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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

Teik Sim Goh, DoD 07/04/1917


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Hi all!

This is my first post here, so I just wanted to say that I've long found this forum to be such an awesome resource of information. Anyways, I came across this guy while researching people for a site I maintain, and have only been able to establish that he was resident in Aberdeen when he enlisted. Does anyone else have any information on him? He seems too young to have been in Scotland by himself, but I haven't found any Census records on Ancestry

Goh, Teik Sim

Rank: Private

Service No: 125664

Date of Death: 07/04/1917

Age: 18

Regiment/Service: Lovat Scouts 1st

Grave Reference: S. 168.

Cemetery: Aberdeen (Allenvale) Cemetery

Joel

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Hi Joel

A bit of info on a previous thread

http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=195742

ie

" The sudden death of a young Chinese soldier in the Lovat Scouts took place at the Central School Hospital Aberdeen on Saturday evening. He was named Goh Teik Sim, and was 17 years old. "

and

" died on 7 April 1917 of "Corrosive sublimate poisoning, self administered and followed by uraemia". The RCE does not specify if the self administration was deliberate or accidental."

Regards,

Graeme

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Joel,

The Scottish National War Memorial website shows that he died at 'Home'.

http://www.snwm.org/content/roll-search/?id=380067&searchid=718bac458872a99b195378c47fcea2b2&page=1

'Soldiers Died in the Great War' shows him as:

Regiment: Household Cavalry and Cavalry of the Line

Battalion: Lovat Scouts

Kindest Regards,

Tom.

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I came across the case many years ago while looking for something else in a local Scottish newspaper (it may have been the Press & Journal or the Inverness Courier). I didn't make any notes about it, but I seem to recall that he was ethic Chinese from Malaya or Indonesia and was working on a ship (a cook, or cooks' mate I think?). He got off at Aberdeen where he decided to stay and volunteer for the army. He joined the Lovats' Scouts, but had only been with them for a very short time before his death - perhaps only a couple of months or so. My recollection is that it was suicide, but I can't remember whether that was either stated or implied in the article.

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Thank you all so much! Once again I have to say that the wealth of information available on this forum is just incredible! I'll be sure to check the editions of those papers one day!

Joel

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The headstone schedule shows Mr E.W. Teikicone, Durbah Hall, Burmah Road, Penang, S.S. [straits Settlement]

I'm assuming that he was the grave owner...?

Penang is in modern-day Malaysia, which matches my recollection of Teik Sinn (or Sim?) Goh being Malay-Chinese. Google appears to tell me that Burmah Road (now known as 'Jalan Burma') is in a former colonial suburb of Penang called Georgetown (many of the roads are still named after British colonial dignitaries). The address ('Durbah Hall') has clear colonial origins, and would presumably have been the residence of a colonial gent (or possibly some sort of civic building). In which case, I'd assume that his father(?) was in the employ of the owner. If he was indeed the grave owner then that might suggest that he had sufficient knowledge and means to purchase it (perhaps with the assistance of a colonial employer?).

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Apologies for dumb question but if he died in service doesn't he have a War Grave? What is the reference to a "grave owner"? Does his being a suicide have something to do with it? I thought the CWGC owned the graves. Thanks to those who can clear this up for me.

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Maybe Darbar Hall. If so, then the address is mentioned in these links:-

http://www.penang-traveltips.com/457-burmah-road.htm

https://www.flickr.com/photos/weekit/6298839096/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/geoff-inoz/5376828650/

Funnily enough, I've gone past it a couple of times during visits to Penang. Small world thing that it turns up mentioned on this forum!

His gravestone:-

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=125603702

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Apologies for dumb question but if he died in service doesn't he have a War Grave? What is the reference to a "grave owner"? Does his being a suicide have something to do with it? I thought the CWGC owned the graves. Thanks to those who can clear this up for me.

The. British system allows graves to be purchased by the next of kin in order to allow them to add further family members to the burial plot. I suspect that CWGC owns all battlefield graves, and possibly all overseas graves, but I also suspect that most UK graves are privately owned (or if the person was buried in a paupers grave - and there are an awful lot of them - then it would be owned by the local authority). CWGC is responsible for the upkeep of the grave, and will own the headstone in the event that the grave has a CWGC headstone. They have to get the permission of the grave owner or their heirs if they want to erect a standard CWGC headstone as replacement for a damaged or missing private grave marker.

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Maybe Darbar Hall. If so, then the address is mentioned in these links:-

http://www.penang-traveltips.com/457-burmah-road.htm

https://www.flickr.com/photos/weekit/6298839096/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/geoff-inoz/5376828650/

Funnily enough, I've gone past it a couple of times during visits to Penang. Small world thing that it turns up mentioned on this forum!

Ron - good work, I'm pretty sure that you've found the right place.

Since my post yesterday I've discovered a fair amount about this mans background, and it would make sense that this was their family home. Turns out that he was the eldest son of a prominent figure in the Malay business world, and his mother's family was one of the largest Malay business dynasties of the time. They get mentioned in many books about Penang and the Straits settlements. Seems that our man wasn't a cook on a ship as I seemed to think; his family appears to have had links with Scotland and it turns out that he was being educated at a Scottish School prior to joining the army.

I've found a photo of his mother online, and I've also found a post from 2010 on a local Malaysian history website that appears to have come from his first cousin once (or possibly twice?) removed on his mother's side. I'm trying to get in touch with her and the owner of the website, so I'll be back once I've done so. PM me in the first instance if anyone has any further info about him - I'd like to make contact with the family before posting much more.

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The. British system allows graves to be purchased by the next of kin in order to allow them to add further family members to the burial plot. I suspect that CWGC owns all battlefield graves, and possibly all overseas graves, but I also suspect that most UK graves are privately owned (or if the person was buried in a paupers grave - and there are an awful lot of them - then it would be owned by the local authority). CWGC is responsible for the upkeep of the grave, and will own the headstone in the event that the grave has a CWGC headstone. They have to get the permission of the grave owner or their heirs if they want to erect a standard CWGC headstone as replacement for a damaged or missing private grave marker.

Thanks for clearing that up for me. Makes sense reading it now. He was sure a long way from home!

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  • 6 years later...

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