Private Papers of Lieutenant Colonel A E Knights DSO MC MM TD

Ts memoir (306pp) of his experiences as OC 4th Battalion the Royal Norfolk Regiment (54th Brigade, 18th Division) at Singapore and as a prisoner of war on the Burma-Siam Railway, January 1942 - August 1945, including: landing in Singapore, January 1942; the battle for Singapore Island, February 1942; the surrender and march to Changi, February - April 1942, notably the interrogation of senior officers; incarceration at the Sime Road Camp, April - October 1942; the journey to the Burma-Siam Railway; his appointment as Camp Commandant of an Allied Prisoner of War Camp at Tasao, Thailand, on the Burma-Siam Railway, ?December 1942 - May 1944, and at Tamuang, May 1944 - ?January 1945; in the Officers' Camp at Kanburi, ?January - June 1945, and Nakom Nyok, June - August 1945, when he was liberated; making interesting comments on the poor conditions; food; relations with the Japanese, their mentality, and the best ways of keeping both them and the POWs happy; relations and trade with the Australians, the Dutch, and the local Thai population; the suffering and treatment of the sick; attempts to maintain standards and morale; preventing disease; contacts with "V" Organisation and Boon Pong; the death rate amongst POWs; cattle and chicken farming; setting up a cigarette factory; the Camp library; the Kempeitai Secret Police; Christmas celebrations; a visit by Lady Mountbatten; and mentioning Brigadiers E H W Backhouse and Sir Philip Toosey; Colonel W Harvey; Lieutenant Colonels H Lilley and C MacEachern; and the Reverend C F Allcock. Also included are an extract from his memoir, "Kempeitai on the Prowl" (19pp) and photocopies of 'An Appreciation' of Colonel Knights by Major Robert Hamond (1p), undated, and his Memorial Service (10pp) held in October 1971.

Cataloguer SNR

Catalogue date 1997-08-20