Lancelot Ruggles ANDREWES (aka Larry) [1897-1963]

Submitted by Admin on Fri, 12/24/2021 - 14:38
Names
Given
Lancelot Ruggles
Family
Andrewes
Alias / nickname
Larry
Sex
Male
Status
Deceased
Born
Date
Birthplace (country)
Australia
Died
Date

Tony Banham lists him under the Headquarters of the 1st Hong Kong Regiment of the Hong Kong & Singapore Royal Artillery (HKSRA):

Andrews, Larry R. 2nd Lieutenant. H 23.12 QMH (52)

Connections: This person is ...

Photos that show this Person

Comments

Passenger List London to Hong Kong departing November 1936

L R Andrewes (sic) Crown Agent

Mrs Andrews

As is often the case no age of any other details are shown and only initials used  for names in the case of Crown Agents

Could this be him? He was born in 1897 New South Wales and died in Oxford in 1963

Ancestry Public Tree

Lancelot Ruggles "Larry" Andrewes

Born 4 September 1897 Australia and died 4 March 1963 in Combe Oxfordshire. Married Joan Tylor (1912-1990)

Passenger List Southampton to Hong Kong  departing 24 September 1948

Lancelot Ruggles Andrewes 51 Crown Solicitor Braemar Bigham Avenue Parkstone Dorset

Joan Andrewes 36 (1912-1990)

William Richard Andrewes 8 months

Probate Calendar 1963

Lancelot Ruggles Andrews of the Old House  Combe Oxfordshire died in the Radcliffe Infirmary 3 April 1963. Probate to Joan Andrewes widow and John David Andrewes accountant.

 

Yes, that must be him - good find!

Normally I'd have expected him to end up as a POW, but Tony Banham's record shows Andrewes was in Queen Mary Hospital around the time of the surrender, and must have gone from there to Stanley.

Lancelot Ruggles (Larry)  Andrewes had a differently spelled surname. Are he and  Andrews, Larry R. 2nd Lieutenant. H 23.12 QMH  one and the same?

As you've noticed, the two names appear in different sections of Tony's site:

  1. Civilians
    Andrewes, L.R. 44, Registrar Sup. Court, No 361 LRTP
     
  2. Hong Kong & Singapore Royal Artillery (HKSRA), Headquarters
    Andrews, Larry R. 2nd Lieutenant. H 23.12 QMH (52)

 

We had a similar case with H W Brown and H W Browne who turned out to be different men, but in this case I think both entries refer to the same Mr Andrewes, based on mentions in the wartime diaries.

He's mentioned in A H Pott's diary several times. The first is on 18 Dec: "I picked up another car around noon and returned to Shouson Hill, where I found Major Dewer in a huddle with Lt. Andrews R.A. on my scheme." The last is on 22 Dec, where he and Andrew(e)s make a difficult escape, and ends "He told me Larry had just gone off in a car to GHQ ...". Potts spent the next several days recuperating, and then ended up in Stanley, so I thought L R Andrew(e)s may well have been sent to Queen Mary Hospital on 23 Dec also and ended up in Stanley.

The other mention is in J Munro's diary on the 24 Dec: "The other night Andrews, the Registrar of the Supreme Court, who used to be an emergency reserve officer of the Hong Kong Regt, came into H.Q.  He appeared rather shell shocked but he had a tremendous story to tell." That makes him the same person as in Pott's diary (ie a Lt. in the Royal Artillery), and notes he was the Registrar of the Supreme Court.

I hope that sounds convincing!