World War II
Coombes was called up in August 1939 and went to France with the advance party of the British Expeditionary Force as a Captain in the Royal Artillery. He was later transferred to the R.A.F. He was captured at Dunkirk but later escaped to England and remained with the 4th Squadron till 1941.
In late 1941, he was posted to command 330 Artillery Battery of 137 Field Regiment and sent to join the 11th Indian Division in Malaya. His regiment reached there in time to be in the first Indian battle against the Japanese at Jitra on the Siamese (Thai) border. Capt. Coombes's last battery position was on the beach at Singapore when this "Gibraltar of the East" fell to the Japanese on 15 February 1942. He remained a prisoner of war till August 1945.
Read more about this topic: J. H. H. Coombes
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