Interview with George Sheldon Patterson

British officer served as Secretary to Resident of Terenggau, with 3rd Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regt, Royal Artillery and as Aide-de-Camp (ADC) to Lieutenant-General Percival in Malaya, 1941-1942; prisoner of war in Changi Camp, Singapore, Malaya, Karenko Camp, Formosa and Mukden No 2-B Camp, Hsian, Manchuria, 2/1942-8/1945; civil servant served as Personal Secretary to High Commissioner Malcolm MacDonald in Malaya, 1945-1948; served with Malayan Civil Service, Colonial Administrative Service in Federation of Malaya, 1949-1960

REEL 1 Background in Longbenton, GB, 1920-1939: family; education; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939; call-up to Royal Artillery, 1939. Aspects of period as Secretary to Resident of Terenggau in Malaya, 1941: arrival in Malaya; duties and lifestyle as secretary; leading party of civilians to Kuala Lipis, 12/1941. Aspects of operations as officer with 3rd Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regt, Royal Artillery and Aide-de-Camp (ADC) to Lieutenant-General Arthur Percival in Singapore, Malaya, 12/1941-2/1942: joining regiment; staff work for Deputy Assistant Adjutant General (DAAG) a Fort Canning; impact of attacks by Imperial Japanese Army Air Service on Singapore; appointment as Aide-de-Camp (ADC) to Lieutenant-General Arthur Percival, 11/2/1942; driving Lieutenant-General Arthur Percival to meeting with Japanese on Bukit Timah Road, 15/2/1942; abortive attempt to contact Australian General Gordon Bennett in Singapore; memories of Lieutenant-General Arthur Percival. Recollections of period as prisoner of war in Changi Camp, Singapore, Malaya, Karenko Camp, Formosa, Japan and Mukden No 2-B Camp, Hsian in Manchuria, 2/1942-8/1945: impressions of Japanese. REEL 2 Continues: conditions during voyages from Singapore, Malaya to Formosa and Formosa to Japan; treatment of Lieutenant-General Arthur Percival in captivity; move to Mukden No 2-B Camp, Hsian, Manchuria, 1944-1945; impressions of liberating Soviet Army troops, 8/1945; discovery of dropping of atomic bombs on Japan, 8/1945; Japanese beating of Lieutenant-General Arthur Percival; forced labour at Karenko Camp, Formosa; treatment of prisoner of war by Japanese guards; question of efficiency of Imperial Japanese Army attack on Malaya; fate of senior officers in Japanese captivity; lack of preparation for evacuation for women and children from Malaya, 1941-1942; physical condition during captivity; conditions in Mukden No 2-B Camp, Hsian, Manchuria; attitude towards Japanese. REEL 3 Continues: Aspects of period as Personal Secretary to High Commissioner Malcolm MacDonald in Malaya, 1945-1948: duties; memories of Malcolm MacDonald; attitude of Malcolm MacDonald towards Independence and his relations with senior colonial officials. Recollections of period as civil servant with Malaya Civil Service, Colonial Administrative Service in Federation of Malaya, 1949-1960: duties as District Officer in Kota Tinggi; strength of insurgents in Kota Tinggi area; standard of intelligence in Kota Tinggi; attitude of Chinese civilians in Kota Tinggi; work at rehabilitation centre at Morib; impact of General Gerald Templer on situation in Federation of Malaya; opinion of Federation of Malaya Police. REEL 4 Continues: belief that Malayan National Liberation Army insurgents would not be successful; opinion of work of Gurkhas; prior recollection of meeting Lord Louis and Lady Edwina Mountbatten during visit to India, 1948; memories of meeting Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru in India, 1948; work with War Office in Kuala Lumpar, 1960 including recruiting Chinese and Tamils into British Army.