who gave their lives in Burma and Assam in the service of the British Crown but whose remains were never recovered. The memorial stands surrounded by the graves of a further 6000 men whose remains were brought from various battlefield cemeteries and scattered roadside graves all over Burma.
It wasn’t until 1946 that Bertie’s family were told by a fellow soldier who was also taken prisoner what actually happened to him as he was listed missing in action presumed dead. His mother always hoped that one day he would return.
Bertie is remembered at Butterknowle on B156.01 and at Lynesack on L70.01
