From Shanghai to the Burma Railway
From Shanghai to the Burma Railway

Author: Rory Laird

Publisher: Pen and Sword Military

Published: 2020-04-30

Total Pages: 200

ISBN-13: 1526771128

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A graphic record of one man’s experience in an infamous POW camp during World War II, and how he survived being forced to build the “Death Railway.” Captured after fighting in the Malayan Campaign, Richard Laird was incarcerated in Changi before being drafted as slave labor with “F” Force on the notorious Burma Railway. He was one of only 400 out of 1600 to survive Songkurai No. 2 Camp, despite disease and terrible hardship. His moving memoir begins with a rare description of ex-patriate life in 1930s Shanghai with the Sino-Japanese war raging around the European cantonments. An additional dimension to his story is the developing relationship between the author and Bobbie Coupar Patrick to whom he became engaged shortly before the fall of Singapore. Bobbie’s letters graphically described her dramatic escape to Australia and work for Force 136. They were reunited in Colombo, Ceylon and their son has been instrumental in compiling this exceptional record. Three appendices round off this superb book including the official report on the hardships and losses suffered by “F” Force. “A compelling story that deserves to be widely read.” —Firetrench

From Shanghai to the Burma Railway
From Shanghai to the Burma Railway

Author: Rory Laird

Publisher: Pen & Sword Military

Published: 2020-07-19

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 9781526771117

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Richard Laird's previously unpublished record of his wartime experience as a Japanese prisoner of war ranks among the most graphic of this shocking and deservedly popular genre.Captured after fighting in the Malayan Campaign he was incarcerated in Changi before being drafted as slave labour with 'F' Force on the notorious Burma Railway. He was one of only 400 out of 1600 to survive Songkurai No 2 Camp, despite disease and terrible hardship.His moving memoir begins with a rare description of ex-patriate life in 1930's Shanghai with the Sino-Japanese war raging around the European cantonments.An additional dimension to his story is the developing relationship between the author and Bobbie Coupar Patrick to whom he became engaged shortly before the fall of Singapore. Bobbie's letters graphically described her dramatic escape to Australia and work for Force 136. They were reunited in Colombo, Ceylon and their son has been instrumental in compiling this exceptional record.Three appendices round off this superb book including the official report on the hardships and losses suffered by 'F' Force.

Doctor Behind the Wire
Doctor Behind the Wire

Author: Jackie Sutherland

Publisher: Pen and Sword Military

Published: 2021-08-26

Total Pages: 396

ISBN-13: 1399010298

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The first complete account of the Jack and Elizabeth Ennis story—a WWII tale of love, danger, and internment in Japanese-occupied Singapore. From meeting in upcountry Malaya amid the rain forest and the orchids to their marriage in Singapore just days before it fell to the Japanese—and then through the long separation of internment—this is the story of Jack and Elizabeth Ennis’s World War II experience, told primarily through Jack’s diaries. Published here for the first time, the diaries record the daily struggles against disease, injuries, and malnutrition and also the support and camaraderie of friends and enjoyment of concerts, lectures, and sports, Ever observant, he also records details of wildlife. The inspiration for the ‘Changi Quilts,’ the story of the Girl Guide quilt (now in the Imperial War Museum) is told in Elizabeth’s words, written after the war. Elizabeth’s former employer, Robert Heatlie Scott, distinguished Far East diplomat, was also a POW in Changi, much of the time spent in solitary confinement or under interrogation by the Japanese. The individual experiences of these three are dramatic enough. Together they combine in an amazing story of courage, love, and lifelong friendship. Includes photographs

One Fourteenth of an Elephant
One Fourteenth of an Elephant

Author: Ian Denys Peek

Publisher: Random House

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 698

ISBN-13: 0553816578

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In February 1942, Singapore fell to the Japanese and Denys Peek was among the tens of thousands of British and Commonwealth soldiers and citizens taken prisoner. Eight months later, he and countless other PoWs were packed into steel goods wagons and transported by rail to Slam - their destination the massive construction project that would become infamous as the Burma Thailand Railway. He would spend the next three years in over 15 different work and 'hospital' camps on the railway, stubbornly refusing to give up in a place where over 20,000 prisoners of war (an innumerable slave labourers) met their deaths. Written with clarity, passion and a remarkable eye for detail, Denys Peek's memoir recalls not just the hardships and horrors of the railway, the daily struggle for survival, but also the comradeship, spirit and humour of the men who worked on it. It stands as a haunting, evocative and deeply moving testimony to the suffering of those who lived and died there - a salutary reminder of man's potential for inhumanity to his fellow man.