REGINALD THOMAS FIDDAMAN
From May through to September 2026, Andrew will be fulfilling his dream to hike the iconic Land’s End to John O’Groats! You are all warmly invited to follow Andrew’s epic journey on his Facebook page, “Andrew Beal LEJOG”: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61577588795730
As Andrew hikes the 1,300+ miles, he will raise funds for the Ipswich War Memorial Project to help finance our future exhibitions and research of the brave Ipswich men and women who lost their lives in conflict. If you would like to make a small donation, please click on the link: https://gofund.me/5d4a50570
Thank you for your love and support. Andrew & Helen – I.W.M.P.
Photographs and information courtesy of the Fiddaman family.
Born: 2nd May 1912, at 90, Bath Street, Ipswich.
Died: 13th February 1942; age: 29; KiA by a Japanese snipper at Bukit Timah, Singapore.
Residence: 369, Bramford Lane, Ipswich.
Occupation: Trolley Bus Conductor – Ipswich Council.
Rank: Private; Service Number: 5833690.
Regiment: Cambridgeshire Regiment, 1st Battalion.
The body was originally buried behind the Cookhouse of the 135th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, POW Camp, Adam Park, at Plan 1, Grave 4. Sime Road Camp.
Grave Reference:
7.B.17.
Kranji,
Singapore.
Relatives Notified & Address: Husband of Doris Annie Maud Fiddaman, of Ipswich.
Father: Walter Edmund Fiddaman, born 1870, Orford, Suffolk – died October 1927, Ipswich.
Mother: Jane Jemima Fiddaman (nee Page), born June 1874, Hadleigh, Suffolk.
CENSUS
1921 90, Bath Street, Ipswich.
Reginald was 9 years old. He attended School and lived with his parents, siblings and niece.
Walter Fiddaman, 51 years & 8 months old, a General Labourer for Ransome & Rapier’s, Waterworks, Ipswich.
Jane Fiddaman, 49 years old, Home Duties.
William James Fiddaman, 23 years old, a Loco Fireman for Great Eastern Railway, Croft Street, Ipswich, born Ipswich.
Gladys Florence Fiddaman, 16 years old, a Clerk for Messrs. Packards, of Duke Street, Ipswich, born Ipswich.
Robert Henry Fiddaman, 14 years & 11 months old, a Solicitor’s Clerk for Messrs. Jackaman, of Silent Street, Ipswich, born Ipswich.
Leslie Hubert Fiddaman, 12 years old, at School, born Ipswich.
Sheila Gladys Evelyn Fiddaman, 5 years old, at School, born May 1916, at 90, Bath Street, Ipswich (daughter of Jane Evelyn Page Fiddaman, a domestic housemaid).
1933 – The wedding of Leslie Hubert Fiddaman (Reginald was the best man for his brother) to Gladys Louise Saunders.
Standing: Thomas William Saunders (father of the bride), Leslie, and Reginald.
Seated: Jane J. Fiddaman (Reginald’s mother), Phyllis Gwendoline Saunders (bridesmaid), Gladys (bride), Louisa Saunders (nee Vincent)(mother of the Bride).
In 1936, in Hadleigh, Suffolk, Reginald married Doris Annie Maud Sexton, born January 1915,
Hadleigh – daughter of Harry Sexton, a domestic gardener, and Sarah Ann Sexton (nee Couzens), of 1, Benton Street, Hadleigh.
Doris and her sons.
Reginald and Doris had three children, two sons and one daughter.
Walter, Michael and Daphne.
ENGLAND & WALES REGISTER 1939
Reginald was employed as a Trolley Bus Conductor. He and Doris lived at 369, Bramford Lane, Ipswich with two young children.
Cambridgeshire Regiment, 1st Battalion
The Battalion was attached to the 18th East Anglian Division ( including the 4/5th Battalion of the Suffolk Regiment)
15th February 1942: After the fall of Singapore, approximately 620 of the Battalions were taken POW and later mostly died on the Burma-Thailand Railway.
The picture is believed to be Reginald’s platoon taken in the UK, to which none survived the war.
A Japanese sniper shot Reginald on the 13th February 1942 at Braddell Road, Kranji, Singapore. His water bottle (with bullet holes) and a cross marked where he fell.
Fierce fighting along the road held back the Japanese attack on the city, and many units ran out of supplies and ammunition. The City finally surrendered after its water supply was cut off and the fear of civilian casualties.
Photos were taken of the spot where he fell, as well as the house the sniper had taken up position in.
Reginald was later moved to Kranji West Cemetery (original wooded cross)
Walter (named after Reginald’s brother who died in WW1)
Reginald’s only surviving son Walter visited his grave in Singapore for the first time in 2017.
Reginald’s medals, Cambridge, Suffolk regiment badges and red and yellow Minden Flash.
Reginald’s military Will.
Reginald’s older brother, Walter Edmund Fiddaman, died of wounds at the Battle of the Somme, 18th August 1916, aged 19. Walter was ranked a Private, of The Suffolk Regiment, 4th Battalion. He was laid to rest at Serre Road Cemetery No.2. Somme, France.
The Adam Park Project
Cambridgeshire Regiment, 1st Battalion
SUFFOLK REGIMENT MUSEUM
Friends of The Suffolk Regiment
Reginald is also remembered on the war memorial at the Town Hall, Ipswich, and at St. Mary at Stoke Church, Ipswich.
4 Comments
Thank you so much for all you hard work. It is extremely moving to finally see pictures of my family, and even my great grandmother Jane Jemima. My father is David Fiddaman, his father was William, Reginald’s brother.
What a lovely read.
My son James fiddaman is the great-grandson of leslie Fiddaman, he was only a couple of weeks ago doing his family tree for a school project. We have seen alot of these photos but never the photos of where he was shot and the house where the snipper was. So sad but still very important to hear all these stories.
Claire fiddaman
Wonderful to read the history of our family. Thank you Wally and all those that contributed to this.
Daphne Southgate (nee Fiddaman).
It is lovely to be able to read about the life of Reginald Fiddaman in such detail here. I have spent lots of time researching the Fiddaman family, with the help of my grandmother, so this is interesting to us both. I am a great-granddaughter of Leslie Fiddaman, and my grandmother (the little girl at the front of Reginald and Doris’ wedding photo!) has shared her fond memories of her ‘Uncle Reg’ with me.
I’m hoping to make the trip to Ipswich this summer to pay my respects to Reginald at the V.J. Day Exhibition.