Description
Object description
Enlarged photocopy of his ms diary (184pp) kept while serving as an officer in the 1/13th Frontier Force Rifles, with entries covering his service as the Transport Officer to the 22nd Indian Infantry Brigade (9th Indian Division) during the fighting in Malaya and Singapore (January - February 1942), his time as a prisoner of war in Changi camp, Singapore (from January - April 1943), with F Force on the Thailand-Burma railway, mainly at Nikki and Kami-Sonkurai camps (April - December 1943) and in Singapore again in Changi camp (December 1943 - May 1944) and Changi Gaol camp (June 1944 - August 1945), the news of Japan's unconditional surrender and the liberation of Singapore, and his repatriation to India on the troopship CIRCASSIA and onward journey to Ceylon. The diary is particularly informative about the appalling conditions endured by F Force throughout their time on the railway, and the consequent prevalence of deaths and disease among the prisoners, but also includes interesting references to rations, concert parties, gardening and other fatigues, and air raids in Changi, the conduct, both good and bad, of fellow officers in captivity and especially of the senior officers in some camps, the behaviour of their captors and events in Singapore immediately following the end of the war in the Far East; together with the original diary notebook, an additional diary covering events from August to November 1945, including his repatriation to India, an Exercise Book containing a drawing by the artist Ronald Searle (`The Wood Trailer' 1945), miscellaneous associated documents, and a copy of `Japanese Forces - Typical Photographs' (issued HM Naval Base, Singapore, 1941).
Content description
Enlarged photocopy of his ms diary (184pp) kept while serving as an officer in the 1/13th Frontier Force Rifles, with entries covering his service as the Transport Officer to the 22nd Indian Infantry Brigade (9th Indian Division) during the fighting in Malaya and Singapore (January - February 1942), his time as a prisoner of war in Changi camp, Singapore (from January - April 1943), with F Force on the Thailand-Burma railway, mainly at Nikki and Kami-Sonkurai camps (April - December 1943) and in Singapore again in Changi camp (December 1943 - May 1944) and Changi Gaol camp (June 1944 - August 1945), the news of Japan's unconditional surrender and the liberation of Singapore, and his repatriation to India on the troopship CIRCASSIA and onward journey to Ceylon. The diary is particularly informative about the appalling conditions endured by F Force throughout their time on the railway, and the consequent prevalence of deaths and disease among the prisoners, but also includes interesting references to rations, concert parties, gardening and other fatigues, and air raids in Changi, the conduct, both good and bad, of fellow officers in captivity and especially of the senior officers in some camps, the behaviour of their captors and events in Singapore immediately following the end of the war in the Far East; together with the original diary notebook, an additional diary covering events from August to November 1945, including his repatriation to India, an Exercise Book containing a drawing by the artist Ronald Searle (`The Wood Trailer' 1945), miscellaneous associated documents, and a copy of `Japanese Forces - Typical Photographs' (issued HM Naval Base, Singapore, 1941).
History note
Cataloguer RWAS
History note
Catalogue date 2003-04