Gunner Arthur Aird Royal Artillery
1939-45 Star. Pacific Star. War Medal 1939-45.
The Man Arthur Aird was born on Thursday 8th May 1919 at 9 Beach Street, Deptford, Sunderland, son of John, a Civil servant with the Ministry of Labour and Evelina nee Best. He had one brother John Leslie (23rd December 1915 – 1st October 1998) and was baptised on 29th May at the Grange Congregational Church.
The family were living at the same address in 1921 and following his education Arthur became a Compositor (setting type for printing). The 1939 Register shows the family now living at 70 Kirkstone Avenue, Fulwell, Arthur and his brother are not however listed.
Following the outbreak of World War II Arthur aged 20 was called up into the 125th (Northumbrian) Anti-Tank Regiment RA (TA) as a Gunner with service number 9130312. They were sent to Singapore to support the Malayan Campaign as part of the 18th Division, however, on 5th February their troopship the Empress of Asia was attacked and sunk, forcing them to abandon ship. Those who survived arrived in Singapore shortly after and despite losing most of their equipment, were deployed in the front line at Serangoon Road, fighting as infantry for the final 10 days of the battle.
Following the fall of Singapore on 15th February 1942 and the surrender Arthur was taken as a Prisoner of War of the Japanese, initially held at Changi but then shipped to Thailand to work on the notorious Burma Railway.
Arthur worked at the Tha Khanun PoW camp, a major and brutal camp situated around the 220km north of the Nong Pladuk junction. It was near a large Thai town and local Wolfram mines, surrounded by dense jungle, steep hills, limestone cliffs and known for being dusty with limited, poor-quality tents, often forcing prisoners to sleep in the open.
Arthur perished on 15th October 1943 aged 24 and was buried at Tha Kanun in grave 184; he was re-buried in Don Rak Commonwealth War Grave Cemetery, Kanchanaburi, Thailand in plot 2.O.9 on 8th February 1946. He was posthumously awarded the 1939-45 Star, Pacific Star and War Medal 1939-45 these being sent to his parents in 1953. Over 200 members od 125 Anti-Tank Regiment died as POWs, with others having died at sea during transport to Japan.
In 1945 John, Arthur’s father was granted administration with Arthur’s effects totalling £474. 13s 1d. (£18,000.00 approximately in 2026).
The family were living at the same address in 1921 and following his education Arthur became a Compositor (setting type for printing). The 1939 Register shows the family now living at 70 Kirkstone Avenue, Fulwell, Arthur and his brother are not however listed.
Following the outbreak of World War II Arthur aged 20 was called up into the 125th (Northumbrian) Anti-Tank Regiment RA (TA) as a Gunner with service number 9130312. They were sent to Singapore to support the Malayan Campaign as part of the 18th Division, however, on 5th February their troopship the Empress of Asia was attacked and sunk, forcing them to abandon ship. Those who survived arrived in Singapore shortly after and despite losing most of their equipment, were deployed in the front line at Serangoon Road, fighting as infantry for the final 10 days of the battle.
Following the fall of Singapore on 15th February 1942 and the surrender Arthur was taken as a Prisoner of War of the Japanese, initially held at Changi but then shipped to Thailand to work on the notorious Burma Railway.
Arthur worked at the Tha Khanun PoW camp, a major and brutal camp situated around the 220km north of the Nong Pladuk junction. It was near a large Thai town and local Wolfram mines, surrounded by dense jungle, steep hills, limestone cliffs and known for being dusty with limited, poor-quality tents, often forcing prisoners to sleep in the open.
Arthur perished on 15th October 1943 aged 24 and was buried at Tha Kanun in grave 184; he was re-buried in Don Rak Commonwealth War Grave Cemetery, Kanchanaburi, Thailand in plot 2.O.9 on 8th February 1946. He was posthumously awarded the 1939-45 Star, Pacific Star and War Medal 1939-45 these being sent to his parents in 1953. Over 200 members od 125 Anti-Tank Regiment died as POWs, with others having died at sea during transport to Japan.
In 1945 John, Arthur’s father was granted administration with Arthur’s effects totalling £474. 13s 1d. (£18,000.00 approximately in 2026).
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Arthur Aird's Medal award certificate named as Private and not Gunner
The Story The medals awarded to Arthur Aird were acquired from e-Bay on 12th April 2026 and of interest as he was a casualty who died worming on the Burma Railway, a sub- theme of this collection. Ancestry and Commonwealth War Graves enabled a brief biography to be pieced together, and Arthur remembered for posterity.
With the medals came the medal award certificate, named to Private A Aird, whereas, his rank and all other paperwork and his grave was Gunner. The reverse of the certificate does, however, have the three relevant medals marked.
It could be that the certificate is in fact to one of the other two A Aird’s who perished in WWII, or that his rank was simply typed as Private as the medals were not awarded posthumously until 1953 and is the same equivalent rank of a Gunner.
Either way it has enabled Arthur to be remembered and his grave wqs visited on Saturday 4th July 2026 and a poppy cross placed in his memory.
With the medals came the medal award certificate, named to Private A Aird, whereas, his rank and all other paperwork and his grave was Gunner. The reverse of the certificate does, however, have the three relevant medals marked.
It could be that the certificate is in fact to one of the other two A Aird’s who perished in WWII, or that his rank was simply typed as Private as the medals were not awarded posthumously until 1953 and is the same equivalent rank of a Gunner.
Either way it has enabled Arthur to be remembered and his grave wqs visited on Saturday 4th July 2026 and a poppy cross placed in his memory.
Prisoner of War Record Card
Medal Claim form 1953
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Don Rak Commonwealth War Grave Cemetery, Kanchanaburi. Saturday 4th July 2026.
Arthur AIRD is one of 35 soldiers in this collection who perished whilst working on the Burma Railaway and whose final resting place is Kanchanaburi or Chungkai Commonwealth War Cemeteries in Thailand or Thanbyuzayat in Myanmar. May their souls rest in eternal peace. Click on each name to read about:
- Jonathan William ALLEN
- John AXON
- John Alan BRATT
- Thomas BURNS
- William James Johnstone BYERS
- Walter Richard COLBERT
- Percy Denis CORNWELL
- Joseph DUCKWORTH
- Kenneth Robert EYLAND
- Harold Edward EKE
- Charles Nevil Worton FOX
- Denys John HYDE
- George Sidney JOHNSON
- Henry LINDLEY
- Charles Roger LLOYD
- Stanley Richard LOVEDAY
- Myles McMANUS
- Raymond Ernest MADGETT
- Alexander MALCOLM
- Alfred Arthur MANNING
- John MARKS
- Horace Edgar MAXWELL
- James Gordon MITCHELL
- Edward John PHILLIPS
- George Edward RUDDICK
- Kenneth William SHIPP
- Harold Norman SPALDING
- Alfred Henry STEVENS
- Harwood Alfred TAYLOR
- Walter Leonard TAYLOR
- Douglas TRUMAN
- Alfred Robert Kitchener UNDERWOOD
- Henry Garnsey VEITCH
- Alan Kirtlley WATSON
Medal Details
- 1939-45 Star: Unnamed as awarded.
- Pacific Star: Unnamed as awarded.
- War Medal 1939-45: Unnamed as awarded.
Page last updated 5 Jul 26
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