Historians from Hong Kong are trying to trace the family of a local man whose ID tag was found recently in a country park in the centre Hong Kong.
In January 2015 military history enthusiast Dave Willott found an ID tag, which belonged to able seaman John ("Jackie") Siddans. He was born in 1901 and served in Hong Kong during World War 2 with HMS Tamar, which was the HQ of the Royal Navy.
This is a rare find and the tag, still with the metal chain reads, :
J. Siddans Q.O.
D/J 115494
C of E
The Q.O. on the ID tag has been identified by Richard Frost, local history enthusiast, as indicating "Qualified in Ordnance". C of E denoting that he was Church of England.
John Siddans is commemorated on the War Memorial at St Philips & St James Church. In the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) records, his date of death is given as 4th October 1942 and his parents are recorded as being Harry and Susanna Siddans. He married Florence Siddans (nee Richardson), who is described as living in Alderley Edge, in 1934. It is thought that Florence remarried in 1953 to John Hulme.
Philip Cracknell, a retired banker based in Hong Kong and a history enthusiast with a particular focus on WW2 history, has written a blog about the rare find which he describes as "the holy grail of military metal detecting".
He explained "It was found by my colleague David Willott in a ravine just off a road now called Tai Tam Reservoir Road then called Stanley Gap Road. This road was used to march prisoners from Wong Nei Chung Gap where there was a lot of fighting for this strategic cross roads in the centre of the Island.
"My theory is that he was part of a Royal Naval party sent by lorry to counter-attack Wong Nei Chung Gap after it had fallen to Japanese troops early on 19th Decemeber 1941. They were ambushed and many were killed or wounded. Some were captured some manned to escape.
"I think Siddans was captured in this area and the tag was ripped from his wrist along with insignia like shoulder flashes and discarded in the ravine where we found similar items (i.e. buttons, shoulder flashes). The ravine had dug outs and trenches and was most likely a British or Canadian defensive position. I believe it may have been sited by a road block on Stanley Gap Road and prisoners were no doubt collected here, searched and then moved on to North Point POW Camp."
John Siddans survived the fighting in Hong Kong but died in October 1942.
Tony Banham author and historian confirmed that he died following the sinking of the Japanese ship the Lisbon Maru which was transporting prisoners of war from Hong Kong to Japan. The ship was sunk by an American submarine unaware that it was carrying Prisoners of War from Hong Kong to Japan. Tony has established from his records that AB John Siddans survived the actual sinking but may have died in one of the rescue boats on the way to Shanghai.
Philip said "Dave Willott who found the ID tag would like to return it to John Siddans family if we can trace surviving family members. This way we may learn more about him and it would be a fitting reunification of something personal that belonged to one that served his country and fought in the defense of Hong Kong and ultimately gave his life in such service."
Since writing this article, Philip Cracknell has forwarded some more information about John Siddans which he has been sent by someone who read an article published in Hong Kong.
The reader has being doing some research and doesn't think that John had children, so the historians would be looking for nephews and nieces, or grandnephews/nieces.
He discovered that John Siddan's mother's maiden name was Catherall and she died in 1908, so the young John went to live with her sister Esther.
He also gathered some information from the census. According to the 1911 census John Siddons (note the spelling) was living at 21 Chorley Hall Lane, Alderley Edge. John wasn't yet born at the time of the 1901 census, which shows his father Harry (then 38) and mother Susannah (then 40) had two children - Arthur (born about 1891) and Walter Henry (born about 1892) as well as a niece, Alice Clark.
Harry was a hotel waiter and Susannah was a domestic cook. In 1901 they were living at 10 Nelson Street, Boughton, Chester.
Can anyone help the historians track John Siddans' family and reunite this item which once belonged to him with his family?
If you can help please use the comment box below or email Philip Cracknell.
