Lawrence, Sidney (Oral history)

British aircraftman served with 36 Sqdn, RAF in Malaya and Java, Dutch East Indies, 12/1941-3/1942; POW on Java, Dutch East Indies, 3/1942-10/1942, aboard SS Singapore 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

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 his 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, RAF 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 RAF 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 RAF from Singapore, Malaya; harbour scene and selection of evacuees; Japanese bombing of harbour; opinion of wartime officers of British Imperial forces; evacuation aboard SS Perak to Palembang, Sumatra; establishing base in Javanese mountains; betrayal by Javanese and description of successful Gurkha action against Japanese parachutists; Dutch capitulation 8/3/1942. Aspects of period as POW on Java, Dutch East Indies, 3/1942-10/1942: Japanese killing of British POWs refusing to work at Kalidjati airfield, 3/1942. REEL 3 Continues: Japanese attitude towards POWs; Java POW camps, 3/1942-10/1942: British POWs killed by Japanese; Japanese attitude towards POWs; story of Japanese treatment of attempted escapees; purpose of POWs being made to witness Japanese treatment of escapees; witnessing rape of Dutch women. Recollections of period as POW in Japan, 11/1942-8/1945: his hanging punishment in dark hut at Moji; Japanese making POWs beat each other; physical punishment within Imperial Japanese Army; learning that war in Europe was over, 5/1945; expectation that POWs would be killed if Japan invaded and Japanese guard's promise to shoot Lawrence. Aspects of voyage aboard SS Singapore 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 POW in Japan, 11/1942-8/1945: labouring and mining work at various camps; move to Fukuoka Camp No 14 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 of 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: POWs 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 Far Eastern Prisoners Of Wars 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.