Derek Haynes has submitted the following:

I believe Joseph was born December Q 1918 in the registration district of Sunderland. The CWGC have his parents as Thomas James & Elizabeth Roberts. GRO records show Joseph’s mother’s maiden name as Adamson. There was a marriage in December Q 1900 between a John James Roberts & Elizabeth Adamson; this fits in with the mother’s maiden surname on the birth record.

There are discrepancies with the forenames of Joseph’s father:
1900 at his marriage he was recorded as John James.
1901 Census recorded as Thomas J.
1911 Census recorded as James.
CWGC records the father as Thomas James
On the burial record he was recorded as Thomas James.

If the above was correct then Joseph was the youngest of 9 children, they were:
John George Roberts, who was recorded on the 1911 census aged 9 years. I have been unable to find a record for a birth of a child with that name.
Mary Elizabeth Roberts, born June Q 1903, died aged 18 months 13th October 1904 and was buried 17th October in Southwick Cemetery
Harriet Roberts, born September Q 1905
Margaret Roberts, born March Q 1907
Norman Roberts, born June Q 1910
William Henry Roberts, born June Q 1912, died aged 2years 28th May 1914 and was buried 1st June 1914 in Southwick Cemetery
William Henry Roberts, born December Q 1914
Mary A. Roberts, born December Q 1918

All the children were born in the parish of Southwick.

On the 12th November 1926 at the family home of 26 Back Ogle Street, Southwick Joseph’s father died, he was laid to rest the 16th November 1926 in Section U Grave no. 10079 of Southwick Cemetery.

Joseph married Doris Gilmore in the March Q 1933 in Sunderland. They had 4 children:
Gordon Roberts born September Q 1933
Thomas Roberts born September Q 1935
Doris Roberts born March Q 1939
Margaret Roberts born March Q 1947

By 1939 Doris and the three children were residing at 8 Holly Terrace, Joseph was not with them, having perhaps already enlisted. It was not known when Joseph joined the Royal Artillery but we do know he served with the 125 Anti–tank Regiment with the service number 923090. Joseph was taken prisoner by the Japanese on the 15th February 1942. We cannot begin to imagine the suffering and deprivation he went through along with his comrades. These men were used as slave labour, working in horrific conditions building, for example, the Burma–Siam railway, working in the coal and copper mines as well as the steel industry. They were engaged in hard physical work and were in very poor health. When Joseph was repatriated on the 2nd September 1945 after surviving 3½ years as a POW he would have been a shadow of a man who left his family and home in 1939.

Sadly on the 9th July 1947 only months after the birth of his daughter Margaret, Joseph succumbed to the cruelty inflicted on him at the hands of the Japanese and passed away in Sunderland General Hospital.

The following announcement appeared in the Sunderland Echo:
"69 Faber Road, Southwick, July 9, aged 28 years, Joseph Nicholson, dearly loved husband of Doris Roberts. Internment Southwick Cemetery Wednesday. Service Southwick Parish Church 2. 15."

He was laid to rest on the 25th July 1947 in Section S Grave no. 9545 of Southwick Cemetery. A CWGC marks his final resting place. Inscribed at the base of the stone are the words: YOU BORE YOUR CROSS / SO PATIENTLY / EVER REMEMBERED BY/ LOVING WIFE DORIS R.I.P.

To gain a better understanding of what Joseph and the other men of the 125th Tank Regiment went through, I recommend the book A History of Sunderland’s Own 125 Anti – Tank Regiment by Alan Burn. The following passage was taken from the introduction of the book:
“Japanese prisoners of war faced the constant threat of death, disease, beatings, torture, and starvation twenty four hours a day seven days a week. They watched their comrades die in terrible circumstances and helped to bury them. There was no post traumatic stress syndrome they were simply sent home after 3 ½ years of horror and told to get on with their lives.”

I have been unable to find what became of Doris and the children, but the above mentioned book and the CWGC website give her address as 3 Dialstone Lane, Stockport. More detailed research would be needed to find what became of Joseph’s family.

John Roberts' name is included in Peter Gibson's Book and in his list of Prisoners of War

The CWGC entry for Gunner Roberts