Interview with James Gilmour

Australian private served with 2/4th (Machine Gun) Bn, 8th Australian Infantry Div in Singapore, Malaya, 24/1/1942-15/2/1942; prisoner of war in Changi Camp and Adam Park Camps, Singapore, Malaya, Burma-Thailand Railway and Thailand, 2/1942-8/1945

REEL 1 Background in Ayr, GB and Australia, GB, 1921-19409: background in Ayr, GB and emigration to Myaree, Australia; family; childhood; effects of Depression; education; attitude towards British Empire; leaving school, 1935; employment; sporting activities; attitude to First World War and Anzac Day; attitude towards Adolf Hitler and anti-Semitic policies; reaction to Munich Crisis, 9/1938; question of joining Citizen Military Forces; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939. Aspects of enlistment in Australian Imperial Force in Australia, 18/10/1940: background to enlistment with friends; father Hugh Gilmour's military service in First World War; reaction of parents to enlistment; uniform; memories of Phoney War, 9/1939-5/1940; reasons for enlistment. Aspects of training as private with 2/4th (Machine Gun) Bn 8th Australian Infantry Div in Australia, 10/1940-12/1941: route marches. REEL 2 Continues: basic training and training as machine gunner; opinion of training received; attitude to Germans and Italian forces; further training in Darwin; tactical exercises; reaction to Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, United States of America, 7/12/1941. Aspects of voyage aboard HMAS Westralia and HMT Aquitania from Darwin Australia to Singapore, Malaya via Papua New Guinea, 1/1942: conditions aboard HMT Aquitania; training; accommodation and sleeping arrangements; embarkation leave; story of jumping ship at Fremantle; initial impressions of Singapore, Malaya; opinion of Japanese forces. Aspects of operations as private with A Coy, 2/4th (Machine Gun) Bn 8th Australian Infantry Div in Singapore, Malaya, 24/1/1942-15/2/1942: story of watch; location of battalion. REEL 3 Continues: initial experience of being under fire; Imperial Japanese Army Air Service air raids on Singapore; move to positions on northern coast facing Johore Strait; tented accommodation; location of machine guns in plantations; attitude to advance of Japanese forces; problem of water supplies; incident of Imperial Japanese Army Air Service aircraft dropping firecrackers; opinion of officers; morale; communications between units; reaction to Japanese forces invasion and advance on Singapore Island; sight of oil tanks on fire; opinion of defence of Singapore; role in operations against Japanese around airfield; story of Imperial Japanese Army personnel calling out officers' names; initial experience of combat; casualties and reaction to death of friends. REEL 4 Continues: reaction to surrender of Singapore, 15/2/1942; attitude to surrendering and effect on morale; description of laying down arms and surrendering to Japanese forces, 15/2/1942. Recollections period as prisoner of war in Changi Camp and Adam Park Camp, Singapore, Malaya, 2/1942-3/1943: march to Selarang Barracks in Changi Camp; opinion of accommodation and rations; digging latrines; daily routine; church parades; punishments; memories of sight of impaled head and Japanese executions; physical exercise; parades and roll call; cooking own rations; latrines; 2/4th Machine Gun Bn newsletter 'Bore Hole News'; duties on working parties building shrines for Imperial Japanese Army dead; story of hiding Imperial Japanese Army officer's sword; story of Australian woman; black market activities including selling petrol. REEL 5 Continues: living conditions in Adam Park Camp; accommodation; cooking rations; problem of bugs and lice; cooking hibiscus leaves; recreational activities; daily routine and working hours; washing facilities; playing cards; black market activities; punishments; attitude to working for Japanese authorities; organisation of prisoners of war by officers; discipline; treatment of officers by Japanese captors; return to Changi Camp, 2/1943; condition of Selarang Barracks; latrines. Aspects of train journey from Singapore to Thailand, 3/1943: reason for volunteering to work on Burma-Thailand Railway, 3/1943; nature of journey in cattle truck to Thailand; problem of lack of water; story of buying bananas; contribution of food received from local civilians; problem of heat and diseases. REEL 6 Continues: Recollections of period as prisoner of war on Burma-Thailand Railway and Thailand, 3/1943-8/1945: description of work and equipment used; daily routine and living conditions; huts and sleeping arrangements; utensils; clothing and boots; blankets; working hours; clearing jungle; tree felling; splitting bamboo; problem of cuts and ulcers; relations with British prisoners of war; opinion of personal hygiene of Australian prisoners of war; importance of sense of humour; religious beliefs; increase in workload; tented accommodation; overcrowding; work on cuttings; drills; explosives; injuries; clearing debris; disease and mortality rate; story of pushing Imperial Japanese Army artillery guns out of mud; use of leaves in latrines and problem of rashes; rations; supplementing diet by eating lizards and snakes; problem of bamboo cuts and ulcers; medical treatment; story of contracting cholera. REEL 7 Continues: description of symptoms; weight loss; drinking salt water; transfer to cholera compound; attitude to survival; being carried to Kanyu No 1 Camp; treatment for cholera; memories of 22nd birthday, 2/8/1943; story of tin of bully beef; attitude of Japanese captors to cholera patients; medical supplies; injections; attitude to recovery and mortality rate; transferred to Tarsao Camp for medical treatment; conditions in hospital; attitude to death; treatment by Japanese captors; story of signet ring; making and selling coffee; morale in camp; transfer to Kinsayok Camp and duties in cookhouse; fishing. REEL 8 Continues: further details of conditions in Tarsao Camp; recreational activities; wrestling matches with Japanese guards; problem of scorpion bites; examples of Australian prisoner of war humour; nicknames for Japanese guards; amusing story of roll call; learning Japanese numbers; death of friends in camp; burial of dead; religious services and chaplains; topics of conversation including cricket; communication with family; description of rations; type of rice; supplementing rations; duties in cookhouse; preparation of food; story of elephant breaking loose. REEL 9 Continues: daily routine and duties as cook; reason for relaxation of 'speedo' regime; state of health; importance of personal hygiene; use of numbers in serving food; attitude of prisoners of war to cooks; sugar and salt supplies; trading with Thai civilians; washing cooking pots; reason for use of chillis in rice; appreciation of jungle and wildlife; opinion of medical officer Captain Philip Millard. REEL 10 Continues: awareness of progress of war; transfer to Tardan Camp and duties in cookhouse; damage to cookhouse in air raid; attitude to Allied bombing of Burma-Thailand Railway; story of removal of teeth with pliers; communication with home; summary of movements to other camps and work duties; contracting malaria; story of liberation by American forces, 8/1945; food supplies; reaction to end of Second World War, 15/8/1945 and celebrations. REEL 11 Continues: Aspects of period in Singapore, Malaya, 1945: return to Singapore, 10/1945; memories of Red Cross nurses; living conditions in Singapore; reaction to liberation; attitude to period as prisoner of war; opinion of defence of Singapore, 1/1942-2/1942; attitude towards Japanese treatment of prisoners of war; recurring nightmares about experiences; journey from Singapore to Australia; eating chocolate; effects of cholera on diet. Post-war life and employment in Australia: problem of adjusting to civilian life; demobilisation and marriage, 12/1945; weight loss. REEL 12 Continues: attitude towards Japanese; reaction to dropping of atomic bombs on Japan, 8/1945; question of talking about experiences; reflections on period of military service and as prisoner of war; attitude to reconciliation with Japanese; effects of captivity on health.