Gunner Albert McCleary (996224) served in 148th (Bedfordshire Yeomanry) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery during the Second World War. Born on 17th March 1913, he was the son of Andrew McCleary and Margaret McCleary (née Welch) of Hunter Street, Belfast, and the husband of Mary Agnes McCleary of Belfast, Co. Antrim.
148th Field regiment saw action in France with the British Expeditionary Force in 1940. At the outbreak of the Second World War, the regiment was assigned to 18th (East Anglian Infantry). They transferred to the Far East shortly before the Fall of Singapore in February 1942. The regiment could use the ‘Bedfordshire Yeomanry’ designation from 17th February 1942.
On 15th February 1942, McCleary became a prisoner of war. Captured British troops in the Battle of Singapore totalled around 85,000. Albert was one of the thousands of men forced to work on the Burma Railway. He died on 13th June 1943 aged 30 years old in the Tonchan Prisoner of War Camp, Thailand.
Gunner Albert McCleary’s Grave is in Plot 6, Row A, Grave 60 of Kanchanaburi War Cemetery, Thailand. His headstone bears the inscription:
Asleep in God’s beautiful garden sheltered from all sorrow and pain.