Description
Object description
Australian NCO served with 2/4th Machine Gun Bn, 8th Australian Infantry Div in Singapore, Malaya, 1/1942-2/1942; prisoner of war in Changi Camp, Adam Park Camp and Sime Road Camp, Singapore, Malaya, on Burma-Thailand Railway, aboard SS Rashin Maru during voyage from Singapore, Malaya to Moji, Japan, Hiroshima No 3-D, Yamane Camp and Hiroshima No 2-B, Niihama in Japan, 2/1942-8/1945
Content description
REEL 1 Aspects of period as NCO with 2/4th Machine Gun Bn, 8th Australian Infantry Div in Singapore, Malaya, 1/1942-2/1942 story of surrender and capture by Imperial Japanese Army troops, 15/2/1942; confiscation of personal possessions; behaviour of Imperial Japanese Army troops towards prisoners of war. Recollections of period as prisoner of war in Changi Camp, Adam Park Camp and Sime Road Camp, Singapore, Malaya, 2/1942-3/1943: march to Changi Camp, 2/1942; sight of corpses in streets; morale; reaction to surrender of Singapore, 15/2/1942; accommodation in house; living conditions; rations; concerts; problem of boredom; discipline; personal hygiene; degree of contact with Japanese captors; physical exercise; move to Adam Park Camp; accommodation; supplementing rations; religious beliefs; description of work building road around golf course; methods of sabotaging work; duties with rescue committee.
REEL 2 Continues: attitude to being prisoners of war and attempting to escape; punishments by Japanese captors; relations with Imperial Japanese Army guards; daily routine; learning Morse Code; nature of work in office; recreational activities; pay; tobacco; opinion of rations; weight loss; bartering with local civilians; communication with home; awareness of progress of war; state of health; medical facilities; opinion of living conditions in Changi and Adam Park Camps; marching competitions; educational and recreational activities; concert parties; awareness of conditions on Burma-Thailand Railway; Recollections of period as prisoner of war on Burma-Thailand Railway, 3/1943-6/1944: transfer with Force D from Changi Camp to Burma-Thailand railway, 3/1943; description of journey to Kanchanburi Camp, Thailand.
REEL 3 Continues: description of Kanchanburi Camp; march to Tarsao Camp; march to Kanyu I Camp; nature of work drilling railway cuttings; workload; danger of work; daily routine and working hours; rations; description of work carrying logs; physical condition and illness; description of conditions in Kanyu II Camp; clothing and footwear; punishments; relations with Imperial Japanese Guards; attitude to survival; importance of comradeship; effects of malaria.
REEL 4 Continues: problem of malnutrition; treatment for ulcers; memories of medical officer Captain Philip Millard; beatings with bamboo sticks received from Imperial Japanese Army guards; opinion of Imperial Japanese Army guards; problem of lice and worms; reaction to death of prisoners of war; burials; cholera outbreaks; importance of religious beliefs; church services; question of sabotaging work; attitude to treatment by Japanese captors; opinion of Korean guards serving with Imperial Japanese Army; nicknames for Imperial Japanese Army guards.
REEL 5 Continues: contracting malaria and treatment in hospital at Chungkai Camp; living conditions; volunteering for work on wood cutting party; supplying officers' mess with wood in exchange for food; story of donating blood for dying friend; medical facilities; treatment for malaria; selection to be transfer to work in Japan; physical condition; journey from Thailand to Singapore, Malaya in cattle trucks, 6/1944; memories of Buddhist temples and statues; living conditions for officers; period in transit at to Changi Camp, 6/1944-7/1944. Aspects of voyage aboard SS Rashin Maru from Singapore, Malaya to Moji, Japan, 4/7/1944-8/9/1944; living conditions on board; rations.
REEL 6 Continues: sleeping arrangements; duties aboard ship; washing facilities; United States Navy submarine attacks on convoy; recreational activities; story of being caught in typhoon; description of latrine; opinion of Japanese sailors; daily routine and duties; story of collecting flies; arrival in Moji, Japan, 8/9/1944. Aspects of period as prisoner of war in Hiroshima No 3-D Camp, Yamane and Hiroshima No 2-B, Niihama Camp, Japan, 9/1944-8/1945: story of being marched through streets and hostile reaction of Japanese civilians in Moji; description of journey to Hiroshima No 3-D Camp, Yamane; accommodation; description of work in mine; shifts; living conditions; clothing; attitude to Allied bombing raids; concerts; food parcels; washing facilities; description of work on wharf at docks at Hiroshima No 2-B, Niihama Camp.
REEL 7 Continues: story of Japanese engineer; use of clandestine illicit radio; reaction to news of dropping of atomic bombs on Japan, 8/1945; story of United States Army Air Force air dropping supplies; celebrations of surrender; Imperial Japanese guards abandonment of Hiroshima No 2-B, Niihama Camp; liberation by American forces; duties writing medical histories of prisoners of war; treatment aboard United States Navy hospital ship USS Sanctuary and opinion of nurses; story of journey back to Australia via Philippines; problem of worms and treatment; flight to Australia; attitude to freedom.
REEL 8 Continues: Aspects of post-war life and employment in Australia: reunion with family; adjustment to civilian life; attitude of civilians to former prisoners of war; question of discussing wartime experiences; reunions; reflections on wartime experiences; attitude to reconciliation with Japanese.