ROBERT HENRY LIFFEN
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.
Image from the Evening Star – 20th April 1942
Born: 19th November 1920, Black Horse Square, Ipswich.
Died: 21st September 1944; age: 23 – Japanese Prisoner of War. ‘Hofuku Maru’
Captured: 15th February 1942 – Fall of Singapore.
Residence: 28, Pickwick Road, Ipswich.
Rank: Private; Service Number: 5826702.
Regiment: Suffolk Regiment, 4th Battalion – Infantry.
Final resting place unknown.
Memorial Reference:
Column 55.
Kranji,
Singapore.
Relatives Notified & Address: Son of Edward William & Alice Elizabeth Liffen, of Kirton.
Father: Edward William Liffen, born August 1881, Ipswich. An H.M. Army Pensioner and Furniture Porter.
Mother: Alice Elizabeth Liffen (nee Keeble), born June 1884, Bramford, Suffolk.
CENSUS
1921 7, Black Horse Square, Ipswich.
Robert was 7 months old and lived with his parents.
Edward Liffen, 39 years & 10 months old, a Furniture Dealer – own account.
Alice Liffen, 37 years old, Home Duties.
2 boarders.
Probate to Edward William Liffen – father.
4th Battalion:
The Battalions were attached to the 18th East Anglian Division.
15 February 1942: After the fall of Singapore, approximately 620 of the Battalions were taken POW and later mostly died on the Burma-Thailand Railway.
SUFFOLK REGIMENT MUSEUM
Friends of The Suffolk Regiment
21st September 1944
The Hofuku Maru cargo ship carrying 1,289 British and Dutch prisoners of war in squalid and inhumane conditions. The ship being part of a convoy consisted of 10 other ships, 5 of which caring a total of 5,000 POWs. Most of the men had been captured at Singapore in 1942 and were being used as slave labour. The Japanese decided to move the POW’s to Japan to work in factories, mines and shipyards.
80 miles north of Corregidor in the Philippines, the ship was sunk by an American aircraft, which they believed the ships to be caring cargo for the Japanese war effort. 1,047 POW’s died on board unable to escape from the hold. Those who were able to break out spent five days at sea clinging to wreckage, most were recaptured by the Japanese. All 11 ships were sunk.
Hofuku Maru
Hofuku Mar
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