Norval Home "Japanese Hell Ship"

Lieutenant NORVAL DAVID HOME

Service Number: 134199

Suffolk Regiment seconded to 2nd Bn. Cambridgeshire Regiment

Died 21 September 1944, age 34

Commemorated at Singapore Memorial Column 113/114.

Additional information: Son of Arthur J Home and Edith Home, Howard Lodge, Northcliffe Drive, Totteridge, who later moved to 56 Woodlands Drive, Harrogate.  Husband of Margaret Home (nee Woolham)

Prisoner Card

 Lieutenant Norval David Home was one of thousands of Allied prisoners of war who perished during the Second World War in the Pacific Theatre. His death on September 21, 1944, came not on the battlefield but aboard the Japanese transport ship Hofuku Maru, when it was sunk by Allied aircraft.

The 2nd Battalion of the Suffolk Regiment was serving in India at the outbreak of the Second World War, initially deployed primarily on internal security duties. In 1943, the battalion was transferred to the 123rd Indian Infantry Brigade, part of the 5th Indian Infantry Division, and served in the Burma Campaign. By 1944, the battalion had been flown to Imphal to engage Japanese positions.

The 2nd Battalion of the Cambridgeshire Regiment was formed in June 1939 and officially embodied on September 1 of that year. Early in the war, the battalion struggled with shortages of equipment, arms, clothing, and boots; however, they tackled their training with great determination.

Lieutenant Home was seconded from the Suffolk Regiment to this battalion, likely due to the need for experienced officers as the territorial units expanded during wartime.

Norval was captured on 15 February 1942 and was a Japanese Prisoner of war. His capture is not detailed in the available records; we can infer that he was among the thousands of Commonwealth troops who became prisoners of war following the Fall of Singapore to Japanese forces in February 1942. This surrender, described by Winston Churchill as "the worst disaster and largest capitulation in British history," resulted in approximately 80,000 British, Indian and Australian troops being taken prisoner.

As a Japanese POW, Lieutenant Home would have endured harsh conditions in captivity. Commonwealth prisoners in Japanese hands experienced severe maltreatment, including forced labour, inadequate food, lack of medical care, and physical abuse. Many were transported from Singapore to other Japanese-occupied territories to serve as labour for various Imperial Japanese Army projects, including the construction of the Burma-Thailand railway. 

By September 1944, Lieutenant Home was among the prisoners being transported aboard the Hofuku Maru (also known as the Toyofuku Maru), one of the infamous Japanese "Hell Ships.  "  These vessels were used to transport Allied prisoners of war to Japan and other territories under Japanese control to be used as slave labour. The conditions aboard these ships were notoriously inhumane, with prisoners packed tightly into cargo holds with minimal food, water, and sanitation.

The Hofuku Maru was carrying Allied prisoners when, on September 21, 1944, it was attacked and sunk by aircraft from an American aircraft carrier. The attack occurred approximately 80 miles north of Corregidor in the Philippines. This was a tragic example of the "friendly fire" incidents that claimed the lives of many Allied POWs, as the American pilots were unaware that the unmarked transport ships were carrying their countrymen and allies.