Corporal William John Jess of Woodvale, Belfast served in the Royal Air Force and became a prisoner of war in Indonesia following the fall of Singapore in 1942.
Corporal
548834
Corporal William John Jess (548834) served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. Born on 9th July 1917, he was the son of Samuel Jess and Isabella Jess of 109 Twaddell Avenue, Woodvale, Belfast. Commonwealth War Graves records list his mother’s name as Isabella. Japanese Index Cards of Allied Prisoners of War and Internees suggest her name was Alice.
Jess joined the Royal Air Force in 1938, and became a prisoner of war following the fall of Singapore in 1942. Corporal Jess died on 5th June 1943 aged 26 years old on the Indonesian island of Java. His grave is in Section 6, Row B, Grave 11 of Ambon War Cemetery, Indonesia. His headstone bears the inscription:
Two little words that mean so much, “my son”. He died that others might live.