Cecil was the son of Harry and Elizabeth Kate Dutch and husband of Violet Victoria Dutch (née Hopkins) of Trowbridge, Wiltshire.

Cecil was posted to Hong Kong as part of the Royal Artillery and he lived in quarters with his wife and two sons. His eldest son, Francis, went to school there, often by rickshaw. They liked to visit the beaches and he enjoyed fishing, though more often than not, catching nothing! Cecil also enjoyed going to the Lee Theatre and Kings to watch movies.

As the spectre of war in Asia loomed, Cecil remained, as his family were evacuated in August 1940 to Melbourne by way of Manila. He was offered the Gunner Staff Course in late 1940, but that would’ve meant Violet couldn’t return (which was inevitably the case anyway), so he “left it to the younger ones”.

Cecil was an avid letter writer and would send a letter every week where possible. He wasn’t much of a drinker, instead saving the money and sending it off to his wife and kids when he could with his letters.

I understand Cecil was involved in the defence of Mt. Davis and in one of three letters he managed to send from Sham Shui Po, he claims he was captured with barely a scratch. In September 1942, he was put aboard the Lisbon Maru and ended up perishing as one of the 800+ victims on October 1st/2nd 1942 as the ship sank. Likely to have been one of the hold victims.

Cecil was survived by his wife, Violet and their two young boys, Francis and Brian, who had grown up in Hong Kong until the evacuation order for families in Aug 1940, when they were transferred through Manila to Melbourne.

I’ve known about the Lisbon Maru incident since I was a child and was told the stories when I was young. I also happened across a copy of Tim Carew’s "Hostages to Fortune", in which my great-grandfather’s name is mentioned.