Description
Object description
British officer served with 1st Bn Middlesex Regt (Duke of Cambridge's Own), Hong Kong Infantry Bde in Hong Kong, 6/1941-12/1941; prisoner of war in North Point, Sham Shui Po and Argyle Street Camps in Hong Kong, 12/1941-9/1942; survived sinking of SS Lisbon Maru off Zhousham Archipelago in South China Sea, 10/1942; prisoner of war in Kobe House Camp, Kobe and Osaka No 19-B Camp, Ikuno, Japan, 10/1942-8/1945
Content description
REEL 1 Aspects of operations as officer with 1st Bn Middlesex Regt (Duke of Cambridge's Own), Hong Kong Infantry Brigade in Hong Kong, 6/1941-12/1941: membership of Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Force, 1936-1941; composition of defending force during Battle of Hong Kong, 12/1941; surrender, 25/12/1941. Aspects of period as prisoner of war in North Point, Sham Shui Po and Argyle Street Camps, Hong Kong, 12/1941-9/1942: initial holding in North Point Camp; move to Sham Shui Po Camp, 2/1942; conditions in Sham Shui Po and escape from camp; separation of officers and men; Japanese treatment of Chinese supplying food to prisonersof war; Japanese attitude towards prisoners of war; loyalty of Chinese women to prisoners of war; presence of Japanese Fifth Column in Hong Kong; relations between Japanese and Chinese civilians. Aspects of period as prisoner of war aboard SS Lisbon Maru in South China Sea including sinking off Zhoushan Island, Zhousham Archipelago, China, 10/1942: conditions on board; torpedoing of ship by American submarine USS Grouper (SS-214), 1/10/1942; prisoners of war escape from hold; Japanese firing on prisoners of war in water; his abandoning ship.
REEL 2 Continues: swimming towards island; recapture by Imperial Japanese Navy and onward journey to Japan. Recollections of period as prisoner of war in Kobe House Camp, Kobe, Japan, 10/1942-3/1945: conditions; prisoner of war sickness; lack of medical treatment and subsequent death rate; allocation of rations; cold weather conditions; problems with lice; officer work parties; skill of prisoners of war in stealing food from docks; Japanese order to keep diary and subsequent inspection, 1943; camp magazine and entertainments, 1944; Japanese unwillingness to issue Red Cross parcels; visit by Red Cross official; receiving letters, 1944; lack of contact with family; symptoms of beri-beri.
REEL 3 Continues: receiving war news; United States Army Air Force raids, 1944-1945. Aspects of period as prisoner of war in Osaka No 19-B Camp, Ikuno, Japan, 3/1945-8/1945: move to camp 28/3/1945; infestation of fleas; horticultural work; atmosphere in camp prior to surrender, 15/8/1945; behaviour of Japanese commandant and guards after surrender and issue of Red Cross parcel, United States Army Air Force air supply drops. Aspects of return from Japan to GB, 8/1945-11/1945: move to former location of Osaka No 19-B Camp at Akenobe after Japanese surrender; 8/1945-9/1945; attitude towards fraternisation with Japanese; journey to GB via Philippines and Canada, 9/1945-11/1945. Reflections on period as prisoner of war in Hong Kong and Japan, 12/1941-8/1945: attitude towards Australian and American prisoners of war; question of discrimination between British regular and short commission officers; impressions of Japanese civilians; reputation of Korean and Sikh guards; working in graphite factory in Kobe, Japan; payment of prisoners of war.
REEL 4 Continues: making wills for prisoners of war in Kobe House Camp; helping fellow officer swim to island after sinking of SS Lisbon Maru, 10/1942; belief in Allied victory and that Japanese might kill prisoners of war on surrender; Japanese belief in superiority; attitude towards Japanese; question of long term psychological and physical effects of imprisonment; question of collaboration between prisoners of war and Japanese.