Description
Object description
British driver served with 351st Bty, 88th Army Field Regt, Royal Artillery, II Corps in GB, France and Belgium, 9/1939-6/1940; served as driver with 88th Field Regt, Royal Artillery, 9th Indian Infantry Div in Malaya, 12/1941-2/1942; prisoner of war in Changi Camp and Changi Prison Camp, Singapore, Malaya, 2/1942-8/1945
Content description
REEL 1 Aspects of period as driver with 351st Bty, 88th Army Field Regt, Royal Artillery, II Corps in GB, 9/1939: declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939; reasons for joining Territorial Army pre-war; training; opinion of Ordnance QF 25 Pounder Gun and ease of handling; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939; mobilisation. Aspects of period as driver with 351st Bty, 88th Army Field Regt, Royal Artillery, II Corps in France, 9/1939-5/1940: accommodation in Gondecourt; ability to speak French language and consequent good relations with French civilians; behaviour of troops and availabilty of alcohol; standard of discipline and gun drill in regiment. Recollections of operations as driver with 351st Bty, 88th Army Field Regt, Royal Artillery, II Corps in France and Belgium, 5/1940: move to Louvain, Belgium 5/1940; disappearance of civilians; effect of British artillery barrage on Germans crossing Albert Canal; amusing story of near miss; role of unit as II Corps artillery; reason why Guards' initial disdain of Territorial Army troops altered; role as rearguard artillery; retreat to Bray-Dunes, France.
REEL 2 Continues: spiking of guns; scene on beaches at Dunkirk, France including calmness of sea and discipline of troops; discovery of water bottle; embarkation aboard HMS Windsor at East Mole, Dunkirk, France; receiving food and sleep aboard HMS Windsor; reception at Dover, GB; journey from Dover to Preston, GB; treatment of evacuated troops; reasons for refusing promotion. Recollections of operations as driver with 88th Field Regt, Royal Artillery, 9th Indian Infantry Div in Malaya, 12/1941-2/1942: high morale of unit; voyage aboard HMT Dominion Monarch from GB to Malaya; arrival in Singapore, 29/9/1941; usefulness of Ordnance QF 25 Pounder Field Gun in action at Alor Star, 12/1941; question of misinformation about Japanese forces' ability to advance through Malaya and quality of equipment; Japanese air superiority; orders to keep news of sinking of HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse secret, 10/12/1941; opinion of 11th Indian Infantry Div especially quality of Gurkhas.
REEL 3 Continues: Gurkha sense of humour; Imperial Japanese Army mortar attacks at Alor Star, 12/1941; effectiveness of Ordnance QF 25 Pounder Field Gun against Japanese advance; bayonet charge against Imperial Japanese Army; actions at Kuala Lumpur and Ipoh; effects of lack of Allied air cover; attitude of Malay and Chinese civilians towards campaign; story illustrating lack of awareness in Singapore of Japanese advance; troops' attitude to lack of support provided; retreat to and digging in at McKinley Road, Singapore; Japanese cutting off water supply from mainland Malaya to Singapore and necessity to surrender; attitude towards Major-General Arthur Percival's position; narrow escape from Japanese shellfire, 2/1942; incident of dead sepoy bleeding on him, Singapore, 2/1942; surrender 15/2/1942. Recollections of period as prisoner of war in Changi Camp, Singapore, Malaya, 2/1942-5/1944: feelings on march to Changi; British officers' advice to prisoners of war about Japanese attitude towards discipline; story of Japanese officer shooting Japanese soldier who disobeyed order.
REEL 4 Continues: initial impressions of Imperial Japanese Army troops; rigid hierarchy of Japanese command; innumeracy of Korean guards and prisoners of wars' deliberate confusion tactics; how he was co-opted into Australian working party demolishing Cathay Building; Imperial Japanese Army officer's inspection of work and how he was rescued from heavy work for cooking duties; relations with Imperial Japanese Army officer and how rapport was tempered by that officer's intended execution of Chinese family for singing Christian song; belief that Imperial Japanese Army officer had been 'planted' as an agent in pre-war GB; less hierarchical nature of Territorial Army units; unimportance of rank in Changi Concert Party.
REEL 5 Continues: layout of Changi Camp and troops housed there; question of impossibility of escape from Changi Camp; self-discipline and organisation of prisoners of war; learning to cook rice properly; deaths from dysentery and despondency; formation of Changi Concert Party to improve morale; character of first show; lesson learned from Changi sermon based on Good Samaritan text; search for play to perform and discovering AA Milne's 'Dover Road'; development of theatre company and being given NAAFI building as theatre; lack of props and necessity to set scene for audience; success of 'Dover Road'; growing interest in theatre and formation of camp orchestra and role as drummer.
REEL 6 Continues: diptheria outbreak; Japanese requisitioning theatre for accommodation and banning group meetings; renovation of garrison cinema as camp theatre; Ronald Searle's improvised paint and how it was stolen by working parties; log seats; Ronald Searle's and other artist's murals; formal organisation of Changi Theatre Company; props donated to company; electrician tapping into Japanese power supply; Captain Bush's insistence that show content should not relate to military service or prisoner of war experiences; idea for revue show 'Dancing Tears' to be performed at Palladium Theatre, Changi; costume production by submariners; prisoners of war making musical instruments.
REEL 7 Continues: his drumming with 8th Australian Infantry Div orchestra; outstanding musicians in theatre orchestra; memories of United States Navy prisoners of war Victor E Kelly and J J Porter; decision to sell theatre seats to avoid regimentation of audiences; organisation of box office; Australian troops collecting flowers for opening night and effect of exotic flowers; prisoner of war providing make-up stolen from Singapore Theatre; invitations for opening night performance; souvenir programmes produced by Freddie Brightfield; description of opening night of 'Dancing Tears' and importance of civilian nature of theatre.
REEL 8 Continues: importance of role of theatre in bringing normality and raising morale of prisoners of war; further shows staged; symphony orchestra assembled by pianist Reginald Renison and his orchestration of classical pieces from memory; degree of Japanese interest in theatre. Recollections of period as prisoner of war in Changi Prison Camp, 4/1944-8/1945: move to Changi Prison Camp, 5/1944; continuation of theatre performances; organisation of male voice choir; Japanese ban on National Anthem and substituting 'Land of Hope and Glory'; increasing difficulty of maintaining theatre as Japanese fortunes dwindled; cultivating vegetables to supplement lessening rations; contracting malaria; theatre involvement; reason for relative lack of beatings from Japanese guards, attributed to him small stature; work party demolishing school in Singapore; finding photograph of children, Kempeitai search including their finding photograph of his 'children' and how this saved him; narrow escape from Kempeitai finding his diary; work filling in swamps in preparation of airstrip construction at Changi.
REEL 9 Continues: airfield construction party work; Japanese guard nicknamed 'The Ice Cream Man' and tricks played on him by prisoners of war; prisoner of war sabotage; sight of Allied aircraft over Singapore and hearing sound of bombing in Malaya; Japanese anti-aircraft guns located in areas where prisoners of war located; Lord Louis Mountbatten's insistence on humiliation of Japanese officers after surrender; hearing news of atomic bomb from secret radio, 8/1945; belief that Japanese would kill prisoners of war and hearing news of end of war; parachuting of British Army medical team into Changi; arrival of British nurses; hospitality shown by crew of HMS Suffolk; medical treatment in Singapore and return to GB; Lord Louis Mountbatten's insistence that Japanese should surrender to Indian troops; appearance of Lord Louis Mountbatten in Changi Camp and his speech to freed prisoners of war. Reflections on period as prisoner of war: attitude towards Japanese and their disregard for human life; refusal to protest about Duke of Edinburgh attending Emperor Hirohito's funeral.
REEL 10 Continues: refusal to perpetuate hatred of Japanese; positive aspects of prisoner of war experience; reads self-written poem about prisoner of war experience; question of long-term effects of imprisonment; effects of hunger and eating anything edible including fungus on wood.