Description
Object description
British aircraftman served with 36 Sqdn, Far East Command, RAF in Malaya and Java, Dutch East Indies, 12/1941-3/1942; prisoner of war in Java, Dutch East Indies, 3/1942-10/1942, aboard SS Shonan Maru from Batavia, Java, Dutch East Indies to Moji, Japan, 30/10/1942-25/11/1942 and in Japan, 11/1942-8/1945 including witnessing dropping of atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan, 9/8/1945
Content description
REEL 1 Recollections of operations as aircraftman with 36 Sqdn, RAF in Malaya and Java, Dutch East Indies, 12/1941-3/1942: circumstances of capture of squadron on Java, 8/3/1942; character of squadron aircraft; decimation of aircraft by Japanese; British and Dutch morale; description of participation in torpedo attack on Japanese ship off Rembang, Java, 28/2/1942; Japanese invasion at Kota Bharu, Malaya, 7/12/1941-8/12/1941; description of attack, Royal Air Force response and question of lack of leadership; joining Indian Army unit in defence of coast; size of Japanese force; running out of ammunition; a near miss; question as to whereabouts of Royal Air Force officers; escape into Malayan jungle.
REEL 2 Continues: escape into Malayan jungle; abandoned children; train journey to Singapore, Malaya; composition of withdrawing troops; return to RAF Seletar, Malaya, 14/12/1942; unpreparedness witnessed in Singapore, Malaya; evacuation of Royal Air Force from Singapore, Malaya; harbour scene and selection of evacuees; Japanese bombing of harbour; opinion of wartime officers serving with British Imperial forces; evacuation aboard SS Perak to Palembang, Sumatra, 14/2/1942; establishment of mountain base on Java; betrayal by Javanese and description of successful Gurkha action against Japanese parachutists; Dutch capitulation 8/3/1942. Aspects of period as prisoner of war on Java, Dutch East Indies, 3/1942-10/1942: Japanese killing of British prisoners of war refusing to work on airfield at Kali Jati Camp, 3/1942.
REEL 3 Continues: Japanese attitude towards prisoners of war; incarceration in prisoner of war camps on Java; 3/1942-10/1942: British prisoners of war killed by Japanese; Japanese attitude towards prisoners of war; story of Japanese treatment of attempted escapees; purpose of prisoners of war being made to witness Japanese treatment of escapees; witnessing Japanese rape of Dutch women. Recollections of period as prisoners of war in Japan, 11/1942-8/1945: his hanging punishment in dark hut at Fukuoka No 4 Camp, Moji; Japanese making prisoners of war beat each other; physical punishment within Imperial Japanese Army; learning that war in Europe was over, 5/1945; expectation that prisoners of war would be executed if Japan invaded and Japanese guard's promise to shoot him. Aspects of voyage aboard SS Shonan Maru from Batavia, Java, Dutch East Indies to Moji, Japan, 30/1/1942-25/11/1942: route; dysentery; shipboard conditions.
REEL 4 Continues: Recollections of period as prisoners of war in Japan, 11/1942-8/1945L: labouring and mining work at various camps; move to Fukuoka No 14-B Camp at Nagasaki, 1/1945; location of camp; Allied reconnaissance and bombing raids; detailed description of dropping of atomic bomb, 9/8/1945; people 'shadows' and injuries; silence as compared with previous experience in aftermath of air raids; burning bodies to prevent epidemic; attitude towards Japanese and trying to help; burning smell; hearing Japanese surrender on radio and learning about atomic bomb, 15/8/1945; comparison of effects of atomic and non-nuclear bombs; speed of recovery of organisation in Nagasaki.
REEL 5 Continues: former prisoners of war leaving Nagasaki. Aspects of period as civilian in GB, 9/1945-2/1987: physical effects of bomb and continuing absence of cure; Japanese doctors' attempts to treat burns; inadequacy of medical attention for former Far Eastern Prisoners of War (FEPOW)s and atomic survivors in GB; opinion of lack of concern and understanding for psychological effects of experience; nature of radiation scarring on eyes; coping with psychological effects and effect on work and family life; quotes Bertrand Russell; attitude towards all war; quotes extract from Kenneth Clark's 'Civilisation'; nature of human suffering in war.