Repatriation Commemorations

Between September and December 1945, around 19000 British Far East POWs and over 3000 civilian internees returned to the UK via Southampton. Similar numbers returned via Liverpool.

Memorials were established in Liverpool in 2011 and in Southampton in 2013. The Southampton Far East POW memorial lists the repatriation ships which arrived at Southampton that Autumn. Photographs of the returning ships and of the Repatriation Camp on Southampton Common appeared in the Southern Daily Echo and can be seen in the microfilm archives at Southampton Central Library.

There is a memorial service each year to remember fathers, grandfathers, other relations and friends, those who returned and those who did not, on 18th November, the date on which two big ships, Queen Mary and the Principessa Giovanni docked in Southampton with their cargo of returning Far East Prisoner of War.

LiMMA Steering Group member, Rob Golding, who is also the Area Co-ordinator for the Hampshire Children of Far East Prisoners of War group (COFEPOW) was responsible for arranging the memorial service this year. 50 people attended the event, including dignitaries from the local council (represented by the Sheriff of Southampton on behalf of the Lord Mayor of Southampton), Associated British Ports, various military representatives, including the Royal Marines and the Royal Corps of Signals and local primary school children, who had made wreaths for the occasion. It was a poignant event for many there as descendants and relatives of some of the 22000 Far East POWs, who returned through Southampton. Not least Rob, whose father came back on Queen Mary on 18th November 1945 and who was a survivor of 5 POW camps and the sinking of the Lisbon Maru.

The Southampton Memorial Service is an annual event, always held on 18th November. All are welcome to participate in the procession and service at Southampton's Town Quay, foregathering from 10.00am at the nearby Medieval Woolhouse and now hostelry, The Dancing Man, adjacent to the memorial, where complimentary refreshments are provided.

We would finally like to acknowledge the Researching FEPOW History Group (RFHG) for their support in the repatriation story.