Tom was born on 7th September 1911, the second son of Thomas Magnall (EM003) and Ruth Taylor.

Currently we know little of his early life but we know that he married Dorothy Stainworth in 1934 and their son Kenneth was born on 22nd October of the same year.

The 1939 register shows that the family were living at 6 Hapton Street in Padiham and that Tom and Dorothy were working as Cotton Weavers, Kenneth was at school. 6 Hapton Street has since been demolished.

During the war Tom served as an Acting Able Seaman on “Defensively Equipped Merchant Ships” belonging to Runciman Co Ltd. Tom was captured by the Japanese and was interred in camp 17 11 6 which I think was in Malaya. His place of origin was recorded as Woodbine Road in Burnley and the report of his capture was sent to “Mrs D Magnall, 6 Hapton Street, Padiham”

On the 5 November 1943 Tom was part of the “Java Party 19” that travelled from Batavia, Java (Jakarta, Indonesia) on board the ship France Maru to Palmenbang, Sumatra carrying 300 British and Dutch prisoners of war. They arrived at Palmenbang on 10th November 1943 with all of the POWs surviving the journey.

France Maru

On the 30th May 1945 he was transported to the Changi POW camp in Singapore which was one of the more notorious camps used to imprison Malayan civilians and allied civilians and soldiers.

Tom survived the war and returned home to Dorothy where they had another son, Tom, who was born and sadly died after only 4 hours in 1947. He was buried on 5th July 1947 at St Leonard’s, Padiham. The records tell us that the family were still living at 6 Hapton Street.

Tom died on 28 August 1969 and was buried / cremated at St John’s Road Cemetery, Padiham.

Memorial stone to Tom Magnall and his wife Dorothy

[Last updated 26 Nov 2021]