WW2 Document translation help.

bamboo43 · 16 Feb 2016

Hi All,

The latest place name I would be grateful for help in translating is attached (smaller image). It is a description of a place or location for a lost soldier.

Also attached some script in relation to his sad demise. Any assistance much appreciated as always.

Thank you in advance for any help.

Toritoribe · 16 Feb 2016

Burma, an island in the (something like Sheyulay or Shemalay) River

Died: June 29, 1944
Cause of death: suspected Cholera
Onset of illness: June 29, 1944
Place of death: Burma, Rangoon, Malay POW camp #6
Body treatment method: Cremation, Buried in Burma, Rangoon Cantonment Cemetery

bamboo43 · 17 Feb 2016

Thank you Toritoribe.
This is spot on I think. I believe this man was lost on an island in the middle of the Shweli River, along with around 40 others.
His death is unusual being cholera. I will have to investigate this some more.

Mike Cash · 17 Feb 2016

bamboo43 said:
Thank you Toritoribe.
This is spot on I think. I believe this man was lost on an island in the middle of the Shweli River, along with around 40 others.
His death is unusual being cholera. I will have to investigate this some more.

Cholera was a rather common cause of death:

Illness and death | Surviving | The Thai-Burma Railway and Hellfire Pass

Just googling WWII POW Burma Cholera brings up tons of chilling stuff.

bamboo43 · 17 Feb 2016

Hi Mike,
Thanks for your reply and of course you are correct in terms of deaths on the Burma Railway. My research is specific to the POW's in Rangoon Jail, none of which worked on the railway. In Rangoon there was only one outbreak of cholera in late June 1944, with some 10-15 deaths.

With Toritoribe's help I can now pinpoint at least five of these cases.

Best wishes

Steve

Toritoribe · 17 Feb 2016

bamboo43 said:
I believe this man was lost on an island in the middle of the Shweli River

I see. Then, I presume that it's the writer's transposed typo; シェユレー vs. シュエレー. The second kana is small, so the first two kanas シェ represents a single mora "she/sye". Thus, the first three kanas シェユ written in the document are pronounced "Sheyu", as I wrote in my previous post. However, if the writer transposed the second and third kana as a mistake, the first three kanas シュエ are pronounced "Shue", "Shuwe" or "Shwe". These types of typos can be happen especially when the writer is not familiar with the word, just like not-well-known foreign place names. In conclusion, I think it's not impossible to interpret the place of his death as an island in the Shweli River.

bamboo43 said:
His death is unusual being cholera.

It's most likely the reason of "Cremation", unlike other cases.

bamboo43 · 17 Feb 2016

Toritoribe,
Thank you for your further explanation. All your help is of great worth to my research.

bamboo43 · 4 Mar 2016

Today I received a hand-written diary for a man who was a POW in Rangoon. He was close to the Irrawaddy River when he was lost. The place name is attached.

Any help in translation would be much appreciated.

Toritoribe · 4 Mar 2016

Burma, near (somewhere like) Karsar, Carser

Majestic · 4 Mar 2016

Or maybe Katha
Katha, Burma - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

bamboo43 · 5 Mar 2016

Thanks to both for your input. Much appreciated.

bamboo43 · 25 Mar 2016

Hi to All,
There are two more locations that have come up within my research. Please see the attachments. Any help with the translation would be much appreciated.

Please ignore the diagonal red line on the second image.

Toritoribe · 27 Mar 2016

Burma, near (something like) Byinreibu/Binlayboo

Burma, the riverside of Irrawaddy River, (something like) Myonchoun/Miontyoun

bamboo43 · 27 Mar 2016

Thank you as always Toritoribe.
Could the first translation be Pinlebu? This would tie in with the man's journey through Burma.

The second translation has me puzzled for a match to a location on the Irrawaddy.

Best wishes and many thanks again.

Majestic · 27 Mar 2016

I think your first one (Pinlebu) is a match.
The second one is ミヨンチヨウン I guess, so the transliteration is pretty much as Toritoribe-san says. Iit could be an approximation (or a mishearing) of a number of things. Looking at a map of the Irrawady, a few potential names pop out.
Myitkyina
Mya Taung
Myitnge
Myaung...
Migyaungye
Myanaung
The point being the Mya or Myo sound, or something close to it, at the beginning. Could also be a place name that no longer exists. Or could be a place name so minor that it doesn't appear on Googlemaps. Anyway, maybe the list above will jog something loose. You have any information on where the soldier was travelling?

Toritoribe · 27 Mar 2016

The first consonant written in the first picture is "b" or "v", but mistransliteration of "p" can be possible, as Majestic-san pointed out.
Another possibility about the second one is a poor handwriting of "sho" or "syo".

bamboo43 · 27 Mar 2016

Majestic said:
I think your first one (Pinlebu) is a match.
The second one is ミヨンチヨウン I guess, so the transliteration is pretty much as Toritoribe-san says. Iit could be an approximation (or a mishearing) of a number of things. Looking at a map of the Irrawady, a few potential names pop out.
Myitkyina
Mya Taung
Myitnge
Myaung...
Migyaungye
Myanaung
The point being the Mya or Myo sound, or something close to it, at the beginning. Could also be a place name that no longer exists. Or could be a place name so minor that it doesn't appear on Googlemaps. Anyway, maybe the list above will jog something loose. You have any information on where the soldier was travelling?

Majestic and Toritoribe, thank you for the additional information. Pinlebu makes good sense from the first translation.

I use these translation guides to attempt to follow a man's pathway or make an educated guess, as to his journey. It is likely that the second man was travelling west at this time, making for the Chindwin River. So I think Myitkhina is unlikely.

I'm very grateful for your time with these.

bamboo43 · 4 Jun 2016

Hi All,
Seen below is the latest location from a new soldier from WW2. Any help in translation would be much appreciated.

Toritoribe · 4 Jun 2016

Burma, near (something like) Monseek / Montheec

bamboo43 · 4 Jun 2016

Hello Toritoribe,
Thank you once again for your help. This man I know was in the area of Mong Mit at the time. This town is also known as Momeik from WW2. Could this be the place?

Toritoribe · 6 Jun 2016

Hmm, Momeik might be possible. The pronunciation is more likely Monmeik, though.

bamboo43 · 7 Jun 2016

Thank you once again.

bamboo43 · 16 Jun 2016

Here is another place name, any help in translation would be much appreciated.

Toritoribe · 17 Jun 2016

Burma, east of Irrawaddy river, near Twin-Gyi

When I googled the place name, I happened to come across a book in the National Diet Library Digital Collection; ビルマ地名要覽 Handbook of the Place Names in Burma, which is a list of Japanese transliterations of Burmese place names used in WW2.
国立国会図書館デジタルコレクション - ビルマ地名要覽

トゥインヂー is listed in the book as the Japanese reading of Twin-Gyi. (ヂ and ジ have the same pronunciation.) I believe this book is helpful for your research.

bamboo43 · 17 Jun 2016

Thank you as always Toritoribe. I have looked at the book on line. It is very useful, although my eye is not good for picking up the run of characters to be able to compare.

There is a village named Twinnge on the eastern banks of the Irrawaddy, around 30 miles south of Inywa. I wonder if this might be the place mentioned.

WW2 Document translation help.

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