William received his education at Mostyn House School in Parkgate, Cheshire, and subsequently at Wrekin College. During his time as a student he was a member of the Officers' Training Corps (OTC), achieving an ‘A’ certificate upon leaving school. Inspired by his training and keen to serve, William initially sought to join the British Indian Army. However, his first application was unsuccessful due to his age. Undeterred, he reapplied once he met the age requirements and was accepted in 1941. Prior to his successful application, William was employed at Westminster Bank Ltd, in Douglas, Isle of Man, where he gained a reputation as a well-liked and popular member of staff.

Military Training and Commission

After being accepted into the army, William underwent several months of training at Aldershot before departing for India in August 1941 to complete his officer training. His dedication and perseverance paid off when, on 15^th March 1942, he was commissioned into the 3^rd/5^th Royal Gurkha Rifles.

Leadership and Service in Burma

William joined his regiment in Burma in early 1943, operating along the Assam/Burma border near the Chindwin River. Taking command of ‘B’ Company, he also temporarily held the position of Battalion Quartermaster.

Operation Longcloth and Its Aftermath

In February 1943, the 3^rd/5^th Gurkha Rifles received orders to support Brigadier Orde Wingate and his Long Range Penetration Force as they prepared to cross the Chindwin River for "Operation Longcloth", a mission behind Japanese lines. The Gurkhas played a vital role by surveying enemy positions on the eastern bank and guiding Wingate’s troops through the initial stretch of jungle. Although it is unclear if William directly assisted in guiding the men across the Chindwin, records show that he was responsible for welcoming the returning parties in April 1943 as the men made their way back to India, exhausted from their ordeal. During these duties William was captured by Japanese forces and subsequently reported as ‘missing in action’.

The following extracts from the War Diary of 3^rd/5^th RGR detail what occurred.

24th April 1943:

Lieut. Kirkpatrick, one Naik, two Riflemen and one Interpreter proceeded on special patrol. The object of the patrol was to recce a jungle track between Saw Kaw & Inbauk which was not on the map but was reported to be used a great deal. The Patrol Commander (Kirkpatrick) was also ordered to lay two ambushes at his own discretion, one at Kaya and one at Saw Kaw, where the high ground overlooks the single track leading into the river bend area. 

26th April 1943:

One Naik and one Rifleman from Lieut. Kirkpatrick's patrol recrossed river. They report that near Nyaungbintha they met with some Burmans. After leaving the Burmans who were cutting wood the patrol went into ambush positions near a track. While waiting in ambush twenty-five Japanese came down the track. The Naik said that Lieut. Kirkpatrick had given orders that no one was to fire unless he did. No fire was opened. The Naik says the Japanese were very close, approximately five or six yards away and were obviously on the alert.
 
After the Japanese had passed the patrol went in single file up the track with about six yards distance between men. The patrol suddenly came under fire and everybody sprang for the dense undergrowth on the right side of the track. The Naik says he searched and whistled for Lieut. Kirkpatrick for over two hours, but when the original Japanese patrol came back he went to a nearby knoll and waited there till darkness and eventually crossed the river near Hehlaw. Lieut. Kirkpatrick, the Interpreter and one Rifleman are now missing. 

30th April 1943

Two Burmese youths, one the son of the village headman of Mogong who were brought in by Naik Dilram of B' Coy, state they have heard that one British Officer was killed and the Interpreter wounded and taken prisoner. From their description there is little doubt that this is Lieut. Kirkpatrick and Interpreter Nathan. 
 

William’s Fate and death in 1943

In May 1943, the Battalion War Diary officially recorded William as ‘missing, believed killed.’ However, this report did not reflect the reality of his circumstances. Instead of being killed in action, he had been captured by a Japanese patrol and had become a prisoner of war.

After originally being held at a camp close to the Chindwin, he was transported, along with several men captured from ‘Operation Longcloth’ to the main concentration camp at Maymyo and it was here that the men first experienced the more brutal side of the Japanese character.

Another Gurkha officer, Lieutenant Lewis William Rose was also a prisoner at Maymyo. In his war time memoirs Rose recounted his time at the Maymyo POW Camp and what he remembered of William Kirkpatrick:
 

After capture I was carried off to Maymyo where I spent some weeks and was later taken by train to Rangoon and the jail. My earliest memory of the Maymyo POW cage, while still unable to stand without pain, was of a Jap NCO shouting at me in Japanese. I didn't know what it all meant but in the background I saw another prisoner bowing repeatedly to indicate to me that that was what the Nip wanted me to do.

It was in Maymyo that I learned yet again the true depths of Japanese brutality. A fellow prisoner there was Lieutenant Kirkpatrick, an officer of a Gurkha battalion, but not from the Wingate Force. He had been badly wounded on a patrol over the Chindwin. He told me that I was in trouble for disobeying General Savory's orders, and I had to live with that thought for two long years. Kirkpatrick's wounds seemed to affect his judgement. Unwisely, he was truculent and abusive to his captors, shouting 'You're all bastards and I won't tell you anything'. In fact, he knew very little of value, but the Nips gained the impression that he did. They beat him severely, gave him the water treatment and burned the flesh from his hands, nose and face. He went completely insane and I buried him in Maymyo¹ on 3rd July 1943.  
 

Information about conditions experienced in Rangoon Jail recorded at the time stated:

A member of the Wingate expedition (Rose) who became separated after being ambushed by the Japanese, successfully evaded for three days before being captured. The prisoner was taken to a Japanese HQ near the Chindwin, where he met a group of POW's including an Army Officer (Kirkpatrick) who had been severely wounded.

This group were finally moved to Maymyo where they were subjected to very severe interrogation. In the case of the two officers, this went on for many days. They were both continually beaten up with pick helves while the Japanese interrogators shouted a series of numbers at them, asking them what the numbers meant. The Japanese were apparently trying to find out the composition and order of battle of the Wingate Force.

On one occasion the wound officer was taken away by the Japanese in the early morning and did not return until late in the evening. When he came back it was obvious that he had been very severely tortured, but the officer did not actually say what the Japanese had done. Two days later the other prisoner (Rose) found out for himself, when he was taken away and given the 'water treatment' by the Japanese.

After this occurrence the Japanese concentrated on the wounded officer and seemed to ignore the other man. A few days later the wounded officer was taken away again and this time did not return until the following morning. On his return he was incapable of coherent speech and his nose and fingers had been burned away. This officer, as a result of this torture and the neglect of his wounds, died in Rangoon Jail on the 3^rd July 1943.
 

An official statement from the same file gives this simple explanation for the death of Lieutenant Kirkpatrick:
 

"Died in Rangoon of torture, wounds and neglect."
 

William was initially buried at the English Cantonment Cemetery, located in the eastern sector of the city. By all accounts, Lieutenant Rose was present at his short funeral service along with other fellow officers, the burial party recorded his grave number in the cemetery as No. 65.

After the war was over, all the burials at the Cantonment Cemetery were removed and most of the men who perished inside Rangoon Jail were re-interred with due ceremony at the newly constructed Rangoon War Cemetery Myanmar where William now lies with a recorded date of death at the age of 21 on Saturday 3^rd July 1943; he is also remembered in St Brendan’s church in his home town of Braddan, IoM.

Eldest son of William C Kirkpatrick & Elizabeth A Kirkpatrick of Braddan, Isle of Man. His younger brother David also attended Wrekin College.

1. Rose makes one important error in his account, stating that Kirkpatrick was buried at Maymyo on the 3^rd July, when in fact his death occurred inside Rangoon Central Jail.

A copy of this story is available for download here.

Revised: November 2025

Grateful acknowledgement is due to Steve Fogden – Chindit Chasing, Operation Longcloth 1943, for permission to utilise his research material in this biography.

 © David Long (WMR-84485)

===

William’s niece, Deb Graf also served; in her case with the Canadian Armed Forces in Afghanistan in 2008, and the pictures in the gallery below are from her family collection.