Description
Object description
Australian private served with 2/3rd Machine Gun Bn Australian Imperial Force in Middle East and Java, 1941-1942; POW in Java and on Burma-Thailand Railway, 1942-1945
Content description
REEL 1: Background in Western Australia, 1914-1939: family life in Three Springs; employment on farm; attitude to Britain and Royal Family; effects of Depression; memory of 1936 Olympics; opinion of Hitler; reaction to outbreak of war, 9/1939; reason for volunteering; pre-war training with 25th Light Horse, Citizens Militia Force; attitude to appeasement policy; description of enlistment with Australian Imperial Force; medical examination. Aspects of training with 2/3rd Machine Gun Bn Australian Imperial Force in Australia, 1940-1941: comparison of Militia and Australian Imperial Force; uniforms; basic training at Northam Camp; pay; leave; newsreels; embarkation leave.
REEL 2 Continues: reaction of mother; send-off at railway station; description of train journey to Perth; reaction to Dunkirk evacuation, 5/1940; attitude to role as machine gunner; embarkation aboard Aquitania. Aspects of voyage aboard Aquitania to Egypt, 1941: opinion of accommodation and food; night guard duty; daily routine aboard ship; recreational activities; memories of Colombo; disembarked Port Said, Egypt. Aspects of operations with 2/3rd Machine Gun Bn Australian Imperial Force in Egypt and Palestine, 1941: posted to camp near Hill 95, Gaza, Palestine; recreational activities; relations with local civilians; problem of theft of rifles from camp; opinion of Italians and Germans.
REEL 3 Continues: Aspects of operations with 2/3rd Machine Gun Bn Australian Imperial Force in Syria, 1941-1942: story of tattoo; attitude to military life; opinion of officers; role in operations against Vichy French along Litani River; reaction to being under fire; wounded in hand by shrapnel; use of artillery and tanks; reason for Syrian campaign; capture of French Foreign Legion prisoners; role of machine gunners; location of 2/3rd Bn; returned to Palestine for medical treatment; posted back to training camp; story of fight with civilians in Tel Aviv; posted to monastery in Lebanon.
REEL 4 Continues: pay; communication with family; daily routine and duties; reaction to German invasion of Russia, 6/1941; opinion of Japanese; memories of Christmas, 1941; sailed to Java aboard SS Orcades; reaction to fall of Singapore, 2/1942. Aspects of operations with 2/3rd Machine Gun Bn Australian Imperial Force in Java, 1942: disembarked in Batavia, 19/Feb/1942; problem of lack of weapons and equipment; surrender of Dutch forces after Japanese invasion, 28/Feb/1942; weapons and ammunition; story of attempting to escape from Java; taken prisoner by Japanese; first impressions of Japanese soldiers. Aspects of period as POW in Java and Singapore, 1942: attitude to being POW; description of Bicycle Camp, Batavia; contracted dysentery; opinion of living conditions and food; daily routine and activities; working parties; opinion of concert parties; memories of POW singer.
REEL 5 Continues: recalls lyrics of popular song; transferred to Changi camp, Singapore, 10/1942; reputation of Australian troops; opinion of Weary Dunlop and other doctors; transferred to work on Burma-Thailand Railway, 10/1942. Aspects of period as POW on Burma-Thailand Railway, 1942-1945: description of work on railway; 'hammer and tap' work quotas; story of ulcer and amputation of leg; attitude to loss of leg; description of two operations to amputate leg above knee; morale in hospital; cigarettes; recreational activities in hospital; use of crutches; unpredictable nature of guards; nicknames for guards; beatings by guards and death of POWs; opinion of food in hospital; helping other patients.
REEL 6 Continues: question of POWs being executed; end of war and liberation, 8/1945; weight loss; story of meeting Lady Mountbatten; further treatment of amputated leg in Bangkok hospital; description of return journey to Australia. Aspects of period in Australia, 1945: reunion with family; attitude of civilians to POWs; question of guilt for being captured; adjustment to civilian life. Post-war life and employment: problem of artificial leg; reflections on period of military service and as POW; attitude to reconciliation with Japanese; importance of comradeship.