Description
Object description
British officer served with Royal Army Service Corps, 18th Infantry Div in Singapore, Malaya, 2/1942; prisoner of war in Changi and Sime Road Camps in Singapore, Malaya, 2/1942-10/1942, on Burma-Thailand Railway, 10/1942-5/1944, aboard SS Hiyoki Maru during voyage from Singapore, Malaya to Japan, 6/1944, in Fukuoka No 17 Camp, Omuta, Japan, 6/1944-4/1945 and Mukden Main Camp, Mukden, Manchuria, 4/1942-8/1945
Content description
REEL 1 Aspects of period as private, NCO and officer with Royal Army Service Corps in GB, 1939-1941: background to joining Royal Army Service Corps, 1939; labouring and clerical duties; his obtaining commission and posting to 18th Infantry Div, 1941. Recollections of period as officer with Royal Army Service Corps, 18th Infantry Div in Singapore, Malaya, 2/1942: diversion of convoy to Singapore, early 1942; Japanese attack on convoy in Sundra Straits, 2/1942; arrival in Singapore, 6/2/1942; chaotic conditions in docks; formation of No 1 Rifle Bn Royal Army Service Corps; hospitalisation for dengue fever; lack of maps; civilian evacuation of island; discharge from hospital and search for unit.
REEL 2 Continues: escape from Japanese strafing attack; shelling of Royal Army Service Corps headquarters; restrictions on firing gun in order to conceal positions; burying of dead soldier; destruction of British artillery; surrender and initial encounter with Japanese; water supply problem; his acquisition of kit; impossibility of escape; morale amongst prisoners of war and attitude towards surrender; troops' nickname for Fort Canning the Headquarters of Malaya Command; lack of Allied air cover. Aspects of period as prisoner of war in Changi Prison Camp in Singapore, Malaya, 2/1942-5/1942: march to camp; dysentery epidemic and conditions in hospital. Aspects of period as prisoner of war in Sime Road Camp, Singapore, Malaya, 5/1942-10/1942: move to camp.
REEL 3 Continues: work on Japanese shrine; varying nature of Japanese supervision; sight of Japanese aerial fly-past; conditions during work on shrine; issue of tainted meat; benevolence of Japanese supervision. Recollections of period as prisoner of war on Burma-Thailand Railway, 10/1942-6/1944: train journey to Thailand; flooding of Ban Pong Camp; march to Tamarkan Camp; character of Japanese camp commandants at Tamarkan Camp; railway bridge construction; conditions at Kinsaiyok Camp, 5/1943; cholera outbreak; rations; heavy rock cutting work; Japanese attitude towards sick prisoners of war; Adam's vehicle repair work.
REEL 4 Continues: stealing material to make still for production of distilled water; saline drip for cholera victims; sight of condition of F Force prisoners of war; his cattle droving work party along Kwae Noi River; organisation of jungle bivouac; cholera victims; encountering new herd of cattle; hospitality of Australians at Prang Kasi Camp; rest at Japanese staging camp at Takunun; following river course; his accident in river.
REEL 5 Continues: discovery of corpses of civilian forced labourers at Kroeng Krai Camp; plea from Chinese cholera victim to be shot; arrival at Konkuita Camp; cowherd work; anthrax outbreak; in quarantine and destruction of herd; impossibility of escape; diet; aiding Japanese Army straggler; problems of crossing railway with cattle; entertainment in Japanese camp; Japanese ceremony to mark completion of railway, 10/1943; fate of prisoners of war of F Force; state of Japanese wounded.
REEL 6 Continues: Japanese attitude towards own wounded at Konkuita Camp; preservation of locomotives in Japanese museum; camp life in Hindato Camp; road construction work; letters received from home; Allied air surveillance of railway; prisoners of war work at Japanese brothel; disposal of abattoir waste; Japanese sensitivity about skit on Germans during prisoner of war cabinet at Nong Pladuk Camp. Aspects of journey from Thailand to Singapore, Malaya, 5/1944-6/1944: organisation of move to Japan; news of sinking of ships carrying prisoners of war; discovery of his diary by Japanese; rat catching in River Valley Camp, Singapore, 6/1944; civilian attitudes towards prisoners of war in Singapore. Recollections of voyage aboard SS Hiyoki Maru from Singapore, Malaya to Japan, 3/6/1944-21/6/1944: embarkation; overcrowded conditions on board.
REEL 7 Continues: rations; attack on convoy; stop in Manila Bay, Philippines; trading with Filipinos and hearing news of Normandy Landings; deck concert and Japanese objection to patriotic songs; accidental wounding of prisoner of war; medical inspection at Takao, Formosa; hazards and discomforts of convoy to Japan; latrines; his beating over 'stolen' pumpkins; Korean guard's stealing of prisoner of war sugar; American submarine attack on convoy.
REEL 8 Continues: disembarkation in Moji, Japan; passing through customs. Recollections of period as prisoner of war in Fukuoka No 17 Camp, Omuta, Japan, 6/1944-4/1945: train journey to camp; accommodation; theft of food by American cooks; Japanese requirement for prisoners of war to sign declaration about prisoner of war convoy; Japanese drill instruction; issue of Japanese uniform; passing out parade; sight of Japanese civilian poverty; work in zinc foundry; amusing camp regulations; presence of Australian, Dutch and American prisoners of war in camp; camp commandant's responsibility for prisoner of war deaths; dangers of coal mining work; prisoner of war corruption and collaboration.
REEL 9 Continues: worsening conditions in camp; disposal of prisoner of war corpses; post-war execution of camp commandant; Japanese fear of prisoner of war uprising; air raid shelters; coping with winter cold; cigarette issue; corrupt American prisoner of war clique; brutal punishments for prisoners of war; New Year celebration, 31/12/1944-1/1/1945; American prisoner of war's betrayal of fellow prisoner of war and his torture by Japanese; reward of Red Cross parcels for hard work.
REEL 10 Continues: receiving war news; death of prisoner of war comrade; suffering from bronchitis; poisoning of prisoners of war from eating bad whale meat; eating dog meat; brutal and fatal punishments; character of Japanese guards; brutality of Japanese guard nicknamed 'Sailor'; prisoner of war pay; Japanese selling of Red Cross supplies to prisoners of war; reaction to close supervision by guards; prisoner of war illnesses and medicines; surgical facilities; eating clams and frogs; Japanese attempts to divide prisoners of war; Japanese retribution for his winning at table tennis; Japanese attempts at propaganda during Red Cross visit.
REEL 11 Continues: accidental sinking of Red Cross ship SS Awa Maru by submarine USS Queenfish SS-393, 1/4/1945; American air raids; issue of Red Cross food; removal from camp; fear on execution on beach. Aspects of journey from Japan to Manchuria, 4/1945: air raid alarm on Fukuoka Docks; voyage from Japan to Korea; parading of prisoners of war through Pusan in Korea; train journey to Mukden, Manchuria. Recollections of period as prisoner of war in Mukden Main Camp, Mukden, Manchuria, 4/1945-8/1945: arrival in camp; history of camp; aid given to newcomers by prisoners of war already in camp; concealing Union Flag and passing it onto senior officer.
REEL 12 Continues: exchanging news of war's progress; contracting dysentery; diet; Red Cross food issue; sandfly plague; character of Japanese supervision; news of VE Day, 8/5/945. Aspects of liberation of Mukden Main Camp in Mukden, Manchuria, 8/1945-9/1945: entry of American servicemen into camp; fighting of civilian factions in Mukden; liberation by Soviet Army troops, 20/8/1945; Adam's duties as officer of the guard; absence of revenge on Japanese guards; United States Army Air Force air supply drops; prisoner of war overeating; his trading activities in Mukden.
REEL 13 Continues: looted Japanese supplies and souvenirs; personal souvenirs taken. Aspects of journey from Manchuria to GB, 9/1945-11/1945: train journey to Dairen, 9/1945; reception by United States Navy; typhoon at Okinawa Island, Japan; informality of American organisation of former prisoners of war dispersal; American hospitality at Manila in Philippines; voyage to San Francisco, United States of America; obstructiveness of British Army in San Francisco, United States of America; journey home via Nova Scotia, Canada; arrival in GB, 11/1945; attitude of former prisoners of war to non-payment of British Army pay.