Description
Object description
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 Camp, Singapore, Malaya, Burma-Thailand Railway and Thailand, 2/1942-8/1945
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Moora, Western Australia, 1917-1939: family; effects of Depression; employment in grocery store; daily life and living conditions; family background; attitude towards United Kingdom and British Empire; opinion of role of Australia in First World War; attitude towards Adolf Hitler and Nazis; memories of Berlin Olympics, Germany, 1936; awareness of political developments in Europe; opinion of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain; three years service with Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve at Fremantle; attitude to military life and discipline; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939. Aspects of enlistment and training with 2/4th (Machine Gun) Bn, 8th Australian Infantry Div in Australia, 1940-1941: enlistment with Australian Imperial Force, 1/1940; training at Northam Camp; physical condition; medical examination; reaction to Dunkirk Evacuation, 5/1940-6/1940.
REEL 2 Continues: opinion of Lieutenant-Colonel Michael Anketell; importance of physical training; route marches; description of Vickers Machine Gun; nature of training as machine gunner; role in gun team; method of stripping machine gun in dark; rate of fire; use of cross fire; Vickers Machine Gun firing exercise; reputation of machine gunners; further training in South Australia and Darwin, 10/1941; opinion of German Army troops and Imperial Japanese Army troops; propaganda; censorship of letters. Aspects of voyage from Australia to Singapore, Malaya, 12/1941-1/1942: leaving Darwin, Australia, 12/1941; arrival Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea; embarkation aboard HMT Aquitania in Fremantle, Australia; reason for leave being cancelled.
REEL 3 Continues: story of going Absent Without Official Leave (AWOL) in Fremantle, Australia; return to HMT Aquitania and punishment; description of voyage from Fremantle, Australia to Singapore, Malaya, 1/1942; memories of beer; opinion of senior officers; opinion of Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Singapore strategy; comparison of British and Australian troops; arrival in Singapore, Malaya, 24/1/1942. Aspects of operations as private with 2/4th (Machine Gun) Bn, 8th Australian Infantry Div in Singapore, 24/1/1942-15/2/1942: attitude to surrender and suicide; attitude to personal morale; opinion of training received; location of positions on The Causeway.
REEL 4 Continues: description of terrain; opinion of defences in Singapore; question of wearing camouflaged uniforms; weight of Vickers Machine Gun and equipment; Imperial Japanese Army landings in vicinity of The Causeway, 2/1942; morale; reason for not being allowed to open fire on Japanese forces; story of officer; Imperial Japanese Army Air Service reconnaissance aircraft; opinion of reinforcements; Imperial Japanese Army artillery attacks; amusing story of razor blade; Japanese forces landings and advance on Singapore, 8/2/1942; unit casualties.
REEL 5 Continues: description of firing on advancing Imperial Japanese Army troops; reaction to death of friends; effects of Imperial Japanese Army mortar fire; question of personal morale during action; rations; water supplies; attitude to prospect of surrendering; sound of artillery shells; sheltering in storm drains; story of friend's premonition of death; religious beliefs; description of surrender, 15/2/1942; opinion of senior Allied commanders.
REEL 6 Continues: opinion of Imperial Japanese Army troops and equipment; attitude to surrendering; memories of thunder. Recollections of period as prisoners of war in Changi Camp and Adam Park Camp, Singapore. 2/1942-3/1943: march to Changi Camp; hostile attitude of some local civilians; opinion of Chinese population; battalion morale; further comments on Imperial Japanese Army troops; description of Selarang Barracks in Changi Camp; accommodation and sleeping arrangements; opinion of Sikh guards of Indian National Army; story of bartering for food; opinion of rations; method of cooking rations; story of joining working party in Adam Park Camp and finding food supplies.
REEL 7 Continues: description of Adam Park; opinion of accommodation and food; problem of insects; work building shrine; treatment by guards; problem of skin disease Tinea; punishments; daily routine and working hours; problem of boredom; visits to Singapore; black market activities; morale in camp; story of Imperial Japanese Army officer and sword; recreational activities; memories of Japanese American guard; discipline; importance of friends; return to Selerang Barracks in Changi Camp, 12/1942; supplementing rations; rumour of machine gunners being executed. Recollections of period as prisoner of war on Burma-Thalland Railway and Thailand, 3/1943-8/1945: train journey from Singapore, Malaya to Thailand; conditions on train; rations and eating curry in Kuala Lumpur, Malaya; arrival at Ban Pong Camp; moved to Kanchanaburi Camp; selling items to buy food.
REEL 8 Continues: problem of digestion; attached to D (Dunn) Force; description of conditions in Kanyu No 2 Camp in jungle; tented accommodation; nature of work on railway cuttings; working hours; weather conditions; treatment by Imperial Japanese Army captors; punishments; symptoms and medical treatment for beri-beri; opinion of medical officer Captain Philip Millard; working at night; sick parades; opinion of doctors; problem of ulcers and treatment; opinion of Korean guards serving with Imperial Japanese Army and nicknames; memories of Korean guard nicknamed 'Boy Bastard'; story of yaks; reaction to death of friends; examples of humorous incidents.
REEL 9 Continues: attitude to survival; story of illness and treatment in hospital camp at Chungkai; nature of work carrying logs; clothing; problem of insects; contracting dysentery; story of Australian prisoner of war from Tasmania; pattern of imprisonment in various camps in Thailand and work duties; problem of United States Army Air Force attacks on Burma-Thailand Railway; question of prisoners of war being executed by Japanese at end of Second World War; memories of burying friend; amusing story of crossing river.
REEL 10 Continues: amusing story of tiger; description of terrain and climate; post-war visits to Thailand; prior recollections of opinion of conditions in Changi Camp, Singapore; opinion of film 'Bridge on the River Kwai' (1957); importance of training in surviving period as prisoner of war; reaction to end of Second World War, 15/8/1945; story of being thanked for work by Imperial Japanese Army officer; return to Kanchanaburi Camp; physical condition of prisoners of war at end of incarceration; problem of relating experiences as prisoner of war. Post-war life and employment in Australia: marriage.
REEL 11 Continues: problem of adjusting to civilian life; nightmares; question of continuing military service; attitude to dropping of atomic bombs on Japan, 8/1945; reflections on wartime service; attitude to reconciliation with Japanese; memories of wartime comrades and reunions; opinion of Anzac Day celebrations.
REEL 12 Continues: family history; attitude to recording memories of wartime service; further reflections on wartime service.
