Description
Object description
British instrument maker served with 58 Sqdn, RAF at Linton on Ouse, GB, 1940; served with 36 and 205 Sqdn, RAF in Singapore, Malaya and Indonesia, 1941-1942. POW of Japanese in Java, Singapore and Kyushu Island, Japan, 1942-1945
Content description
REEL 1 Recollections of background in Wood Green, Alexandra Palace and Edmonton, London, 1921-1940: family background and social circumstances; education; sporting and Boy Scouts activities; interest in aviation and visits to Hendon Air Displays; work as fitter in taxi garage, 1937-1938; work as trainee diamond cutter at Hatton Gardens, 1938-1939; reactions to outbreak of war, 3/9/1939; fathers war service, 1914-1918; Anderson shelter; gas mask; blackout; activities with Lee Valley motorcycle club and grass track racing; recreations including pubs and dance halls; background to joining RAF Volunteer Reserve, 3/1940. Kitting out at Cardington, 3/1940. Recollections of basic training at Initial Training Wing, RAF, Morecombe, 3/1940-4/1940: billets; drill; PT; preparing for kit inspections; relationship with recruits, instructors and officers. Recollections of training as instrument maker at Training College, Cranwell, 4/1940-8/1940: course on maintenance of gyroscopic Mark XIV Bomb Sight.
REEL 2 Continues: courses on maintenance of gyroscopic Mark XIV Bomb Sight and automatic pilot; 'blind flying panel' standard instruments; nature of course and qualification as aircraftsman 2nd class. Recollections of conditions of service, lifestyle and daily routine during period as instrument maker with Instrument Section, 58 Sqdn, RAF at Linton on Ouse, 8/1940-12/1940: initial periods at Detling and Manston, 8/1940, including refuelling fighters and replenishing oxygen bottles; German air raids; reception; promotion to aircraftsman 1st class; food rations; checking Whitley instruments on return from raids including foot injury from falling bomb, test flight, use of Form 700 and replacement of faulty instruments; nature of Whitley; acting as volunteer rear gunner including use of Browning machine guns and rear turret controls; story of propaganda leaflet night raids over Berlin and Cologne, Germany including briefing, take off, changing dynamo brushes, flying kit, effects of cold, question of German night fighters, dropping leaflets and debriefing; relationship with air crew.
REEL 3 Continues: reactions to casualties; story of replacing oil pressure gauge on Manchester; embarkation leave prior to posting to Far East. Voyage aboard Empress of Australia to Singapore, 12/1940-12/1942: route; conditions U-Boat threat; question of attack by Vichy French aircraft; crossing line ceremony; visit ashore at Cape Town, South Africa. Recollections of periods with 36 and 205 Sqdn, RAF at Seletar, Singapore, 2/1941-3/1942: nature of Wildebeest and lack of duties; test flights; barrack accommodation and Tamil servant; replacing tropical kit with tailored uniforms; detachment to 205 Sqdn; nature of Catalina and long distance reconnaissance flights; working on instruments; recreations; relationship with Straits Chinese civilians; Japanese air raid, 7/12/1941; move with 36 Sqdn to Kota Bahru, Eastern Malaysia, 12/1941; Japanese landings on Malaya; lorry journey back to Seletar; failure of Wildebeest operations; Japanese invasion of Singapore; requisition of SS Perak by RAF and voyage to Sumatra; question of seasickness; setting up airfield at Bandoeng, Sumatra; final air operations; Japanese air raids; voyage aboard Perak to Java; retreat following Japanese invasion; taking up defensive positions with Ghurkha unit in village.
REEL 4 Continues: reconnaissance on motorcycle; stealing Dutch motorcycle; search for boat; instructions from Dutch soldiers to surrender, 8/3/1941; initial treatment by Japanese soldiers. Recollections of period as POW at Kalidjata, Java, 3/1942-8/1942: work to extend airfield; hut accommodation; food; skin diseases; daily routine; question of escape; opinion of senior British officers; relationship with prisoners and Japanese guards; latrines; dysentery attacks; question of using money; voyage to Batavia. Period on airfield at Mackasoni, Batavia 8/1942-10/1942. Voyage aboard Singapor Maru to Singapore, 18/10/1942-22/10/1942: cold conditions; attack of pleurisy. Period at Changi POW Camp, Singapore, 10/1942-1/1942: nature of camp and conditions; Sikh guards; minimal work. Voyage to Nagasaki, Japan, 27/11/1942-4/12/1942. Recollections of period as POW at No 2 POW Camp, Fukuoka, Kyushu Island, Japan, 12/1942-8/1945: hut accommodation; food and cookhouse.
REEL 5 Continues: prior malaria and beri beri attacks at Java; working parties in Kawanami dockyard; relationship with Royal Navy prisoners; latrines; punishments; daily routine; question of smoking; malnutrition; Red Cross parcels; visit of Irish Red Cross delegation; Japanese naval guards; treatment of and relationship with Japanese civilian workers; fatalities and question of survival; water supply; importance of humour; US air raids on shipyards; sabotage of ships built in drydock; Japanese reaction to US bombing; lack of information on progress of war; learning simple Japanese and relationship with Japanese civilians; view of US air raids and strafing attack on camp; working party in coal mines; air raids shelters in shipyard; US atomic bomb attack on Nagasaki, 9/8/1945; ignorance of cause of explosion and cancellation of working parties; disappearance of Japanese guards; issue of food; new of end of war, 8/1945; state of health; US air supply drops; arrival of US Navy; visit to Nagasaki.
REEL 6 Continues: medical with American doctors; signing official secrets act over atomic bomb experiences. Voyage aboard Chenanga to Okinawa, 9/1945: conditions; effects of typhoon; state of Okinawa after fighting. Flight to Manila, Philippines, 19/9/1945: refusal to attend Gracie Fields concert; absence of duties. Voyage aboard HMS Implacable to Vancouver, Canada, 9/1945-10/1945: question of duties; demonstration of firepower; question of refusal of visit ashore at Pearl Harbour; opinion of naval officers. Train journey to Halifax, Canada, 10/1945. Voyage aboard Isle de France to GB, 10/1945-11/1945. Period prior to demobilisation, 1/1946: reception as Japanese POW; kitting out; clash with MPs; reception from family during leave; demobilisation. Post-war career: story of meeting future wife; return to work as diamond cutter; medical effects of POW experience including malaria; question of contacts with old comrades; attitude to Japanese.
