The Battalion was a Regular Army unit stationed in the Far East on the outbreak of the War. It fought the Imperial Japanese Army in the Malayan Campaign in early 1942 sustaining heavy casualties. Ian was one of many to be captured and imprisoned by the Japanese, some of whom managed to survive, whereas alas he did not. His exact cause of death is unknown but is recorded as being Wednesday 22^nd July 1942 at the age of 23. 

Ian is one of two OWs to lie in Kranji War Cemetery, Singapore. 

Son of John Mitchell & Violet Leigh Mitchell of Londonderry, Northern Ireland.

A downloadable copy of this story is available here.

See also the Commonwealth War Graves Commission permanent digital memorial, ‘Evermore: Stories of the fallen’  relating to:-
Captain Ian Desmond Vance MITCHELL