Saturday, May 5, 2018

Ongs in the British Army and Royal Navy during the First & Second World Wars



Lancashire Landing Cemetery, near Cape Hellas, Gallipoli, Turkey

In one of my earliest genealogical postings many years ago (and re-published by this blog here), I mentioned visiting the British Commonwealth Cemeteries in the Gallipoli penninsula of Turkey and unexpectedly coming across - and within only a few minutes of getting out of our car for the first time - the gravestone of an Ong.  I will elaborate a little:  I was living with my wife in Istanbul and working for the representative office of an American bank.  We were being visited by my mother-in-law, and decided to make a weekend trip by driving southwest along the Marmara Sea to Gallipoli which forms the west bank of the Dardanelles, the straits between the Marmara and the Aegean Seas.  This had been the scene of the Gallipoli Campaign of 1915 in which forces of the British Empire launched a direct attack on Turkey, or more properly the Ottoman Empire, which had allied itself with the German and Austro-Hungarian Empires.  The campaign is famous for having been a) the brainchild of Winston Churchill, the then-Liberal Member of Parliament and First Lord of the Admiralty (i.e. Cabinet member responsible for the Royal Navy), b) a humiliating defeat as the British forces failed to establish a front much beyond the initial beachheads leading to their evacuation after seven months, c) a crucible for the rising independent national identities of Australia and New Zealand, whose forces performed heroically in an ultimately losing effort, and d) the proving ground of senior Turkish commander Mustafa Kemal Pasha, who later became the Republic of Turkey's first President (re-named as Kemal Ataturk) as a result of his leadership and drive for Turkish independence with sovereignty over all of Anatolia after the the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in the early 1920s.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission maintains 31 separate cemeteries with the remains of soldiers from predominantly Britain, Australia, New Zealand, India and Newfoundland




The cemeteries are scattered along the front of the campaign which for the most part lay very close to the western coast of the peninsula.  Our first visit was at the Lancashire Landing cemetery at Cape Hellas, where, as the name implies, the 1st Lancashire Fusiliers landed under very heavy enemy fire, and 80 of the men buried here died in the first two days of the campaign.   My wife, mother-in-law and I each randomly picked a row of gravestones and walked along and surveyed the names.  About halfway across "my" row, I came across: "W.H. Ong, Quartermaster Sergeant, Lancashire Fusiliers."  It was a very mystical experience - the odds of my seeing this out of over 20,000 headstones at Gallipoli were so low.  It was also a reminder of the English roots of my family, and of course made me curious to know about the Ongs in England had fared after my branch cast off to America in 1630.  That curiosity, on a broader scope, eventually led to this blog.



As I did a few years ago with the American Civil War, here below follows a list of those with the surname Ong who served in the British Armed Forces in World Wars I and II.  It is compiled from public records, and may contain errors, omissions and duplicates.  I have also not (yet!) reviewed these names for family relationships, although no doubt there are many.  One cousin, Harry Ong, a career seaman in the Royal Navy, served in both wars!

The lethality of WWI, where almost a third of the Ongs who served were killed or died of their wounds, is striking.




World War I (The Great War) 1914-1918

Albert Charles Victor Ong, Private, South Staffordshire Regiment, then Labour Corps

Alfred William Ong, Private, Northumberland Fusiliers, then Labour Corps 1916-1918

Alfred William Ong, Sergeant, Devonshire Regiment 1915-1920 (from London SW6)

Arthur Ong, Private, Royal Army Medical Corps (1917-19): Salonica, Russia and Turkey (1 year 1 month) (Served in Salonika, Russia & Turkey. Cited in London County Council Staff Record of Service)

Arthur Ong, Private/Sapper, Norfolk Regiment, then Royal Fusiliers, then Labour Corps, then Royal Engineers  (from Norwich, Norfolk)

Arthur John Ong, Private, 21st Bat., King's Royal Rifle Corps

Benjamin Ong, Lance Sergeant, 2nd Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment, killed in action, Loos, 27 Sep 1915 (from Pendleton, Salford, Greater Manchester.  Widow Lilian (Kerry)  Commemorated at Loos Memorial, Pas-de-Calais, France)

Cecil Samuel Baldry Ong, Private, 1st/4th Battalion, Essex Regiment, killed in action in Palestine 25 Nov 1917  (Aged 40.  From Norwich, Norfolk.  Buried at Ramleh War Cemetery, Palestine (now Ramla, Israel).  Son of Charles and Ellen Mary Ong, Husband of Rose Anna Ong of Norwich, Norfolk)

Edward Ong, Private, 9th Battalion, Duke of Edinburgh's (Wiltshire) Regiment, killed in action 20 Sep 1917, Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele) (from Salford, Lancashire.  Commemorated at Tyne Cot Memorial, West Flanders, Belgium)

Edward Ong, Private, 1st Battalion, King's Own Scottish Borderers, killed in action 16 May 1917, Battle of Arras (Aged 20.  From Norwich, Norfolk.  Commemorated at Arras Memorial, France)

Ernest George Ong, Private, 2nd Battalion, Norfolk Regiment

Frederick Charles Ong, Private, 9th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers, killed in action, France, 27 Mar 1918  (mother Fanny M. Ong of Islington, London.  Commemorated at Pozieres Memorial, Somme, France)

Frederick James Ong, 5th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers, killed in action 24 Apr 1915 (Aged 24.  From Hammersmith, Greater London.  Buried at St. James Cemetery, Dover, Kent, England)

George Ong, Able Seaman, Royal Navy, 1908-1922 (from Fulham, London.  Distinguished Service Medal awarded in connection with operations in the Dardenelles on HMS Blenheim on night of 4/5 May 1915.  Awarded Long Service and Good Conduct Medal 1931.)

George Ong, Private, 12th Battalion, Norfolk Regiment

George Albert Ong, Lance Corporal, 1st/7th Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers, died of wounds, Gallipoli, 7 Aug 1915 (from Salford, Lancashire.  Buried at Skew Bridge Cemetery, Gallipoli, Turkey)

George Walter Ong, Company Quarter Master Sergeant, 28th Manchester Regiment, 1908-1917

Harry Ong, Armourers Crew, Royal Navy, 1918- (from Seedley, Salford, Greater Manchester.  See WWII below.  Awarded General Service Medal.  Awarded Long Service and Good Conduct Medal 1933.)

Herbert Stanley Ong, 2nd Garrison Battalion., Suffolk Regiment, 1915-1917  (from Harlow, Essex, son of William Warren Ong)

James William Ong, Private, Essex Regiment, then The King's (Liverpool) Regiment

John Ong, Private, 3rd Battalion, Notts & Derby Regiment (Sherwood Foresters), 1916-1918  (from Norwich, Norfolk)

John Ong, Sapper, 9th Co., Royal Engineers

John Ong, Royal Defence Corps

John Henry Ong, Gunner, London Brigade, Royal Garrison Artillery

John Henry Ong, Sergeant, 13th, then 16th Batt., London Regiment (Queen's Westminster Rifles) 1916-1919  (from Islington, London  (brother to Frederick Charles?) 

Joseph Ong, 5th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment, then 2nd/5th Battalion Gloucester Regiment, then Labour Corps, 1914-1919

Joseph Ernest Ong, Sergeant, 1/7th Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers, 1913-16 (Wounded at Gallipoli.  from Pendleton, Salford, Greater Manchester)

Joseph Humphrey Ong, Private, Royal Army Medical Corps, killed in action, 21 Aug 1918 (Aged 40.  From Norwich, Norfolk.  Buried at Gommecourt Cemetery No. 2, Hebuterne, France.  Son of Edward & Elizabeth Ong.  Husband of Gertrude Ong of Norwich.)

Lawrence Arthur Ong, Private, 13th Battation, King's Liverpool Regiment, killed in action 19 May 1918 (Aged 18.  from Pendleton, Salford, Greater Manchester.  Buried at Pernes Cemetery, Pas-de-Calais, France.  Son of George W. and Aimie Ong)

Robert William Ong, Essex Yeomanry 1908-1914, then Driver, Royal Army Service Corps -1919

Ronald Lancelot Newman Ong, Gunner, Royal Garrison Artillery  (from Brentwood, Essex.  Son of Henry Ong)

Sidney Arthur Ong, 3rd Battalion, Norfolk Regiment, 1915-1918

Thomas Albert Ong, Driver, Royal Army Service Corps, 1914-1919

Thomas Ong, Chief Petty Officer, Royal Navy, 1893-1919 (from Norwich, Norfolk.  Awarded Distinguished Service Medal (plus bar))

Thomas Ong, Private, Royal Army Medical Corps, 1912-1919

Walter Ong, Private, 7th Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers 1915-1919

William Ong, Private, 2nd Battalion, Essex Regiment (captured Monchy-le-Preux, France, 14 Apr 1917)

William Ong, Warrant Officer, 4th East Lancashire Brigade, Royal Field Artillery, 1892-1916

William Ong, Private, 3rd Middlesex Regiment, then 13th then 6th Lancashire Fusiliers 1915-

William Ong, Private, King's Own Royal Lancashire Regiment

William Ong, Stoker Petty Officer, Royal Navy, 1905-17, lost in sinking from contact mine of HMS Derwent off Le Havre, France, 2 May 1917 (Aged 29.  From Norwich, Norfolk, son of William & Julia Ong, husband of Caroline Rebecca Ong of Norwich.  Commemorated at Chatham Naval Memorial, Kent)

William Ong, Private, 1st Battalion, Norfolk Regiment 1899-1917 (from Norwich, Norfolk)

William Ong, Private, 2nd/1st Suffolk Yeomanry, 1915-19

William George Ong, Gunner, Royal Marine Artillery, 1913-  (awarded Long Service and Good Conduct Medal 1931)

William Henry Ong, Company Quarter Master Sergeant, 1/8th Lancashire Fusiliers, died of wounds, Gallipoli, 14 Jun 1915  (from Seedley, Salford, Greater Manchester.  Buried at Lancashire Landings Cemetery, Gallipoli, Turkey)

William John Ong, Private, Suffolk Regiment, then Labour Corps




World War II 1939-1945

A. Ong, Private, Royal Army Service Corps (POW Stalag 334, Labinowice, Poland)

Albert Edward Ong, Trooper, Staffordshire Yeomanry, Royal Armoured Corps, killed 15 June 1941, buried Damascus British War Cemetery #2, Syria (Aged 32.  Son of George & Mary Ong and husband of Nellie E.M. Ong; from Cheshunt, Hertfordshire) 

Basil Ong, General Service Corps

F.E. Ong, 2nd Lieutenant, Royal Pioneer Corps

G. Ong, Quarter Master, Royal Engineers

George Ernest Ong, Ordinary Seaman, Royal Navy, HMS Curacao, killed 24 April 1940 (from German airstrike during Norwegian Campaign.  Commemorated at Chatham Naval Memorial, Kent)


Harry Ong, Ordnance Artificer 1st Class, Royal Navy -1945 (see WWI above)

Robert William Ong, Private, Suffolk Regiment, killed in action 6 Jun 1944 in D-Day Landings.  (Aged 33.  Buried in Hermanville Cemetery, Calvados, Normandy, France)

Russell Ong, Sergeant, 6th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment (POW in Singapore)





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