Description
Object description
British civilian in Singapore, Malaya, 1932-1941; evacuated from Singapore, Malaya to Australia, 12/1941; prisoner of war aboard German auxiliary cruiser Thor (HSK-4) and supply ship Regensburg in Indian Ocean and Pacific, 5/1942; internee in Fukushima Internment Camp, Japan, 7/1942-8/1945
Content description
REEL 1 Aspects of period as civilian in Singapore, Malaya, 1932-1941: reason for going to Singapore; initial impressions of lifestyle; accommodation; marriage; husband's employment; servants; diet; use of chauffeur; daily shop in market; amusing story of car accident; use of Malay servants' names; social life; dress code; dinner parties; preference for English food; story of receiving news of husband's death, 1945; visit to Singapore during 1960s; reaction to outbreak of Second World War, 3/9/1939; question of returning to England; employment with Malayan Civil Service; reaction to sinking of HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse, 10/12/1941; role in registration of native population after Japanese bombing.
REEL 2 Continues: Aspects of evacuation from Singapore, Malaya to Australia, 12/1941: preparations for evacuation following Japanese invasion of Malaya; clothes and personal belongings taken; voyage aboard troopship from Singapore, Malaya to Australia; sleeping arrangements; theft of personal belongings; living conditions on board ship; reason for going to India, 1942. Aspects of capture aboard SS Nankin by German auxiliary cruiser Thor (HSK-4) and period aboard supply ship Regensburg in Indian Ocean and Pacific, 5/1942: strafing of ship by seaplane from auxiliary cruiser Thor (HSK-4), 10/5/1942; cargo carried by ship; ships capture by German Auxiliary Cruiser Thor (HSK-4), 10/5/1942; problem climbing rope ladder; accommodation aboard auxiliary cruiser Thor (HSK-4); opinion of treatment by Germans; medical examination and inoculations; transfer to supply ship Regensburg; sleeping arrangements; dry clothing provided by German sailors; conversation with captain; further changes of ships and improvement in living conditions; attitude of captain and crew to Nazis; opinion of food; collecting belongings from SS Nankin; voyage to Yokohama, Japan.
REEL 3 Continues: Aspects of period as internee at Yohohama, Japan, 5/1942-7/1942: visit by Japanese ambassador; reaction to being internment; separation of male and female internees and selection for Fukashima Internment Camp; train and lorry journey to Fukushima Internment Camp. Recollections of period in Fukushima Internment Camp, Fukushima, Japan, 7/1942-8/1945: description of camp and accommodation; reception on arrival; Japanese Police's control of camp; problem of personal hygiene; camp regulations; weekly communal bathing; amusing story of shower; segregation of male and female internees; religious services; attitude to separation of families; toilet paper ration; methods of communication with male internees.
REEL 4 Continues: daily routine; regulations and discipline; making and mending clothes and shoes; education for children; types of food available; access to garden for exercise; incident of being punished for taking leek from garden; Japanese spreading of sewage over garden; punishments; relations with guards; organisation of camp; role of Japanese interpreter; story of death of internee Stewardess Elizabeth Gleeson, 7/4/1945; dental treatment.
REEL 5 Continues: memories of female internees; relations with Chinese women; medical treatment received from internee nurse Sister Nancy Law; role of camp spokeswoman; attitude of guards to female internees; further details of dental treatment; attitude to working for Japanese; problem of cold weather and winter clothing; recreational activities; story of punishment of son Howard Guy and two other boys for breaking window, 12/1942; morale in camp; amusing story about Dutch internee.
REEL 6 Continues: instance of humiliating treatment of female internee by guard; problem of isolation of camp; arrival of first mail, Christmas, 12/1944; visit by Swiss Red Cross official, 1944; reaction to receiving news of husband's death, 1945; arrival and distribution of Red Cross parcels; contents of parcels; awareness of progress of war; question of exchange and repatriation of internees; reaction to news of dropping of atomic bombs on Japan, 8/1945; increase in United States Army Air Force bombing raids over Japan and use of cellar as air raid shelter; attitude of commandant and guards following Japanese surrender, 8/1945; Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers dropping food parcels and radios; departure from camp, 9/1945; reaction to liberation; reflections on period of captivity.