The Commonwealth War Graves Commission in the United Kingdom has added University of Otago graduate Patrick "Paddy" Shiel, born in Dunedin in 1904, as a civilian entry to its Roll of Honour in time for Anzac Day.
Mr Shiel was a mining specialist with knowledge of demolitions, and it is believed he helped to blow up the causeway and delay the Japanese advance on to the island that was supposed to be a British stronghold in World War 2.
Ancestry researcher Simon Pearce has advocated for Mr Shiel’s inclusion as one of the war’s forgotten civilian heroes.
"We will never know what happened to Paddy Shiel and how he met his end 80 years ago," Mr Pearce said. "He was a civilian, but he chose to stay in the defence of Singapore.
"It is only fitting that his name has now been added to the Roll of Honour."
Historians have uncovered accounts of "Black Sunday", on February 15, 1942, that offer vivid details of the shocking, humiliating surrender.
But the chaos of war has left many questions unanswered.
With invading Japanese forces only a few hundred metres away, great fires raged on the skyline and dense black smoke obscured the sun as some of the last of New Zealand’s military personnel escaped Singapore.
But as enemy soldiers moved in, about 80,000 Allied troops became prisoners of war, thousands of civilians were killed by occupying Japanese forces, and still more lives were lost at sea.
In the final days before the surrender, 46 ships left Singapore with evacuees — only six made it to safety, Mr Pearce said.
"Paddy Shiel never appeared on the shipping lists, nor was his death or capture recorded by either the British, or Japanese.
"After the war, his wife sought news of his fate.
"Two inconclusive versions of what happened to Paddy surfaced in the years immediately following the war."
In a letter from the New Zealand military in December, 1945, a Chinese clerk in Singapore said he believed Mr Shiel left the island just before the surrender in a junk or similar vessel.
It was expected the craft sank during the onslaught as nothing was heard from it again.
However, in 1949, another version appeared in Admiralty correspondence.
In a letter from the Admiralty in October, 1949, Mr Shiel’s widow was informed it was presumed her husband had been aboard the HMS Aquarius and died when it was sunk by enemy action.
His body has never been found.
Mr Pearce said many New Zealand civilians were working in the British territories of Malaya, Borneo and Singapore when it came under Japanese attack during the war.
"Some of these Kiwis were killed or captured, and many performed heroic deeds.
"Not all of them, however, appeared in official records or are listed on memorials.
"Yet we should remember them on Anzac Day, and Paddy Shiel was most definitely one of these heroes," Mr Pearce said.
