The Evacuation of Singapore to the Prison Camps of Sumatra
The Evacuation of Singapore to the Prison Camps of Sumatra

Author: Judy Balcombe

Publisher: Pen and Sword Military

Published: 2023-12-30

Total Pages: 202

ISBN-13: 1399067192

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The Evacuation of Singapore to the Prison Camps of Sumatra aims to describe the events prior to, during and after the Fall of Singapore and the ways in which former prisoners are remembered on Bangka Island today. It is the product of many years of detailed historical research, interviews with camp survivors and personal experiences discovering and locating the former Japanese civilian prison camp sites of Bangka Island and Southern Sumatra. Judy's aim has been to compile an accurate description of the fate of evacuees from Singapore who were bombed and killed in the South China Sea and Bangka Strait or imprisoned in harsh Japanese civilian prison camps. Many families have not known the fate of their relatives until contacting the author through the Muntok Peace Museum website http://muntokpeacemuseum.org. The Peace Museum was established by prisoners’ families in 2015. The author has also described her many visits to Bangka Island and Sumatra in detail so others may follow in her footsteps and know that their relatives who were imprisoned and died during WW2 are now remembered very respectfully in the small town of Muntok. Annual Memorial Services are held each February 16, attended by families and the Australian, New Zealand and British Embassies. All royalties to this book will be donated to the Muntok Red Cross in memory of the prisoners.

The Evacuation of Singapore to the Prison Camps of Sumatra
The Evacuation of Singapore to the Prison Camps of Sumatra

Author: Judy Balcombe

Publisher: Pen and Sword Military

Published: 2023-12-30

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 1399067176

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The Evacuation of Singapore to the Prison Camps of Sumatra aims to describe the events prior to, during and after the Fall of Singapore and the ways in which former prisoners are remembered on Bangka Island today. It is the product of many years of detailed historical research, interviews with camp survivors and personal experiences discovering and locating the former Japanese civilian prison camp sites of Bangka Island and Southern Sumatra. Judy's aim has been to compile an accurate description of the fate of evacuees from Singapore who were bombed and killed in the South China Sea and Bangka Strait or imprisoned in harsh Japanese civilian prison camps. Many families have not known the fate of their relatives until contacting the author through the Muntok Peace Museum website http://muntokpeacemuseum.org. The Peace Museum was established by prisoners’ families in 2015. The author has also described her many visits to Bangka Island and Sumatra in detail so others may follow in her footsteps and know that their relatives who were imprisoned and died during WW2 are now remembered very respectfully in the small town of Muntok. Annual Memorial Services are held each February 16, attended by families and the Australian, New Zealand and British Embassies. All royalties to this book will be donated to the Muntok Red Cross in memory of the prisoners.

By Eastern Windows
By Eastern Windows

Author: William H. McDougall Jr.

Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing

Published: 2018-12-05

Total Pages: 530

ISBN-13: 1789126673

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First published in 1949, in By Eastern Windows author William H. McDougall recalls his experiences of his three years spent in prison camps in Sumatra. “By Eastern Windows is filled with stories of the heroism and sacrifice of priests, doctors and simple men, as well as of the disgraceful behaviour of deadbeats and chiselers. It is written throughout in a spirit of humility and humble faith. It packs a wallop...”—Orville Prescott, New York Times “...By Eastern Windows...is a book that deals with the spirit of mankind at war and is directed to the spirit of mankind in peace. Everyone who reads this book upon completion surely must agree with the author that ‘there is no possible disarmament except in the hearts of men.’”—Grace S. Nutley, New York Eagle “...It is an amazing tale with humor lighting tragedy and heroism marking what might have been the sheerest of animal existences. By Eastern Windows is perhaps the best book of its sort to date in that it is neither so objectively done that it misses the ever-present human element, nor so sentimentally reported that it fails to show both sides of the Japanese captors as they went somewhat bewilderedly about their tasks in a losing fight.”—T.M.W., Boston Traveler

A Child Prisoner of War
A Child Prisoner of War

Author: Christopher Terence Ryan

Publisher: Independently Published

Published: 2021-10-24

Total Pages: 108

ISBN-13:

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An account of my father, Thomas Ryan's experiences as a young teenage seaman with Canadian Pacific ships during WW2; his being sunk in the Atlantic by a German bomber; rescued by the Royal Navy's HMS Tatar; then sunk again off Singapore by the Japanese on troopship RMS Empress of Asia and his subsequent time as a POW in Changi and Sime Road camps until the war ended. His return to education in the secret prison camp school, his working in the camp hospital, and the awakening of a desire to study medicine. HIs post-war enrolment in Liverpool University and subsequent qualification as a medical practitioner.

By Eastern Windows
By Eastern Windows

Author: William H McDougall

Publisher: Uncommon Valor Press

Published: 2023-12-24

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13:

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By Eastern Windows, first published in 1949, is the fascinating, inspirational account of correspondent William McDougall, captured by the Japanese while reporting from Sumatra during World War II. McDougall would spend the next 3-1/2 years in various internment camps, and was able to secretly record his experiences and thoughts in a diary. His reports of Japanese cruelty, severe hunger and starvation, diseases such as malaria, dysentery, and beri-beri, and the death of many internees are chilling testaments to the struggle to survive the brutal conditions of the camps. His book also details the activities of the men to survive, both the good-the compassion, medical care, and sharing of food, for example-and the bad such as stealing, usury, and beatings. Following the war, his faith strengthened by surviving a war-time ship sinking and the internment camps, McDougall would go on to become a Catholic priest (later monsignor). He worked on many community issues in Salt Lake City until his death in 1988.

The Changi Book
The Changi Book

Author: Lachlan Grant

Publisher: NewSouth

Published: 2015-08-01

Total Pages: 352

ISBN-13: 1742247377

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The story of Changi, told by those who lived through it. In the tradition of The Anzac Book comes this fascinating collection of accounts of life in the notorious Changi prison camp. Changi is synonymous with suffering, hardship and the Australian prisoner-of-war experience in WWII. It is also a story of ingenuity, resourcefulness and survival. Containing essays, cartoons, paintings, and photographs created by prisoners of war, The Changi Book provides a unique view of the camp: life-saving medical innovation, machinery and tools created from spare parts and scrap, black-market dealings, sport and gambling, theatre productions, and the creation of a library and university. Seventy years after its planned publication, material for The Changi Book was rediscovered in the Australian War Memorial archives. It appears here for the first time along with insights from the Memorial’s experts. ‘A moving insiders’ account of life in Changi.’ —Peter FitzSimons ‘A fresh perspective on Changi: illuminating stories from the inside.’ —Les Carlyon

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: 192

ISBN-13: 1526771144

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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.

Escape from Singapore
Escape from Singapore

Author: Brig Jasbir Singh

Publisher: Lancer Publishers

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 154

ISBN-13: 9781935501206

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While it is the duty of an army to maintain enemy soldiers in prisoner-of-war (POW) camps, it is also the right of every POW soldier, irrespective of rank and nationality, to escape and to engage the enemy in whatever method possible. And when the stakes are as big as the Second World War, the stage is set for any challenge that a soldier may have to face& and overcome. This is a little known story of three young officers of the Indian Army, who escaped from a Japanese POW camp in Singapore and made their way through Malaya (now Malaysia), Thailand and Burma (now Myanmar) to reach India, over a period of six months. Travelling through a gruelling tract of arid forests, with a forever depleted stock of provisions and always in the constant fear of coming face to face with enemy forces, these young officers displayed raw courage and bravery in the face of complete annihilation.

Far East Air Operations 1942-1945
Far East Air Operations 1942-1945

Author: John Grehan

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Published: 2014-09-30

Total Pages: 270

ISBN-13: 1783462124

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Despatches in this volume include Air Operations in Burma and Bay of Bengal 1 January to 22 May 1942 by General Wavell, the despatch on air operations in South-East Asia November 1943 to May 1944, by Air Chief Marshal Sir R.E.C. Peirse, the despatch on air operations in South-East Asia from June 1944 to May 1945, by Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Park, and the despatch on air operations in South East Asia between May 1945 and September 1945, by Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Park.??This unique collection of original documents will prove to be an invaluable resource for historians, students and all those interested in what was one of the most significant periods in British military history.