Dedicated to reclaiming and honouring Britain’s lost warriors.
Dedicated to reclaiming and honouring Britain’s lost warriors.
In association with the National Ex Services Association
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I am a former soldier, ex Japanese prisoner of war, and more recently a writer, researcher and publisher of books concerning that particular period when through no fault of their own, men and women were sacrificed to the Gods of war. I have always tried in any manner possible to assist the families of those who did not return. Because of my books, I am receiving many requests from the children and grandchildren of those who men who have no known grave. Some ask for information on how where and why their relative was killed, and some ask if it is possible through my travel and research to locate where they were buried.
In 1989-
This website and our organisation are dedicated to honouring those whose resting place is unknown or forgotten. We campaign for appropriate memorials, reburials and excavations as well as seeking the truth behind the disappearance of those who never came home under dubious circumstances.
Arthur Lane
APPEAL
WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT.
For several years various groups have endeavoured to have our government create search and recovery teams, to go back to places around the world where British service men and women were killed in the defence of our country.
There are in excess of 20400 of these in Malaya Singapore and Thailand alone, who have no known grave. Many of them even today could be found and given a burial according to their rights and religion.
One such is the Liberator KL654. This wreck has been reported to the British MOD on several occasions without much success, finally a party from the British embassy in Malaya sent representatives, who after just one day at the site, concluded that there were no human remains and refused to assist. Our Malaysian researchers found several personal items plus human remains. Unfortunately this did not satisfy our MOD.
In view of this I advertised for volunteers who would pay their own expenses to travel to Malaysia and remain on site for about two weeks to create a full search for remains and to secure the site against looters.
Our volunteers will begin their travels on the 27th July. The government have refused to assist, we are therefore asking for donations to assist in the cost which is so far coming from the volunteers own accounts.
There are 20480 missing service men in Malaya and Thailand alone, and it is our intention to try to recover whatever possible and to bring a satisfactory close to the life of as many as possible
Search and Recovery Procedures
adopted by the United States
According to current doctrine, the remains of all members
of the armed forces will be returned for permanent disposition as directed by the
person authorized to direct disposition of remains. This policy is the heart of current
search and recovery operations. The US citizens will not tolerate leaving behind
deceased military personnel. This is a simple statement of fact. There are many examples
of search and recovery operations throughout history, as well as examples of current
doctrine in operation.
Consider the history of search and recovery. During the US Civil War, hundreds of thousands of soldiers were buried in often unmarked and unremembered grave sites. Despite this fact, almost 295,000 deceased soldiers were recovered and interred in national cemeteries in the five years after that war. In World War I, recovery procedures expanded. Sketches and maps of temporary grave sites were made and kept. This greatly improved the search and recovery operations, as well as the identification process.
Search and recovery during World War II focused on another methodology. Temporary graves accounted for more than 250,000 US soldiers around the world. This greatly improved recovery capabilities, but the disinterment and return of the remains became a logistics nightmare.
By the Korean War, a new strategy was devised. This new strategy involved the concurrent return of remains to the continental US. This effort to return remains became known as Operation Glory. Deceased US soldiers and their effects were evacuated to Japan and then shipped home in refrigerated containers for interment in the US. This method of recovery led to the development of current search and recovery doctrine.
Casualties from past wars still concern the military. Search and recovery of soldiers from earlier conflicts is mainly conducted by the US Army Central Identification Laboratory, Hawaii (CILHI). CILHI focuses on remains located throughout Southeast Asia from the Vietnam War era of the 1960s and 1970s.
Modern day search and recovery is a vital, sensitive and important part of combat service support. The key to search and recovery on the modern battlefield is not the mortuary affairs team, but rather the responsibility of every unit. Mortuary affairs teams, located in the brigade support area (BSA), support the entire brigade.
Unit leadership is responsible for initial search and recovery. When casualties occur and the tactical situation permits, a unit team should be organized to collect deceased personnel and their effects. The remains and effects are then retrograded to the BSA where a mortuary affairs team will handle the concurrent return of the remains.
Identification of Remains
The Department of the Army and Department of Defense have
come a long way in successful identification of soldier remains. Identification remains
the key step in the mortuary affairs process. Identification is achieved by pre-
Technology has had the largest impact on the identification of remains. Soldiers' records now contain information not available during previous wars and conflicts. Specific locations have been designated in Hawaii and Washington, DC, to assist with the identification process. Finally, joint doctrine has changed to ensure timely return and identification of US service members.
Past history illustrates the successes in the identification process. Of the 81,462 US dead in World War I, the remains of 1,227 were not recovered and identified. The remains of 1,648 (2.11 percent) were unidentified and subsequently interred as "unknowns."
The figures for World War II list the total US dead as 360,844. The remains of about 79,000 were not recovered and identified, while 8,532 (3 percent) were not identified and also were buried as "unknowns."
In the Korean War, the total dead numbered 36,923. The remains of 856 (again 3 percent)
were interred as "unknowns." Identification methods at that time consisted of fingerprints
and written dental records (not X-
During the Vietnam War in the 1960s and 1970s, about 57,500 US military personnel died in Southeast Asia. Of that total, 2,235 remained unrecovered at the end of hostilities. In September 1998, that figure stood at 2,076. To date, no US service member who died in that conflict has been categorized as "unknown."
In 1951, during the Korean War, the Department of the Army took a great step in the enhancement of the remains identification process by developing the first central identification laboratory (CIL), in Kokura, Japan. The CIL, the first facility of its type to serve all military services, permitted the evacuation of US dead from Korea to Japan. It was staffed by professionals and added greatly to the US identification rate.
We are not the only repatriation team operating in the far east and Pacific.
The Americans have their search teams operating in Germany Viet Nam and Korea.
The Canadians are operating in Hong Kong and Far East areas as are the Australians.
The only difference is that they are all supported by their respective governments.
The British government are against repatriation on the grounds of cost.
The British repatriation group pay their own expenses with the occasional donation from people who care.
Arthur
PICTURES FROM THE KN653 AUSTRALIAN TEAM