大象传媒

This story was submitted to The People's War site by Helen Oram of Scotland csv and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

PROFILE OF ALISTAIR KYNOCH URQUHART

I was born on 8th September, 1919 at Newtonhill, a small fishing village 10 miles SW of Aberdeen.

I was educated at Broomhill Primary School and Robert Gordon's College, Aberdeen up to the age of 14.

I left college for family reasons and got a job as an office boy in a Plumbers' Merchants and Electrical Wholesalers at a wage of 5 shillings per week.

Whilst then working in the warehouse I was involved in the Boy Scout Movement, reaching the honour of a "King's Scout".

I took part in all sports, football, rugby, cricket, tennis, swimming, cycling, athletics and gymnastics, so I was super fit by the time I was conscripted on 23rd September 1939.

My favourite pastime was ballroom dancing and even at 86, still is to this day.

The World War Two changed my whole life as after six weeks training at the Gordon Highlanders barracks, Bridge of Don, Aberdeen, I was selected for a draft to join the 2nd Battalion Gordon Highlanders in Singapore, arriving there just before Christmas 1939.

1939-1941. I served in the regiment until early 1941 when I was seconded to the General Headquarters, stationed at Fort Canning, Singapore, as Garrison Adjutant's clerk.

I entered and won a Singapore Amateur Ballroom Championship 1941 at the Happy World Ballroom.

8th December 1941. The Japanese bombed Singapore and attacked Malaya from the Siam border. The biggest and most embarrassing defeat in British history.

Singapore fell on 15 February 1942 and along with 30,000 others, I was taken prisoner by the Japanese Army.

In September 1942 I was sent to build a railway in Thailand under horrendous conditions. I was given a minimum of food, just plain rice and boiled water. We were riddled with diseases, ie:-dysentery, malaria, beri-beri, ringworm, scabies, tropical ulcers, dengue fever and all sorts of bugs. I was unable to wash. There were no medical supplies of any description.

From September 1942-1944 I suffered two years of hell and tortures in camps. We built (and sabotaged) the first wooden bridge over the River Kwai.

In August 1944 we were sent back to Singapore in steel wagons, another horrendous experience.

From there we were put on to ships. We were stowed in the hold and battened down. We were sunk by an American submarine in the the South China Sea. I survived for 5 days and nights on a raft.

I was picked up by a Japanese whaling ship. Battered and bruised, I reached Omuta POW camp, 12 miles from Nagasaki.

There I was given a change of labour - I worked in the coal mines until the dropping of the Atom Bomb on Nagasaki on 9th August,1945.

In late August 1945 I was released by the American Navy. I weighed 5 stones 12 lbs, a living skeleton. I had my first wash/shower in three and a half years.

I boarded ship at Nagasaki and sailed via Manilla and Hawaii to San Francisco, then travelled overland by train to New York. Thence I sailed on the Queen Mary to Southampton. I finally arrived at my home town, Aberdeen on 22nd November 1945.

To this day I have suffered untold misery and pain, physically and mentally. But never once did the British Army ever de-brief or counsel me.

Yes indeed we were the "Forgotten and Disgraced Army".

TRIBUTE IN HONOUR OF MY COMRADES

Many of my comrades perished following the sinking of the Japanese convoy by an American submarine.

Following this, I am moved to show below a poem written by me in honour of my comrades who perished that sultry tropical night in the South China Sea.

SURVIVAL

A real sultry tropical night,
No stars to make the heaven bright,
No breeze to stir the heavy air,
You could feel a danger lurking there.
We must have looked a frightful sight
All crowded forward, awfully tight.

Some cramped up in the hold below
Worse than we would a cargo stow.
Some would moan or curse or swear.
Others would only sit and stare.
When suddenly the stillness broke,
The few that were sleeping soon awoke.

An awful tearing, rending sound,
As though the ship had gone aground.
That we were hit there was no doubt
And a flare from the bridge was soon shot out.
Warning the others a sub was near,
And to alter course and then get clear.

Suspense was short. Some hoped in vain
That the ship would right itself again.
But no. Those on deck would easy see
The ship a total loss would be.
An attempt to lower the boats was made,
But for us, no thought or heed was paid.

Once more under our own command
The lads on deck were really grand.
Flinging rafts and floats into the sea
When soon the order to jump would be.
The men below waited, calm and steady.
No panic, no rush, and all was made ready.

Some started to jump as it was quite clear
The end of the ship was very near.
Orderly, they started to come up the stairs.
Strange, but most of them in pairs.
The water was over the stern by now
With quite a grade from aft to bow.

Some lads were still waiting to go over the side
As under the water she began to slide.
Many a man said a silent prayer,
While many prayed to which praying was rare.
May God bless the souls of the men in their graves
Who found rest and peace that night in the waves.

And so, with humble contrite heart
Let us therefore do our part
And keep a memory of this night
To those brave men their glory and their plight.
Thank you God. To those who survived
To live another day, freedom was the prize.

So many prisoners lost their chance of survival in the "cruel sea", having already survived the unbelievable horrors, cruelty and degradation whilst slaving on the "Infamous Railway of Death" in Thailand during the period 1942-1944.

How heartbreaking it was for myself, but it must have been much more so, for the relatives of these 2,400 prisoners who perished that fateful night.

My wish is to do all I can to let it be known to nations, governments, families and friends, the real truth of our plight during the incarceration from 15th February 1942 to 15th August 1945 in Singapore, Thailand and Japan.

This story links to Alistair's story "Survival" - A4443077 and to another photo of Alistair, who was voted Learn Direct Scotland Champion Learner 2005, at A8684355.

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