Lost Relic of Changi: The Missing Cross and a Veteran’s Legacy
This poignant account follows the journey of a small but significant brass cross that once stood in the chapel at Changi Prison, Singapore, during World War II. Sgt William Turkentine, a former prisoner of war, Cambridgeshire Regiment, retrieved the cross upon liberation and safeguarded it for years before entrusting it to Padre Noel Duckworth, a fellow survivor who later became chaplain at Churchill College, Cambridge. The cross was later integrated into a lectern at Bassingbourn Barracks alongside a lychgate repatriated from the Far East, symbolizing remembrance for fallen soldiers. However, when the lychgate was relocated to the National Arboretum, the whereabouts of the lectern and its embedded cross became unknown. Despite efforts to recover it, the relic remains missing, leaving the author distressed over the loss of an important piece of wartime history. The story highlights the fragility of remembrance and the ongoing quest to reunite the cross with its rightful place of honor.
The Changi Prison Chapel Cross
Where has the cross gone?
By Patricia Curry, Cambridge, 2024
My Father Sgt William Turkentine showed it to me many times. It was carefully wrapped and stored in his army shoulder equipment bag. He told me that it had been in the Chapel at Changi prison Singapore and when, after three and a half years of incarceration and torture, they were finally freed, he saw it on the floor of the chapel and picked it up to bring it home.
It carefully stayed with us until my father found out that Padre Noel Duckworth was being appointed as Chaplain at Churchill College Cambridge. He arranged to meet with Padre Duckworth as he felt it would be appropriate to give the cross to him to continue its safe keeping, especially as Padre Duckworth had himself been incarcerated at Changi jail.
So, the cross was giving over for safekeeping and it stayed at Churchill College until Padre Duckworth retired.
By this time the Lychgate, which my father had been involved with building, had been brought back to England and was re-erected at Bassingbourn Barracks. I remember accompanying my father to a huge event there to commemorate this. Padre Duckworth decided it would be appropriate to put the cross to be with the Lychgate and my father designed and built a reading desk with the cross set into the lid and an engraved plaque with a short explanation. I know the lectern was there when my father died, as I went to Bassingbourn to lay flowers at the lychgate as I recognised my Father had joined so many of his fellow soldiers who had not made it home. I was asked to sign the visitors book which was in the lectern which stood in the entrance corridor of the barracks.
The lychgate was moved to the National Arboretum. As the 75th anniversary was coming up, I decided to try and get the lectern and it's precious cross reunited. I contacted the army to ask of its whereabouts. They had no idea which upset me greatly as it had been left in their keeping. I did all I could to try and track it down with no result. It upsets me so much that the cross has been lost, when it had carefully been placed and protected for all those years. My wish still is to reunite it with the lychgate under which passed so many of the brave prisoners of war who did not make it home.
