大象传媒

We had heard rumours that the Japanese were going to move us up country where there was good food and recreational facilities. On the 8th of October 1942 we left Changhi and went to the railway station where there was a train with a long line of goods trucks; we were ordered into these steel trucks, thirty men per truck.
Our train proceeded over the causeway, the doors of the railway truck were left open and we were able to see the Japanese still working off the pontoon boats, which supported the railway lines. We still did not know where we were going. We had water in our water bottles for the journey, which took over three days. We were rather cramped in these trucks, some of the lads were suffering with stomach upsets and had to revert to putting their backsides out of the door entrance to the truck as we travelled. One could imagine how hot these trucks got during the day and how cold at night. We did eventually have three, prearranged, stops on the journey, these were for food (rice) and toilet (trenches dug out of soil). Having travelled the full length of Malaya we finally arrived at our destination; Banpong, Thailand.
We marched with our kit to a base camp containing huts made of bamboo poles and atap roofing; previous contingents had been there. As this was part of the monsoon season the camp was adrift with water; the latrines had been dug too close to the huts. The huts were very long, the roof sloping to about two feet from the ground; this gave a very small amount of light with extra light visible from both open ends. Bamboo platforms were built on each side of the hut leaving a gangway about two yards wide. On the platforms split and flattened bamboo was tied down. Each man lay side by side to sleep, with a certain amount of room for their kit. These beds were infested with bed bugs and the whole area was a feeding ground for insects and mosquito鈥檚.
We did manage to get a wash here, which was a very welcome need for we had been unable to get washed since leaving Changhi. Opposite this base camp was a Buddhist temple, outside were monks in their yellow robes, carrying their bowls visiting other Thai residents, collecting their free food.
Working parties were formed; we trudged for some time over fields to an area adjoining a railway track, we were then engaged in constructing more huts, plus other tasks, returning at night to the base camp. After several days I had my first bout of tropical fever, on reporting sick to our own medical officer it was medicine then back to duties. We still had some medical supplies at that time.
The next move was from the base camp into the huts we had just built. After Banpong and Non Pladuk we then went to Kanburi where we built more huts and unloaded tools and lengths of railway lines.
Right from the start at Changhi and then the other camps, we had roll calls whereby we had to call our numbers out in Japanese. These roll calls, and sometimes hut searches, could be made without prior notice at any time of the day. Very often we were kept to attention for long periods in the heat of the day, some of the lads collapsed.
The Japanese Commander of the camp would stand upon a platform, shouting out instructions and rulings, which were translated to us by a Japanese interpreter. To supplement the Japanese guards, Korean auxiliaries were engaged to help out. The Koreans were considered, by the Japanese, to be lower in class than they, hence the Koreans were more brutal than some of the Japanese to the prisoners. These Koreans were continually beating up the POWs to show their authority.

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