Description
Object description
Correspondence and other papers relating to four members of the Landon family, comprising: J M P Landon – 12 ms letters (one incomplete), four ts transcribed letters, one photocopy of a letter and two original postcards, from James Landon to his family, written from his rubber estate on the Slim River in Perak, Malaya (November – December 1941), from Singapore after carrying out liaison duties with the Army at Slim and coming under air attack until he had to abandon his home in early January because of the deteriorating military situation (January 1942), from Changi Gaol and Sime Road camp in Singapore in which he was a civilian internee (1943 – 1944), from Singapore following his liberation principally concerning the confirmation of his wife Pen's death in February 1942 when the SS TANJONG PINANG was sunk (September 1945), from the SS SOBIESKI during his repatriation (September – October 1945) and from Gloucestershire and London mainly about the outcome of surgery on him (October 1946 – June 1947); together with personal and official letters and telegrams to his family in England passing on information about his whereabouts during and after the occupation of Singapore (April 1942 – October 1945), a ts letter and ts note (1p each) giving details of a postcard and a broadcast message sent by him from Changi Gaol (February – April 1943); five ms letters from his sisters to John Godber's parents mainly concerning Jim's internment, John's imprisonment and the uncertainty about the fate of Pen (February – November 1943), a photocopy of a testimonial for a former employee on his rubber estate (August 1946), obituary notices and family letters of condolence following James Landon's death after his operation (June – August 1947; Mrs P M Landon – four ms letters (two with transcripts), seven ts transcribed letters and one ms transcribed letter, from James Landon's wife Pen to her family, written from their rubber estate (November – December 1941), from Kuala Lumpur where she had joined the Medical Auxiliary Service as a car driver (December 1941) and from Singapore after the MAS were withdrawn from Kuala Lumpur mentioning her new employment at a first aid post and her refusal to be evacuated as 'I should consider it ratting' (January – February 1942); together with photocopies of two official reports (circa June 1942) concerning the sinking of the KUALA, on which Mrs Landon was a passenger, off Pom Pong Island on 14 February 1942, a post-war ts affidavit by Sister (later Dame Margot) Turner QUAIMNS confirming Mrs Landon's survival of the loss of the KUALA and her death when the SS TANJONG PINANG was bombed and sunk on 17 February 1942, a map showing where the two ships were lost and extracts (pp 104 – 109 only) from an unpublished ts memoir by E J H Corner, the curator of the Singapore Botanic Gardens, describing his friendship with the Landons, and especially Pen, from 1929 and how they stayed at his home in Singapore in January – February 1942; J C Landon – 19 ms letters (three incomplete) and airgraphs, three photocopies of letters and two telegrams from their son John ('Jack') Landon and, following their marriage in New Brunswick in May 1943, his Canadian wife Virginia to their families, written from various locations in England and Canada during his Royal Air Force training (February 1942 – May 1943), on honeymoon in Canada (May 1943), from RAF Stations and other locations in England after his return from Canada and her subsequent posting to England (June 1943 – February 1944) and from her after he was posted missing in February 1944 when serving as a Sergeant in No 625 Squadron, RAF Bomber Command (February – June 1944); together with their marriage announcement, 4 letters of sympathy from family and friends also noting his widow's return to Canada (April – November 1944) and a copy letter and press cuttings concerning the formal notification of his death in action (March 1945); Mrs T M Godber – four ms letters from their daughter Thyra Godber (née Landon) to her family written while on leave with her husband in Australia and making reference to the outbreak of war in the Far East (October 1941 – January 1942); together with one ms letter from a Landon cousin serving with the American forces in New Guinea (July 1944); along with five ms letters from Mrs C Haxell, a former cook at Mrs Landon's father's home, to one of Mr Landon's sisters expressing either her sympathy or pleasure at news of the fates of members of the family (March 1942 – September 1945), an illustrated biographical note (6pp) on the members of the Landon family and 18 photographs, mostly copy prints but a few originals and laser copies, showing the family individually and in groups. Together the documents offer a remarkable record of the terrible uncertainty and scale of loss endured by one family during and as a consequence of the Second World War.
Content description
Correspondence and other papers relating to four members of the Landon family, comprising: J M P Landon – 12 ms letters (one incomplete), four ts transcribed letters, one photocopy of a letter and two original postcards, from James Landon to his family, written from his rubber estate on the Slim River in Perak, Malaya (November – December 1941), from Singapore after carrying out liaison duties with the Army at Slim and coming under air attack until he had to abandon his home in early January because of the deteriorating military situation (January 1942), from Changi Gaol and Sime Road camp in Singapore in which he was a civilian internee (1943 – 1944), from Singapore following his liberation principally concerning the confirmation of his wife Pen's death in February 1942 when the SS TANJONG PINANG was sunk (September 1945), from the SS SOBIESKI during his repatriation (September – October 1945) and from Gloucestershire and London mainly about the outcome of surgery on him (October 1946 – June 1947); together with personal and official letters and telegrams to his family in England passing on information about his whereabouts during and after the occupation of Singapore (April 1942 – October 1945), a ts letter and ts note (1p each) giving details of a postcard and a broadcast message sent by him from Changi Gaol (February – April 1943); five ms letters from his sisters to John Godber's parents mainly concerning Jim's internment, John's imprisonment and the uncertainty about the fate of Pen (February – November 1943), a photocopy of a testimonial for a former employee on his rubber estate (August 1946), obituary notices and family letters of condolence following James Landon's death after his operation (June – August 1947; Mrs P M Landon – four ms letters (two with transcripts), seven ts transcribed letters and one ms transcribed letter, from James Landon's wife Pen to her family, written from their rubber estate (November – December 1941), from Kuala Lumpur where she had joined the Medical Auxiliary Service as a car driver (December 1941) and from Singapore after the MAS were withdrawn from Kuala Lumpur mentioning her new employment at a first aid post and her refusal to be evacuated as 'I should consider it ratting' (January – February 1942); together with photocopies of two official reports (circa June 1942) concerning the sinking of the KUALA, on which Mrs Landon was a passenger, off Pom Pong Island on 14 February 1942, a post-war ts affidavit by Sister (later Dame Margot) Turner QUAIMNS confirming Mrs Landon's survival of the loss of the KUALA and her death when the SS TANJONG PINANG was bombed and sunk on 17 February 1942, a map showing where the two ships were lost and extracts (pp 104 – 109 only) from an unpublished ts memoir by E J H Corner, the curator of the Singapore Botanic Gardens, describing his friendship with the Landons, and especially Pen, from 1929 and how they stayed at his home in Singapore in January – February 1942; J C Landon – 19 ms letters (three incomplete) and airgraphs, three photocopies of letters and two telegrams from their son John ('Jack') Landon and, following their marriage in New Brunswick in May 1943, his Canadian wife Virginia to their families, written from various locations in England and Canada during his Royal Air Force training (February 1942 – May 1943), on honeymoon in Canada (May 1943), from RAF Stations and other locations in England after his return from Canada and her subsequent posting to England (June 1943 – February 1944) and from her after he was posted missing in February 1944 when serving as a Sergeant in No 625 Squadron, RAF Bomber Command (February – June 1944); together with their marriage announcement, 4 letters of sympathy from family and friends also noting his widow's return to Canada (April – November 1944) and a copy letter and press cuttings concerning the formal notification of his death in action (March 1945); Mrs T M Godber – four ms letters from their daughter Thyra Godber (née Landon) to her family written while on leave with her husband in Australia and making reference to the outbreak of war in the Far East (October 1941 – January 1942); together with one ms letter from a Landon cousin serving with the American forces in New Guinea (July 1944); along with five ms letters from Mrs C Haxell, a former cook at Mrs Landon's father's home, to one of Mr Landon's sisters expressing either her sympathy or pleasure at news of the fates of members of the family (March 1942 – September 1945), an illustrated biographical note (6pp) on the members of the Landon family and 18 photographs, mostly copy prints but a few originals and laser copies, showing the family individually and in groups. Together the documents offer a remarkable record of the terrible uncertainty and scale of loss endured by one family during and as a consequence of the Second World War.
History note
Cataloguer RWAS