Thomas, Ivor George (Oral history)

British officer served with Royal Army Service Corps in Singapore, Malaya, 2/1942; prisoner of war in Changi Camp, Singapore, Malaya, 2/1942-8/1942; aboard SS Fukkai Maru on voyage from Singapore, Malaya to Pusan, Korea, 8/1942-9/1942 and Jinsen and Keijo Camps, Korea, 9/1942-8/1945

REEL 1 Aspects of period as officer with Royal Army Service Corps in Singapore, Malaya, 2/1942: chaos in the last week preceding surrender; behaviour of civilians; Japanese Fifth Column activity; Australian artillery battery continued firing until hour of surrender; initial impressions of Japanese troops. Recollections of period as prisoner of war in Changi Camp, Singapore, Malaya, 2/1942-8/1942: sight of Chinese heads on Orchard Road after surrender; march to camp; initial disorganisation on arrival in camp; contracting dengue fever; measures taken to ensure discipline amongst prisoners of war; attending Freemason meeting; availability of rations; Australian ingenuity. REEL 2 Continues: accommodation; prisoner of war realisation of need for discipline; troops' recrimination of officers for surrender of Singapore; importance of Japanese air superiority during campaign; Japanese disinterest in prisoner of war administration; Indian National Army guards; Japanese suppression of civilians in Singapore; obsticles for escape; relations between prisoners of war and Sikh Indian National Army guards. Aspects of voyage as prisoner of war aboard SS Fukkai Maru from Singapore, Malaya to Pusan, Korea, 8/1942-9/1942: overcrowded conditions on board; work parties during stopover in Takao, Formosa; communion service; submarine threat to convoy; dysentery outbreak and burials at sea; arrival in Korea and parading of naked prisoners of war through Pusan, 9/1942. Recollections of period as prisoner of war in Jinsen Camp, Jinsen, Korea, 1942-1945: train journey to camp. REEL 3 Continues: character of camp commandant; Japanese insistence on prisoners of war learning Japanese language and drill; character of camp interpreter; further details of character of camp commandant; bowing to guards; nature of work on docks in cold weather; living conditions for Korean civilians; rations; behaviour of Korean guards; obtaining news of war's progress; fabrication of good war news for Christmas, 1944; farcical nature of Red Cross visit; contact with home. REEL 4 Continues: relations between prisoners of war and Japanese; prisoner of war collaborators; variation in treatment of prisoners of war by Japanese according to course of war; clothing and keeping warm; absence of medicine; beri beri; fate of attempted escapees. Aspects of period as prisoner of war in Keijo Camp, Seoul, Korea, 1945: transfer to camp; Japanese attitude towards Royal Navy; indications that war was nearing end; camp commandant's announcement of end of war, 8/1945; attitude towards Japanese; long-term psychological effects of captivity; destructiveness of Japanese in Korea.