Eight British WWII airmen are buried in Malaysia

A bit more on KL654.

The Malaysian Army Museum, and especially Captain Jim Zuraiman, were a huge part of the effort to recover the KL654 crew remains from the deep jungle. The Museum’s Facebook page has four photos of the 2009 excavation — hinting at the harsh environment. Imagine yourselves in the boots of these men as they worked, and struggled, to find the remains in such conditions.

The Museum’s home page presents numerous KL654 photos and links:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Muz…860647?fref=ts

Also, the “Photos” link on the home page will lead you to an album called “Timeline Photos” which includes the KL654 photos, such as the four I am posting now. (Credit: Malaysian Army Museum)

The closeup image of the men at work, with the aluminum pot seen clearly, includes, at center, UK policeman Clayton Ford, one of the volunteers who put his own money into this project. He made it back to Malaysia for the 18 Oct burial service.

Thankyou Matt for your updates. May they now rest in peace.

And another story, in the New Straits Times newspaper in Malaysia, written by Sager Ahmad. He made more treks to the crash site than anyone — at least 11.

http://www.nst.com.my/nation/general/news-focus-tracking-down-the-liberator-1.160318

I see this as a politically correct story, not meant to ruffle any MOD feathers!

As an outsider looking in, but knowing some of the participants, I had forgotten to mention Sager’s key role in this tale of perseverance.

Here’s another video story on yesterday’s burial ceremony. It includes a nice interview with Shaharom Ahmad, of the Malaya Historical Group:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACtySUL28qs&feature=youtu.be

You are so right, Andy — the successful burial is the main focal point. It was one incredibly long and winding road, though. Rumor has it some of that behind-the-scenes story will find its way into print eventually!

Paul, thanks for your kind words. I know a lot about a little!

Cheers,

Matt

Matt

Thank you for so concisely setting out the situation with rather more detail than my one-liner.

I am aware of the behind-the-scenes nasty activity, arrests etc. A totally bizarre story, in many respects. I was made fully aware of the situation by some of the main players after the Spring 2011 thread.

The main thing is that this crew have now been laid to rest. The journey to this point is pretty much unbelievable on many levels.

Hello Matt nice to see you visiting us. If you want to know about B24’s he is your man

Go here http://www.rafb24.com/

You are partially correct on the funding, Andy. The difficult jungle excavation / recovery of remains was carried out in 2009 by Shaharom Ahmad & his Malayan Historical Group mates, the Malaysian Army Museum (led by Capt. Jim Zuraiman), and two or three volunteers who flew in from the UK for the project (all private UK citizens, I think). The British and non-army Malaysians team members paid out of their own pockets, and the Army Museum’s participation represented the Malaysian government’s contribution. Capt. Zuraiman arranged for many Malaysian Army personnel to take part — essential labor for the difficult task of clearing a jungle hillside and searching for remains.

They succeeded brilliantly, and Thursday’s burial service, attended by family of the KL654 casualties, is the culmination of literally years of dedicated work.

There is some really nasty behind-the-scenes activity associated with this project. I know little of the story, which seems to have been pretty well squelched by Big Brother in the MOD or British government. If you go back to the spring of 2011 there was a brief message thread about KL654 and the arrests of two British members of the KL654 team, including ex-FEPOW Arthur Lane:

http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?t=109259

I came up with a few more stories of today’s burial ceremony, with the Daily Mail version having the most photos:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2219632/Remains-RAF-crew-died-World-War-II-rediscovered-years-ago-given-military-funeral-Malaysia.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

A nice set of burial photos from the service:

http://bazuki.com/recent/?p=1168

Note that the link posted by Sq/L Scramble includes video footage from the burial service, with interviews.

Three YouTube.com videos of tour groups or school groups trekking to the KL654 crash site, before the 2009 excavation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rIiT_czi8c

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmWOyWb3D4s (This one has laughing young adults at the wreck…distasteful, given the fact that men died there.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0ukoYTGz2k&feature=related

There is one more RAF Liberator wreck in Malaysia, 357 Sqn’s KH326, which disappeared on an SD op (as did KL654) on 6 June 1945. Shaharom and Capt. Zuraiman and their guys succeeded on their third try, in 2010, in finding the wreckage, which had been discovered in 1955 by a Royal Scots Fusilier patrol during the Malayan Emergency. The 8 RCAF airmen comprising the crew of KH326 are still missing. It will take a monumental effort to find remains at this crash site, which is in very remote, hilly, jungle. Funding is a huge challenge, but the remarkable Malaysians are doggedly determined to solve this mystery, as well. One day…

Cheers,

Matt

Worth mentioning that the remains were recovered by a privately funded British civilian team.