At the Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital, besides the main entrance (to the right) are two plaques remembering HMS Exeter. The first reads: ‘HMS Exeter. Dedicated to the Ship’s Company of HMS Exeter, built at Devonport in 1929 and lost in 1942. Returning to Britain they raised the sum of £500, some £150,000 today, for the treatment of children at the Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital in Southernhay. This stone replaces the original plaque on a cot in the old hospital celebrating their generous act. March 1st 2007. Royal Devon & Exeter NHS Foundation Trust.’ The second reads: ‘HMS Exeter. Lost in action in the Java Sea, 1st March 1942. This act is endowed by the relatives and friends of the Survivors of the Officers and Ship’s Company. In honour of those who lost their lives in the gallant ship, And as a token of gratitude for the deliverance of those saved. Royal Devon & Exeter NHS Foundation Trust.’ 6651

In Memory of
JOHN HINKIN MORRIS
Leading Telegraphist
D/JX141331
H.M.S. Exeter., Royal Navy
who died on
Wednesday, 28th March 1945.


Commemorative Information
Cemetery: AMBON WAR CEMETERY, Indonesia
Grave Reference/
Panel Number: 28. F. 8.

Location: Ambon island lies close to the south west coast of Ceram in the Molucca Group of islands. It is reached by air from Jakarta with connecting flights at Ujung Pandang in Sulawesi (Celebes). Ambon War Cemetery (known locally as the Australian Cemetery) is on the opposite side of the bay to the airport. Itcan be reached by taxi travelling around the bay to Ambon town,or there is a ferry service across the bay which brings you toAmbon town. The Cemetery is 5 kilometres north-east of Ambon on the main road to Galala.

Historical Information: The town of Ambon, situated on Laitimor Peninsula on the southern shore of Ambon Bay, was severely damaged during the war, first by the Japanese who bombed it heavily in January 1942 and later by the Allied forces who attacked it in 1943 and 1944. The War Cemetery was constructed on the site of a former camp for Australian, British and Dutch prisoners of war, some of whom had been transferred from Java in1943, and many of those buried in it died in captivity. Other burials were of Australian soldiers who died during the Japanese invasion on Ambon and Timor. Soon after the war the remains of prisoners of war from Haruku and other camps on the island were also removed to Ambon and in 1961, at the request of the Indonesian Government, the remains of 503 graves in Makassar War Cemetery on the island of Celebes were added to the cemetery.The total number of graves in the cemetery is over 2,000. Of this total over half are Australians, of whom about 350 belonged to the 2/21st Australian Infantry Battalion. Most of the 800 British casualties belonged to the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force; nearly all the naval dead were originally buried at Makassar. The American airmen were killed with 7 Australian airmen in July 1945; all were buried in a collective grave in Plot 28. The non-war grave is that of a seaman of the Merchant Navy, whose death was not due to war service. The cemetery is laid out in a series of terraces approached by short flights of steps on the central axis. The Ambon Memorial, which is in the form of a shelter, stands on the first terrace. It commemorates over 450 Australian soldiers and airmen who died in the region of Celebes and the Molucca Islands and have no known grave. The Cross of Sacrifice stands on the highest terrace in a wide expanse of lawn; the terrace below it contains most of the burials from Makassar. All the graves are marked with bronze plaques mounted on concrete pedestals and set in level turf.Tropical trees and shrubs are planted through out the cemetery and around its boundaries.

Dear Robin - Thanks for the image of Kate and of the medals.  I was only vaguely aware, and had really forgotten, that the medals exist !  What do they each denote ?

 “I remember Uncle Jack equally vaguely in that he appeared only very occasionally before the war (I have a photo of him on a rugby team – I think scrum half). I believe he joined the Royal Navy before the war (?) and he was assigned to a heavy cruiser – HMS Exeter – as a radio operator (if I am correct?).  HMS Exeter was one of 3 British cruisers involved early in the war in the Battle of the Plate (near Montevideo) when the German battle cruiser ‘Graf Spee’ was sunk. Much later in the war, HMS Exeter was assigned to the Far East and was eventually sunk by Japanese warships. At that time there were many survivors, but no news of UJ.
 
In about 1943 when we were living in Henleaze in Bristol, I remember very well hopping over our back fence from the surrounding playing fields to find my mother and grandmother in the garden both crying. They had just had news that Jack was a prisoner of war in the hands of the Japanese. I remember my simplistic reaction was ‘why are you crying if you just had news that Jack is alive?”   Unfortunately, Jack had an allergy – I think to rice – and not long afterward more news came that he had died of starvation. 
 
Incidentally, before Mel, the first husband of my mother’s sister Molly (Lolly), was also a Jack (Lewis?) from a market-garden family, I think in Hereford.   He was a commando and was killed in a raid on Ste. Nazaire that I believe – again the memory is a bit vague - was a feint related to a bigger raid on Dieppe.  

We are still reeling from last Tuesday’s election results.  Love to all - Mike”6652

Register of reports of Deaths; John Hinkin Morris born 6 Nov 1918 died 28 Mar 1945 Macassar, Calebes, Ldg Tel HMS Exeter. Leading Telegraphist operator. The record says cause of death: ’Beri Beri whilst a Prisoner of War in Japanese hands.’

I was very interested to read the article written by Chris Hawkey in last month’s Modbury Messenger mentioning his father Albert Hawkey and the sinking of the HMS Exeter on1st March 1942 in the Battle of the Sunda Strait in the Java Sea.

I too had a relative who served on HMS Exeter, but sadly he did not survive the war and I never had the opportunity of meeting him.

John Hinkin Morris, known as Jack, was born 6th November 1918 in Keighley Yorkshire. He was the youngest brother to my grandmother Ida Morris. Ida moved to Ipplepen, Devon in 1964 with her husband to retire. She lived to a hundred years and died in 1910 in Dartington.

When clearing Ida’s house we found Jack’s medals in their original posting box addressed to his mother, Gusa.

The medals prompted further research into Jack’s military service. He was serving as a Leading Telegraphist on HMS Exeter when it was lost in action. Like CPO Albert Hawkey Jack survived and became a prisoner of the Japanese. His life however was cut short and the record reads that he died from ‘Beri Beri whilst a prisoner of war in Japanese hands’ on 28th March 1945 in Macassar, on the island of Celibes, Indonesia. He was initially buried in the Makassar War Cemetery and then moved to Ambon War Cemetery, Indonesia.

Over the last few years I have taken to wearing my Uncle Jack’s medals, on Remembrance Sunday.

In 2017 it was discovered that HMS Exeter, with other war ships had been salvaged for scrap, so no longer rests on the seabed.

The pictures below are Jack Morris date unknown, his medals and HMS Exeter.