Frank Horrell was a Lustleigh man through and through. Having lost his mother shortly before his second birthday, he was brought up by his aunt, Sarah Squires, of Rock Villa, and threw himself into all manner of village life. As a teenager, he attended the funeral of his friend, Brian Laxton, another WW2 casualty, before himself signing up and joining the Royal Corps of Signals.
In early 1942, he found himself part of the Allied troops trying to secure Java and prevent it falling into the hands of the Japanese. It was a futile attempt and in just over a month after his arrival, the Allies forces had laid down their arms in surrender.
Frank became a POW and was transported to Borneo. Following news that he was missing, it would have been a relief to his family when they were told he was in captivity; unbeknown to them was the sheer brutality that the Japanese inflicted upon their prisoners. Precisely what treatment befell Frank is unknown, but in 1945 he contracted Malaria and died four weeks later. His grave is to be found at the Lebuan War Cemetery on a small island in Brunei Bay, off the coast of north-west Borneo.
On Sunday 30th March, Lustleigh Bell Ringers will sound a half-muffled peel in his honour.
A more detailed biography will be included in a book to be published by the Lustleigh Society later this year recounting various aspect of the village during WW2.