| The Eurasian Company of the Singapore Volunteer Corps. by Terry Foenander. |
The images shown on this page have been contributed by several persons, from family albums and collections of material on the Singapore Volunteer Corps. Although the majority of the images are studio portraits, there are some which were taken outdoors, but have been included within this category for ease of access. They have been arranged according to rank structure; thus the officer's images are included first, followed by the enlisted men's portraits. Captions have been supplied by the owners, or contributors of the images, and errors, if any, are theirs. If viewers are able to supply additional details relating to one or more images, please contact the site administrator, Terry Foenander. Contributions of additional images are most urgently solicited.
Officers.
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| European and Eurasian officers of the Straits Settlements Volunteer Force. The Eurasian officers shown are Major William A. Aeria (middle row, second from left), Captain Aloysius Francis Cornelius (middle row, third from right) and Captain Charles Burton Webb (middle row, wearing glasses, first from right). (Original photograph in the possession of Lionel de Rosario, and used with his kind permission.) |
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| Right side detail from a photograph of the Officers of the Singapore Volunteer Corps, dated 1934. The Eurasian officers shown in this view are, Captains Cornelius and Webb, shown, back row, second and first from right, respectively, and Major Aeria, shown, middle row, seventh from right. (Image reproduced from Captain T.M. Winsley's 1938 publication, A History of the Singapore Volunteer Corps, 1854-1937.) |
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| Detail from the left side of a photograph not included here, but part of the left side detail of the same image shown above, showing Major H.R.S. Zehnder. (Image reproduced from captain T.M. Winsley's 1938 publication, A History of the Singapore Volunteer Corps, 1854-1937.) |
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| Second Lieutenant John Aloysius Samuel Jansen (1899-1945)
D Company, 1 Battalion Straits Settlement Volunteer Force (Singapore Volunteer Corps).
Photo is annotated '1940'. [Administrator's note: Year shown is probably in error - see the site administrator's note included with the next image.] (Photo courtesy of Mary Anne Jansen, 2/Lt Jansen's granddaughter. ) Please direct all enquiries on this, and the previous image, to Mary Anne Schooling of Perth, Australia. |
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| Lt John Aloysius Jansen, D Coy SVC, 1939. Photo taken by his son John
Alfred Jansen at the family home in Hooper Road [Singapore] and annotated 'Pop 1939'.
(Photo and commentary, courtesy of Mary Anne Jansen, 2/Lt Jansen's granddaughter. ) Please direct all enquiries on this, and the previous image, to Mary Anne Schooling of Perth, Australia. [Administrator's note: This, and the previous image of Jansen were very obviously taken on the same day, and possibly within minutes of each other. Note the backgrounds, as well as the markings upon the concrete floor. Jansen's uniform creases are also similar in both images, the only change being the headwear.] |
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| Major Wilfred Aloysius Nicholas, of the Singapore Volunteer Corps, taken about 1953/1954. (Original photo in the possession of his grandson, Julian Nicholas, and used with his kind permission.) |
Enlisted Men.
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| Photograph, dated 1908, showing members of the Singapore Volunteer Corps units (at that time identified individually as the Singapore Volunteer Infantry, Singapore Volunteer Artillery and the Singapore Royal Engineers) who participated in a Rifle shooting competition, in that year. This image shows two Eurasians, Sergeant Edgar Galistan and Sergeant De Silva, both of whom were members of the Singapore Volunteer Infantry (see their respective images, below). (Image reproduced from captain T.M. Winsley's 1938 publication, A History of the Singapore Volunteer Corps, 1854-1937.) |
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| Detail from the photograph shown above, showing Sergeant Edgar Galistan, Singapore Volunteer Infantry, 1908. | Detail from the photograph shown above, showing Sergeant De Silva, Singapore Volunteer Infantry, 1908. |
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| Detail showing Sergeant Edgar Galistan, taken from an image of a group of Singapore Volunteer Corps members who participated in a shooting competition at Bisley, England, 1910. (Image reproduced from captain T.M. Winsley's 1938 publication, A History of the Singapore Volunteer Corps, 1854-1937.) |
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| John Aloysius Samuel Jansen with his friend, Francis John Grosse. (Real Photo Post Card, taken circa 1920's).
(Photo and commentary, courtesy of Mary Anne Jansen, 2/Lt Jansen's granddaughter. ) Please direct all enquiries on this, and the previous image, to Mary Anne Schooling of Perth, Australia. [Administrator's note: The lack of rank insignia, indicates that both men were privates; Jansen was later promoted second lieutenant - see image above.] |
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| John Aloysius Samuel Jansen, a studio portrait taken in the 1920s. Note
that he wears a different hat from the one worn in the photo with Francis
Grosse. (Real Photo Post Card, taken circa 1920's). (Photo and commentary, courtesy of Mary Anne Jansen, 2/Lt Jansen's granddaughter. ) Please direct all enquiries on this, and the previous image, to Mary Anne Schooling of Perth, Australia. |
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| Photograph of William Vincent De Souza, showing him on guard duty, most likely during a unit encampment, as indicated by the tents and coconut trees. (Photo contributed by his daughter, Ivy De Souza, of Singapore.) |
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| Photograph of Corporal Ambrose Ralph Pereira, taken prior to 1937, after which he was promoted to sergeant. The background indicates that the image was possibly taken at his then residence at Makepeace Road, Singapore. (Photograph contributed by Mrs. Audrey Chelliah (nee Pereira) of Sydney, Australia; notes provided by Mr. Barry Pereira, of Singapore, grandson of Ambrose Ralph Pereira.) |
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| A Photographic Image of my grandfather, George Edward Kingston Prior, taken in 1933. The original image is in the possession of George Prior (son of G.E.K. Prior), of Singapore. |
Another view of George Edward Kingston Prior, my grandfather, in his uniform of the Singapore Volunteer Corps. A comparison of the sweat marks and creases on the uniform indicates that this image was taken at the same time as the previous image. The original of this image, a real photo postcard, is in the possession of my mother, Louisa Florence Prior. |
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| Lionel de Rosario, shown as a proud recruit of the Singapore Volunteer Corps, December, 1940. (Original image in the possession of Lionel de Rosario, of Sydney, New South Wales, and used with his kind permission.) |
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| Shown above is a studio photograph of four members of the Eurasian Company, taken at the end of World War 2. Three of the members wear Australian regulation issue slouch hats. Shown, at back, left to right, are Ivan Aroozoo, Clement Louis Marie Monteiro and Victor R. Grosse (an uncle of the contributor of this image). Edward de Souza, wearing the bar of the 1939-1945 Star, above his left breast pocket, is seated in front. All these gentlemen were related to each other. All four gentlemen were interned in Japanese prisoner of war camps after the fall of Singapore, in February, 1942, and suffered traumatically due to the intense cruelty of the Japanese invaders. Victor Grosse and Edward de Souza, are, at this time (August, 2001), residing in Singapore, and are still in reasonably good health. (Image contributed by Barry P. Pereira, of Singapore.) |
A recent picture of Edward De Souza and Victor R. Grosse (who wears his father's medals, i.e. Simon Peter Grosse's medals - the Pacific Star, 1939-1945 Star, the War Medal 1939-1945, the Defence Medal, and the Efficiency Service Medal (Malaya)) taken at the opening of the Changi Prison Chapel and Museum in Singapore on the 15 Feb 2001. Also in the picture are Mrs. Joan Pereira (nee Grosse), Mrs. Adrianna Donohue (nee Grosse) and Mrs. Doris De Souza (the wife of Edward De Souza, her maiden name was Van der Beck - information from Lionel de Rosario). |
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| Obituary notices, from the Straits Times issues, February 2004 and August 2003, respectively, showing details of the deaths of Albert Edmund Phillips, a former member of the Singapore Volunteer Corps, and his brother, Cyril Andrew Phillips, who had been a member of the Royal Army Medical Corps, during the Second World War. (Courtesy of Mr. D. Joseph Phillips, son of Albert Edmund Phillips.) |
Links to some of my other web pages:
On the American Civil War Navies.
A brief bio with additional links to pages on Singapore, etc.
July, 2001 (updated August, 2004).