ROBERT JAMES WYTHE
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.
Born: 20th October 1918, Ipswich.
Died on or since: 21st September 1944; Age: 25; Japanese POW lost in the Hofuku Maru.
Captured: 15th February 1942 – during the Fall of Singapore.
Residence: 74, Hawke Road, Ipswich.
Employed: with London North Eastern Railway – Goods Station.
Rank: Private; Service Number: 5830591.
Regiment: Suffolk Regiment, 4th Battalion – Infantry.
Final resting place unknown
Memorial Reference:
Column 56.
Singapore.
Father: Albert Arthur Wythe, born 1887, Ipswich – died 1921, Ipswich. A Bricklayer.
Mother: Alice Jane Wythe (nee Taber), born November 1890, Ipswich.
Stepfather: Thomas Frederick Wright, born December 1890, Ipswich. A General Labourer.
CENSUS
1921 40, Handford Cut, Ipswich.
Robert was 2 years & 8 months old and lived with his widowed mother, siblings and stepbrother.
Alice Wythe, 30 years & 7 months old, Home Duties.
Bramwell William Taber, 11 years old, at School, born Hackney, London.
Freda Ethel Wythe, 8 years old, at School, born Ipswich.
Albert Rufus Wythe, 5 years & 9 months old, at School, born Ipswich.
ENGLAND & WALES REGISTER 1939
Robert was employed as a Checker for London North Eastern Railway. He lived with his mother, stepfather, brother, and stepsister at 74, Hawke Road, Ipswich, their family home.
Thomas Wright, a General Labourer.
Alice Wright, unpaid Domestic Duties.
Albert Wythe.
Joan R. Wright, born 1925, Ipswich.
Probate to Alice Jane Wright – mother.
4th Battalion:
The Battalions were attached to the 18th East Anglian Division.
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.
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.
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