Trooper Harold Norman Spalding Reconnaissance Corps
1939-45 Star. Pacific Star. War Medal 1939-45.
The Man Harold Norman Spalding was born on Thursday 5th June 1919 at Chorlton, Manchester, son of Harold, a Golf Professional and Jessie nee Farr and had one sister, Jessie M born in 1922.
In 1921 the family were living at 3 Derby Street in Manchester and following his education at Harper Green Central School, Harold became a Clerk at Vantona Textiles Ltd
By 1939 the family are living at 3a Bradford Road, Farnworth and Harold’s name is either redacted or he does not appear. He is however, called up to serve in the 5th Battalion The Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire) with service number 3859313 in January 1940. However, the 5th Bn was converted into the 18th Reconnaissance Bn in January 1941
In the final quarter of 1941 Harold married Dorothy Mary Morris an Invoice Typist in Farnworth and tyey lived at 22 Daisey Avenue, Farnworth. Sadly, they had very little time to enjoy their marriage as shortly after the battalion was deployed to Singapore, arriving in February 1942, a few days before the final surrender. It was deployed to fight but was forced into an infantry role and during the final days of the battle, the 18th Bn participated in a counter-attack near Bukit Timah village with armored carriers. However, the unit, along with the rest of the 18th Infantry Division, was captured when the British surrendered on 15th February 1942. Harold was taken as a prisoner of war (POW) of the Japanese and shipped to Thailand where he was forced to work on the infamous Burma Railway at Kin Sai Yok.
Kin Sai Yok was the location of a cluster of brutal Japanese (POW) and civilian labour camps for the construction of the railway. The camps were located on flat ground near the Kwae Noi River in the remote jungle of western Thailand, a short distance beyond the notorious Hellfire Pass. They housed thousands of Allied POWs (including British, Dutch, and a large contingent of Australian soldiers) and Asian forced labourers (Romusha) who were forced to cut through mountains and build bridges to create a supply line linking Thailand and Burma. Conditions were horrific, characterised by overwork, starvation, disease (such as cholera and dysentery), and brutal treatment by Japanese guards.
Harold succumbed to the inhuman treatment by the Japanese and died on 16th July 1943 aged 24 of acute enteritis. He was buried in grave No 134 at Kinsayoke, but exhumed and moved to Don Rak Commonwealth War Grave Cemetery in Kanchanaburi, Thailand on 14th March 1946 in plot 8.G.22.
Harold was posthumously awarded the 1939-45 Star, Pacific Star and War Medal 1939-45 which were sent to Dorothy at Daisy Avenue.
Dorothy re-married becoming Dorothy Hopkins and died in 2006
In 1921 the family were living at 3 Derby Street in Manchester and following his education at Harper Green Central School, Harold became a Clerk at Vantona Textiles Ltd
By 1939 the family are living at 3a Bradford Road, Farnworth and Harold’s name is either redacted or he does not appear. He is however, called up to serve in the 5th Battalion The Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire) with service number 3859313 in January 1940. However, the 5th Bn was converted into the 18th Reconnaissance Bn in January 1941
In the final quarter of 1941 Harold married Dorothy Mary Morris an Invoice Typist in Farnworth and tyey lived at 22 Daisey Avenue, Farnworth. Sadly, they had very little time to enjoy their marriage as shortly after the battalion was deployed to Singapore, arriving in February 1942, a few days before the final surrender. It was deployed to fight but was forced into an infantry role and during the final days of the battle, the 18th Bn participated in a counter-attack near Bukit Timah village with armored carriers. However, the unit, along with the rest of the 18th Infantry Division, was captured when the British surrendered on 15th February 1942. Harold was taken as a prisoner of war (POW) of the Japanese and shipped to Thailand where he was forced to work on the infamous Burma Railway at Kin Sai Yok.
Kin Sai Yok was the location of a cluster of brutal Japanese (POW) and civilian labour camps for the construction of the railway. The camps were located on flat ground near the Kwae Noi River in the remote jungle of western Thailand, a short distance beyond the notorious Hellfire Pass. They housed thousands of Allied POWs (including British, Dutch, and a large contingent of Australian soldiers) and Asian forced labourers (Romusha) who were forced to cut through mountains and build bridges to create a supply line linking Thailand and Burma. Conditions were horrific, characterised by overwork, starvation, disease (such as cholera and dysentery), and brutal treatment by Japanese guards.
Harold succumbed to the inhuman treatment by the Japanese and died on 16th July 1943 aged 24 of acute enteritis. He was buried in grave No 134 at Kinsayoke, but exhumed and moved to Don Rak Commonwealth War Grave Cemetery in Kanchanaburi, Thailand on 14th March 1946 in plot 8.G.22.
Harold was posthumously awarded the 1939-45 Star, Pacific Star and War Medal 1939-45 which were sent to Dorothy at Daisy Avenue.
Dorothy re-married becoming Dorothy Hopkins and died in 2006
Harold Spalding's Japanese Prisoner of War Record Card
The Story The medals awarded to Harold Norman Spalding were acquired via the ‘Marketplace’, Facebook on 16th November 2025, the same evening of the Britannia Medal Fair in London, where other groups had already been acquired!
They were seen late in the evening and of immediate interest as Harold had perished working on the Burma Railway and buried at Kanchanaburi in Thailand, a sub-theme of this collection.
They were immediately secured, with Ancestry and the Newspaper Archives enabling a brief biography to be compiled.
Another wretched soul whose name will be remembered; his grave was visited on Sunday 28th December 2025 and a poppy Cross laid.
They were seen late in the evening and of immediate interest as Harold had perished working on the Burma Railway and buried at Kanchanaburi in Thailand, a sub-theme of this collection.
They were immediately secured, with Ancestry and the Newspaper Archives enabling a brief biography to be compiled.
Another wretched soul whose name will be remembered; his grave was visited on Sunday 28th December 2025 and a poppy Cross laid.
Harold Spalding's posthumous medal award box, sent to his wife Dorothy May.
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Don Rak Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery, Kanchanaburi, Thailand. Sunday 28th December 2025.
Harold Norman SPALDING is one of 26 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:
- John AXON
- Thomas BURNS
- William James Johnstone BYERS
- Walter Richard COLBERT
- Percy Denis CORNWELL
- Joseph DUCKWORTH
- Harold Edward EKE
- Kenneth Robert EYLAND
- Charles Nevil Worton FOX
- Denys John HYDE
- George Sidney JOHNSON
- Charles Roger LLOYD
- Stanley Richard LOVEDAY
- Myles McMANUS
- Raymond Ernest MADGETT
- Alfred Arthur MANNING
- John MARKS
- Horace Edgar MAXWELL
- James Gordon MITCHELL
- Edward John PHILLIPS
- Walter Leonard TAYLOR
- George Edward RUDDICK
- Kenneth William SHIPP
- Alfred Henry STEVENS
- Henry Garnsey VEITCH
Medal Details:
- 1939-45 Star: Unnamed as awarded.
- Pacific Star: Unnamed as awarded.
- War Medal 1939-45: Unnamed as awarded.
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This page last updated 1 Jan 26
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