George F A Mulock

George Mulock was a sub-lieutenant in the Navy and only 21 at the time of joining the Discovery expedition from HMS Triton where he had been surveyor and cartographer. He took over from Ernest Shackleton on the event of the latter’s early departure from the Discovery expedition in 1903.In addition to survey work, Mulock was given primary responsibility for holds, stores, provisions and deep-sea water analysis.

During the First World War, he served with distinction in the Gallipoli campaign, as Beach Master at Cape Helles and Sulva Bay. By late 1916, Mulock had been advanced to Commander and was made Captain of HMS Bee, a river gunboat of the Aphis-Class in the China Squadron, retiring in 1920.

At the outbreak of the Second World War, Mulock was re-activated. He was appointed Extended Defences Officer for the British Crown Colony of Singapore, charged with the evacuation of the civilian population as Japanese forces closed in. Along with other officers he was captured in February 1942 following the fall of Singapore to Imperial Japanese Forces under General Yamashita.The most senior naval officer to be captured, Mulock was also one of the oldest officers (he was 63 when released in 1945) to be transported to Taiwan and held at the Karenko and Shirakawa POW Camps.After the Second World War, Captain Mulock retired to Gibraltar where he died at the age of 81.