Ong, Nelson Chieng Siew (b.1921 - d.1978)

The four letters in this collection were sent to Nelson Ong after the Second World War and concern the death in 1943 of his friend QX17257 Acting Sergeant Desmond Mackay, while a POW in Thailand. Nelson Ong, a Malay civilian had met Mackay in Malacca prior to Mackay becoming a POW. Two letters are from Jack May, a mutual friend, one from the father of Desmond Mackay, Hugh Mackay and a typed undated copy of a letter from a medical orderly, N F J Zandstra in Thailand reporting Desmond's death to Hugh Mackay. Desmond's parents thought their son was alive even as late as April 1945.