Payne, Harold Lloyd (Oral history)

British gunner served with 12th and 11th (Honourable Artillery Company) Regts, Royal Horse Artillery in GB, 1939-1941; officer served with 137th Field Regt, Royal Artillery, 11th Indian Infantry Div in Malaya, 12/1941-2/1942; prisoner of war in Changi Camp, Singapore, Malaya, on Burma-Thailand Railway and Nakom Nayok Camp, Thailand, 2/1942-8/1945

REEL 1 Aspects of period as gunner with 12th and 11th (Honourable Artillery Company) Regts, Royal Horse Artillery in GB, 1939-1941: background to joining 12th (Honourable Artillery Company) Regt, Royal Horse Artillery, Territorial Army, 5/1939; wartime mobilisation with 11th (Honourable Artillery Company) Regt, Royal Horse Artillery, 9/1939; gaining commission into 137th Field Regt, Royal Artillery, 5/1941. Aspects of operations as officer with 137th Field Regt, Royal Artillery, 11th Indian Infantry Div in Malaya, 1941-1942: voyage from GB to Singapore, 9/1941-12/1941; immediate action in Malaya; opinion of Japanese superiority in knowledge of jungle warfare; Japanese pre-war intelligence work; how his unit was over-run on Slim River; escape to Singapore; Japanese attack on train; defensive actions during Battle of Singapore, 2/1942; shooting civilian signalling to Japanese; surrender, 15/2/1942. Aspects of period as prisoner of war in Changi Camp, Singapore Malaya, 2/1942-8/1942: move to camp; treatment by Indian National Army guards. REEL 2 Continues: building Japanese War Memorial at Bukit Timah; aid from civilians; tropical diseases; train journey to Thailand, 8/1942; prisoners of war view of where responsibility lay for fall of Singapore, 2/1942; Japanese attitude towards prisonersof war, war wounded and war dead. Recollections of period as prisoner of war on Burma-Thailand Railway and Nakom Nayok Camp, Thailand, 8/1942-8/1945: attitude of Thais to Japanese; construction of camp at Ban Pong; monsoon conditions; construction of Nong Pladuk Camp; bridges on River Kwai Noi; maintaining army discipline; attempt to make work parties more bearable; relations with Dutch prisoners of war; Allied bombing of railway. REEL 3 Continues: contact with home; buying duck eggs from Thais; story illustrating how prisoners of war could pressure Japanese guards; his punishment for complaining to Japanese officer; execution of attempted escapees; role of Kempeitai in camps; prisoner of war sabotage of railway work; lack of collaboration; obtaining war news; method of smuggling goods; fate of girls sent to provide sexual services for Japanese troops; how camp doctors obtained medical supplies; his movements in Thailand; liberation by Americans; learning of Allied plans for prisoner of war liberation. REEL 4 Continues: reaction to release from captivity; meeting Lady Edwina Mountbatten in Bangkok and opinion of her; return to GB. Reflections of period as prisoner of war in Changi Camp, Singapore, Malaya, on Burma-Thailand Railway and Nakom Nayok Camp, Thailand, 2/1942-8/1945: effect of malnutrition on prisoners of war sexuality; prisoners of war who lost will to live; revengeful feelings of prisoners of war on release; attitude towards Japanese; long-term psychological effects of imprisonment; organisation of National Federation of Far Eastern Prisoners of War Clubs and Associations; reaction to Emperor Hirohito's visit to GB; attitude of British civilians to returning Far Eastern Prisoners of War, 1945.