大象传媒

Continued from Bob's story (part one)

17/2/42 - When daylight came I started to look for help and got right round the island and over the top of it. It was like an attoll there was no water but I did see a deserted ham-pong. Returned to the beach, the sun is terrible, just about 5 o'clock a Perahu comes close to the beach and I shout to the crew of it but when they see me they paddle away, so cursed them as well as I could in their own tongue. It gets dark again so I try to sleep once more but don't have much success.

18/02/42 - Next day I try and get to the next island which is not very far from this one and as there is a sand bar nearly joining the two, I get across fairly easily. The day before I had not seen the bar owing to it being covered with the tide. This place is also deserted and can see no sign of water whilst coming back I see water running from a rock I sample it thinking at first it is water that the tide has left behind I find however that first I can't taste it as my tongue is like leather. After a few small samples my tongue softens and I find it is genuine water. I fill up a cigarette tin I've with me and try to find its source. I don't find it so return to the beach and on doing so see a Perahu approaching I shout to it and it comes in and takes me aboard. they take me to an island which they called Ko-Ko and put me in a store. I told them of the float and asked if they would send out help, they sent out three Perahues.

19/02/42 - When they returned the following morning they said that they could find no trace of it. they said however that there was about 40 Europeans at island Siniang. we reached it at 8 o'clock the following morning after sailing all day. we stopped at one or two places on the way for food. At Siniang I met a Molay Jeleg. Off the Kuala, there was also some Raft people and several women. There after one days stay at Siniang was taken by power boat to Singkef island at that place there was R.N. officers and men and they had started a ferry service to Sumatra. We crossed to Sumatra and followed the Indragin river in boats and on foot until we got to a place named Telok from where we went in trucks to Samaloentok, the sailhead and thence to Padang on the west coast. The journey took us close on 3 weeks. We had no assistance from the Dutch, whom, if anything tried to hinder us, we had no rations so just lived on what we had given off the natives. We were in Padang for a few days before the Japs came in and when we tried to get away from Padang the Dutch stopped us with machine guns. This was before the japs came in. The 17th of March was the day the Japs took us over and we were handed over like a bunch of sheep. We stayed in Sumatra for 2 months and then went on to Burma, first to make airfields then to build a railway from Thoul mein to Bangkok-Siam. It took 18 months to build and had to have constant repairs done to it. We had 500 men in our particular group but when we were released had less than 200 still alive. Our food consisted of rice and a watery stew and some times we could not get anything to stew. The stew consisted of leaves and turmeric root and on very rare occassions got meat and sweet potatoes. As the death rates increased our work was also increased. Sick men were sent out to work even though they were unable to do anything to help. we started off with 1.2 cubic metres digging of earth. It had to be carried up out of cuttings and used to make the embankments. We carried it sacks slung between a pole and worn on the shoulders, before the first year was out the task per day, per man was 2.5 cubic metres. During the rainy season the earth was washed away almost as fast as we dumped it and we were working up to the knees in mud. In the wet season tropical ulcers broke out and killed many. Most deaths were due to Dysenterie and malaria, other diseases very prevalent were - Beri-Beri, pellagra Scabies and everyone has malnutrition. In one camp of 500 men where I was there was only 8 fit men and as the camp was completely surrounded by water we had to swim to work. The non-swimmers were taken across on bamboo rafts and food was brought into camp the same way. We had a base camp at Jamakan from which we were supposed to get canteen supplies. It was about 150 kilometres away so by the time it reached us it was rotten and about half of the stuff was pilfered on the way up so we got very little. It usually consisted of eggs, tobacco and banannas and sometimes peanuts. The price was so high it was impossible to buy more than one egg without going short of tobacco. Bannas were fairly cheap, peanuts cost a weeks pay for a milk tin full. If one possessed any clothing it could be sold for a good price. At the latter part of the war, new shorts and shirts brought about 20 dollers a piece, blankets about 40-60. 拢1 notes could also be sold at good prices. The natives had plenty of money but nothing to spend it on. The scenery in some parts was very beautiful, particularly on the river there was plenty of fish but no tiral to fish for it. In the jungle we did not see much wildlife. I did see a tiger and elephants, snakes were abundant. we caught and ate them. the flesh,if fried,tastes like chicken. In Siam we saw peacocks and deer in hundreds. At a place called Taikalin which is only 98 kilometres from Bangkok the scenery is equal to the best in the world, on the river there are trees covered in red blossom and when the sun is setting they are a wonderful sight. There is also trees that grow a white flower which has the finest scent I've ever smelt. The natives girls weave the flowers in their hair. The Burmese native is very dirty and cowardly and does not seem to like work. The Siamese is very independent, a hard worker and proud of his appearance and is fairly clean. The hut that both races live in are made of altap and bamboo. The house is a one roomed affair built on stilts. he sleeps on a mat made of rice straw. he has his chickens and pigs underneath the house and the smell is terrible. The children are in the nude most of the time only wearing a string around the stomach. Their religion is Bhuddist and they have temples in the most out of the way places possible.

This account of events has been taken from a note book written in pencil by my father. Some times it was difficult to read what had been written because of the handwritting, the use of abreviations and because of the sharpness/bluntness of the pencil. I hope that none of this has caused offence to anyone. I don't know what became of any of the other people mentioned in this account.

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