Private Papers of J E R Parsons

Very detailed ms diary covering his experiences as a prisoner of war on Sumatra and subsequent liberation, February 1942 – November 1945, in four small notebooks, loose sheets of notepaper, and on the backs of letters received whilst a prisoner (circa 25 pp); together with edited ts transcript (101pp) also including his service as a Sapper with the Johore Volunteer Engineers (JVE) at the Tanglin Club, Singapore 1942, and July 1943 – July 1944 for which there are no entries in the original diary. The diary begins at 15 February 1942 and records his passage via Chinese junk to Sumatra, including efforts to rescue servicemen, civilians and nurses stranded on smaller islands (February – March 1942); their landing on Sumatra, arrival at Padang and entrance of the Japanese into the town where Parsons was taken prisoner (March 1942); a regular log of time spent at Medan camp (June 1942 – March 1944) including references to Judy the camp dog, later awarded the Dickin medal, and the effect on prisoner morale of the arrival of Red Cross parcels in November 1942 and mail from home in January 1944; the move to Atjeh, with marked deterioration in conditions (April – November 1944); joining the construction of the Pakanbaroe-Moeara railway (November 1944 – August 1945) including jungle-clearing, bridge-building, track-laying, and on 'garden party' cultivating vegetables; liberation (August 1945); leaving Sumatra and passage to India on HMHS KAROA (September 1945); treatment in Bangalore General Hospital (October 1945) prior to embarking on the RMS MAURETANIA for repatriation to England, during which the diary ends (November 1945). Particularly illuminating are his annual retrospective accounts summarising health, food, daily routine/working parties; and references to the forced march in March 1944 of a group of 500 POWs to Atjeh; being forced to sign 'non-escape' papers from the Japanese quite late in captivity (May 1945); a log of POW deaths on the railway and the visit of Lady Mountbatten to his camp in Sumatra (16 September 1945). Included within the original diaries is a hand-sketched map of the camp location at Medan; notes on Malay vocabulary; also, 2 letters written from Bangalore General Hospital in October 1945; one photocopied POW postcard written from Medan and photocopies of 3 letters, of which the originals are not extant, written but never sent by Parsons during December 1941 and February 1942 and covering events at Singapore and his arrival on Sumatra.

Very detailed ms diary covering his experiences as a prisoner of war on Sumatra and subsequent liberation, February 1942 – November 1945, in four small notebooks, loose sheets of notepaper, and on the backs of letters received whilst a prisoner (circa 25 pp); together with edited ts transcript (101pp) also including his service as a Sapper with the Johore Volunteer Engineers (JVE) at the Tanglin Club, Singapore 1942, and July 1943 – July 1944 for which there are no entries in the original diary. The diary begins at 15 February 1942 and records his passage via Chinese junk to Sumatra, including efforts to rescue servicemen, civilians and nurses stranded on smaller islands (February – March 1942); their landing on Sumatra, arrival at Padang and entrance of the Japanese into the town where Parsons was taken prisoner (March 1942); a regular log of time spent at Medan camp (June 1942 – March 1944) including references to Judy the camp dog, later awarded the Dickin medal, and the effect on prisoner morale of the arrival of Red Cross parcels in November 1942 and mail from home in January 1944; the move to Atjeh, with marked deterioration in conditions (April – November 1944); joining the construction of the Pakanbaroe-Moeara railway (November 1944 – August 1945) including jungle-clearing, bridge-building, track-laying, and on 'garden party' cultivating vegetables; liberation (August 1945); leaving Sumatra and passage to India on HMHS KAROA (September 1945); treatment in Bangalore General Hospital (October 1945) prior to embarking on the RMS MAURETANIA for repatriation to England, during which the diary ends (November 1945). Particularly illuminating are his annual retrospective accounts summarising health, food, daily routine/working parties; and references to the forced march in March 1944 of a group of 500 POWs to Atjeh; being forced to sign 'non-escape' papers from the Japanese quite late in captivity (May 1945); a log of POW deaths on the railway and the visit of Lady Mountbatten to his camp in Sumatra (16 September 1945). Included within the original diaries is a hand-sketched map of the camp location at Medan; notes on Malay vocabulary; also, 2 letters written from Bangalore General Hospital in October 1945; one photocopied POW postcard written from Medan and photocopies of 3 letters, of which the originals are not extant, written but never sent by Parsons during December 1941 and February 1942 and covering events at Singapore and his arrival on Sumatra.

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