Frank (2) Livesey

Brief biography

Frank (2) Livesey was born in Salford in 1919 to parents George Alfred (1) Livesey and his wife Maria [Birth Index: Salford 8d 72, 1919 (June)].

In the Second World War he served in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps with Service No. 7623504. Serving in Malaya, he was taken prisoner in Singapore on February 15th 1942, the day on which British forces surrendered to the Japanese. A record in the National Archives states that the cause of his death was malaria.

According to the records of The Commonwealth War Graves Commission he died on Sunday May 30th 1943 aged 24. He was serving as a Craftsman with the 18th Divisional Ordnance Workshop of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, and his Service Number was 7623504. The record confirms the names of his parents and states that he was buried at the Kanchanaburi War Cemetery in Thailand having Grave/Memorial Reference 8.H.9. (The REME took over most of the functions of the ROAC in 1942.)

It seems that his death did not become known in Britain until July 1945, given the wording in the following article appearing in the Manchester Evening News on July 6th 1945 (while the war in Japan was still in progress):

LIVESEY - Loving thoughts of Craftsman FRANK LIVESEY (R.A.O.C.), taken prisoner at Singapore, Feb., 1942, now reported to have died May 30, 1943. One day we'll meet again. Sister-in-law Doris and Nephew Victor.

This next article was found on the worldwide web but with no information as to its date or which newspaper it appeared in:

CRAFTSMAN F. LIVESEY
Official intimation has been received by Mrs E. Stocks, of Tennyson Street, Pendleton, that her brother, Craftsman Frank Livesey, has died while a prisoner of war in Japanese hands. Craftsman Livesey, who was twenty-five years of age, was taken prisoner in February, 1942 at the capitulation of Singapore.

He joined the Army in 1940, and went overseas in December, 1941. In civil life he was employed by Messrs. Frederick Smith and Co., Ltd., Salford. He was educated at Blackfriars Road School, Salford, and the Cheetham School, Manchester.

Two of his brothers are in the Forces: Sergeant Major G. A. Livesey, of the East Lancashire Regiment, and Corporal J. Livesey, of the Royal Air Force. Another brother, Fireman W. Livesey, was killed during an air raid on Salford in 1941, while serving in the National Fire Service.

Mrs. E. Stocks was Frank (2)'s sister Ethel (2).

Nothing more is known of Frank (2).