Interview with Eric William Bouch

British private served with 2nd Bn Cambridgeshire Regt, 53rd Infantry Bde, 18th Infantry Div in GB and Singapore, Malaya, 9/1939-2/1942; prisoner of war in Changi Camp, Singapore Malaya, 2/1942-10/1942 on Burma Thailand Railway, 10/1942-6/1944, aboard SS Osaka Maru and SS Hakusan Maru on voyage from Singapore, Malaya to Moji, Japan via Formosa, 4/7/1944-18/8/1944, Osaka No 13-B, Tsumori and Tokyo No 4-B Naoetsu, Japan, 8/1944-8/1945

REEL 1 Background in Wisbech, GB, 1915-1938: family; education. Recollections of period as private with Signals Platoon, 2nd Bn Cambridgeshire Regt, 53rd Infantry Bde, 18th Infantry Div in GB, 1938-1941: reasons for joining Territorial Army, 1938; allocation to signals platoon; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939; coastal defence duties in Norfolk, 1940; question of inadequate equipment; morale of unit; relations with civilians in Norfolk; training in Dumfries, Scotland; move of battalion to Crewe, 1941; social activities at Crewe. Aspects of voyage from GB to Singapore, Malaya via Canada and South Africa, 10/1941-1/1942: voyage aboard MS Sobieski from GB to Canada; transfer to USS Mount Vernon; treatment of soldiers in Cape Town, South Africa; character of Christmas lunch in Mombasa, Kenya, 25/12/1941; opinion of Mombasa, Kenya; arrival in Singapore, Malaya, 13/1/1942. Aspects of operations as private with Signals Platoon, 2nd Bn Cambridgeshire Regt, 53rd Infantry Bde, 18th Infantry Div in Singapore, Malaya, 1/1942-2/1942: reasons why he was left behind in Singapore when battalion was sent up into Malaya, 1/1942; return of unit from Malaya; comforts provided by Salvation Army; nature of military situation, 2/1942; reaction to surrender of Singapore, 15/2/1942. Recollections of period as prisoner of war in Changi Camp and Bukit Timah Road Camp, Singapore, Malaya, 2/1942-10/1942: arrival in Changi Camp, 2/1942; move to Bukit Timah Road Camp; duties with work party at Bukit Timah Golf Course; contrast in treatment by Korean and Japanese guards; conditions of rations. Recollections of period as prisoner of war on Burma-Thailand Railway, 10/1942-6/1944: stealing rations for journey; nature of railway journey from Singapore, Malaya to Thailand; survival attitude; arrival in Chungkai Camp; tenko system; coping with work on railway. REEL 3 Continues: treatment by guards; Imperial Japanese Army hierarchy and discipline; prisoner of war footwear problems; use of loin cloth; physical hygiene; use of charcoal to clean teeth; move to Wampo Camp; move to Tamarkan Camp; physical condition on arrival at Tamarkan Camp; work in Japanese cookhouse; beating received by Sergeant Saito and apology he later got; relations with Imperial Japanese Army troops in cookhouse; substances prisoners of war deposited in Japanese stew; return to Chungkai Camp; attempt to deal with Private Lloyd Bennington's crab lice. Aspects of voyage aboard SS Osaka Maru and SS Hakusan Maru from Singapore, Malaya to Moji, Japane, 4/7/1944-18/8/1944: voyage aboard SS Osaka Maru from Singapore, Malaya towards Formosa via Manila, Philippines; beaching of SS Osaka Maru on Formosa; treatment received from Japanese naval rescuers. REEL 4 Continues: transfer to Hakusan Maru; arrival in Moji, Japan, 18/8/1944. Aspects of period as prisoner of war in Osaka No 13-B, Tsumori, Japan, 8/1944-5/1945: arrival in camp; opinion of American prisoners of war; United States Army Air Force fire bomb raids on Osaka; problems with vermin. Aspects of period as prisoner of war in Tokyo No 4-B, Naoetsu, Japan, 5/1945-8/1945: types of work prisoners of war did; punishment he received and how American officer rescued him; hearing news of the end of Second World War, 8/1945; role as camp policeman, 8/1945; distribution of supplies dropped by United States Army Air Force; voyage aboard HMT Empress of Australia from Japan to GB, 1945. Recollections of post-war visits to Thailand and Japan: question of Japanese-Allied reconciliation; visit to Naoetsu, Japan; visit to Nagasaki, Japan. Aspects of period as prisoner of war in Osaka No 13-B, Tsumori and Tokyo No 4-B, Naoetsu, Japan, 8/1944-8/1945: behaviour of American prisoners of war in Osaka No 13-B, Tsumori; earthquake at Osaka No 13-B, Tsumori; work on docks at Naoetsu; sabotage of welding work at Naoetsu; qestion of lack of long-term effects of prisoner of war experience; attitude towards Japanese.