Felix Frederick Arthur DUNNETT [1916-1990]

Submitted by moddsey on Fri, 06/28/2024 - 16:14
Names
Given
Felix Frederick Arthur
Family
Dunnett
Sex
Male
Status
Deceased
Born
Date
Birthplace (country)
England
Died
Date
Died in (town, state)
Los Angeles, California
Died in (country)
United States

In the 1938 Jurors List, Felix Frederick Arthur Dunnett worked as a clerk for Lowe, Bingham & Matthews. He married  an American woman, Jennie Paula White whose father, Claude Ellsworth White is mentioned here. The Dunnetts had a son, Michael born in November 1940.

Dunnett was in the HKVDC (Private 2098 ASC NP (XD6) and took part in the Battle of Hong Kong. In the book "Prisoner of the Japs" Gwen Dew writes about the siege of the Repulse Bay Hotel: "The American women included ............... nineteen year old, Jennie Dunnett and her infant son, Michael. She was married to a Britisher who was fighting in the Volunteers. He managed to get to the hotel several times to see her, but after surrender was sent to a military camp far away from his family." During the siege, C. E. White was also present in the hotel.

Dunnett's wife, son and father-in-law were interned in Stanley Camp but were later repatriated to the United States in 1942. After being interned, Felix Dunnett was subsequently shipped to Japan to a POW camp and endured hardship and forced labour. At the end of the war he was in Sendai Camp #2. 

Not able to trace back what transpired after liberation but in 1959, Felix Dunnett became a U. S. citizen. He remained in the United Sates until he died in 1990.

Further Reading

1. Hong Kong War Diary - http://www.hongkongwardiary.com/searchgarrison/hkvdc.html

2. Gwen Dew's Prisoner of the Japs -  https://archive.org/details/prisonerofthejap007029mbp/page/n11/mode/2up?q=dunnett

3.The Shanghai Evening Post and Mercury

4. Sendai Camp #2 List:

(i) http://www.mansell.com/pow_resources/camplists/sendai/sendai_2/s_2_other.html and (ii) http://www.mansell.com/pow_resources/camplists/sendai/sendai_2/SEN-02_roster_1945-08-15_RG389Bx2070.pdf  (Note: listed as Irish)

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