Wilfred Batty

Wilfred Batty – 3 April 1918 - 17 February 2009

By Adrian Batty – his son

This brief history of my father’s early life has been put together from several sources. Any errors are entirely mine. Additional information will be added if it becomes available – Adrian Batty.

You can follow Wilfred's story from pre-war right through to being home at last in these chapters: 

Wilf Batty
  1. Pre-war
  2. Joining the RAF
  3. Journey to the Far East
  4. Java - Capture & Imprisonment
  5. By Hell-Ship to Japan
  6. POW Camp in Japan
  7. The Tide of War Turns
  8. Freedom! - Wilf's First Letter as a Free Man
  9. On his Way Home
  10. Home at Last!

If you want to contact Adrian, please click here: contact page.

A note from the editor of the Ient website:
Through the publication of my father’s story, I’ve been lucky to have had a number of people contact me with information about the experiences of their own relations during World War II. In this particular case, I’m indebted to Adrian Batty for his information and cooperation relating to his father’s experience in the war, and as a POW. Adrian’s father, Wilfred Batty, was captured in Java and my father was captured in Hong Kong, but after that their experiences almost mirror each other. They were both taken by ship to Japan and they both ended up in the same POW camp. They also came home together on HMS Ruler and then the Dominion Monarch. Even though they almost certainly were in different POW groups (RAF and Army) in Habu, it’s quite clear from the little comments that my father made that they were experiencing the same thing in the camp, on board HMS Ruler and on the remainder of the journey home; right down to the fact that they went out on the town in Fremantle, Australia, on their way home to the UK!

My thanks to Adrian for allowing me to publish his father’s story on this website as it fills in the gaps for me regarding my father’s experiences.

Vic Ient


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