大象传媒

I applied to join RN on 4th Sept 1939 and joined in January 1940.

I completed training in December 1940 and for a few weeks was on C-in-C staff awaiting draft to HMS Prince of Wales. Joined Prince of Wales in March 1940 at Rosyth. Ship then went to Scapa Flow for working up trials in May 1941 sailed in company with HMS Hood to intercept the German ships Bismark and Prinz Eugen Between Iceland and Greenland. In the ensuing battle the Hood was sunk and the Prince of Wales was damaged. This was her maiden voyage.

After repairs she took Mr Winston Churchill to Newfoundland to meet with President Roosevelt for the signing of the famous Atlantic Charter in August 1941.

Next was taking part of a convoy to Malta in September 1941 when we nearly brought the Italian navy to action.

On returning to Scapa Flow we were off again, this time we didn鈥檛 know where until we arrived in Freetown then Ceylon and finally Singapore at the beginning of December which was on a peace time age. But not for long. Early morning the 8th Dec Singapore had its first air raid. We were back in the War. Later that evening the Prince of Wales in company with HMS Repulse and four destroyers sailed to intercept a Japanese invasion convoy off the coast of Malaya.

However the force was spotted and the Admiral decided to return to Singapore but later received a message that the Japs had made a landing at Kuntaun this was not so. Heading out to open waters the force was picked up and in the ensuing battle both capital ships were sunk with heavy loss of life. With other survivors I was taken back to Singapore and was then drafted to HMS Sultan, the base depot and then on to the W/T station at Kranji.

I was here until the Japs landed on Singapore just a few miles away from the W/T station which we had to evacuate in a hurry. I eventually finished up at Fort Canning, the H/Q for Singapore and this was the last naval W/T station before Singapore fell. We evacuated the station on Friday 13th feb 1942 and I was sent aboard HMS Kuala, a small coaster taken over by the navy and as we left that night Singapore was ablaze. Next morning the Kuala lay close to a small island named Pom-Pom. However we were spotted by Jap aircraft, bombed and sunk.

There had been about 300 women, children, nurses and public works persons aboard and about 200 were killed many by machine gunfire in the water and when we got on to the island itself.

After about a week most of the survivors were taken to Sumatra and were able to get away quite a lot of us were not so lucky. About 1000 were taken Prisoners of War in a town called Padang on the west coast of Sumatra on St Patricks Day 17th March 1942.

We must have been the worst bunch of servicemen ever taken Prisoner of War, all survivors or those who had escaped the surrender of Singapore no full kit bags for us, just what we stood up in.

After about six weeks in a Dutch army barracks 500 were picked to go somewhere we didn鈥檛 know where. We went by train to Fort de Kok and were billeted in a Catholic Chapel. It was here I got my first bashing up. I can鈥檛 remember why. But leaving next morning I was able to *borrow* a fibre mat which was to be my bedding for a couple of years. We went on up to northern Sumatra to wait shipment to Burma.

Conditions in the ship were very bad - everyone being kept down in the hold for most of the trip. But worse was to come later. We arrived at Mergui in lower Burma, and were there for about seven weeks working mainly on the airstrip. Once again we were moved in a small filthy coaster to Tavoy, Here again we were employed on an airstrip and other jobs as the Japs saw fit but by this time sickness was making itself felt. Most of this was due to lack of medical supply and malnutrition, dysentery and malaria and the death list began to grow .Our next move was to be via Moulmein to a place called Thanbyuzayat which was the starting point of the now Infamous Burma/Siam railway. On the Burma side of the railway Australian and Dutch made up most of the labour force, we were the exception, the only all British unit on the Burma side and became known as The British Sumatra Battalion whose motto was to everyone else Mind Your Kit, We became a sort of a mobile unit up and down the railway sometimes digging for embankments Laying railway track, loading rails and sleepers at the railhead - any sort of work where a small unit was needed but the price was high, the food was poor and little of it, medical supplied almost nil. Now everyone suffered in some way. Dysentery, malaria, lice, scabies, beri beri, tropical ulcers, food was bad often the rice was often full of maggots, rats dirt, weevils. Meat was almost zero and very little vegetable.

The latrines were primitive, just trenches in the ground always full of maggots, Flies. Bluebottles were a curse and were great carriers of disease all water had to be boiled. Up near the Burma/Siam border were the worst camps, the death rate became very very bad but by now the railway was finished and the battalion which had been split up were now again together but --in the two years which had just passed almost 150 had died.

We were now in Siam, groups of POWs were to be sent to Japan as work forces. The Japs told us what a wonderful time we would have there, Parades were held and out of the original 500 men only 150 were found fit enough to go to Japan - 150 dead, 200 too ill to travel for the first time we received some clothing.

After travelling through Siam and Cambodia we went down the Mekong river and finally arrived in Saigon in French Indo China for the sea trip to Japan but this never took place as the American submarines were sinking so many ships and many POWs had already been lost most of the Australians and Dutch were sent back to Singapore but the old British Battalion now re-named 51 kumi and reinforced with some American survivors from the U.S.S. Houston were now to spend the rest of the war in Saigon. I must admit that although we as POWs did not receive Geneva Convention treatment conditions were greatly improved.

This was possibly that Saigon at that time was under Vichy French control and the Japs had to show some sort of humanitarian rights to us. Clothing of a sort was issued. Food was much better as were living quarters but beatings up continued within the confines of the camp, Working parties were made up every day for the airdrome the docks, the oil depot, anything that the Japs needed doing, The Japs by now could see the writing on the wall. Their troops coming back from Burma were now pessimistic about the war

The French people may have been Vichy French were not Pro-Japanese and were responsible for getting many things smuggled into the camp things like quinine, antiseptic, money, etc especially as to how the war was going until they themselves were interned once Paris fell to the Allies in 1944. As the American task forces were roaming at will the morale of POWs went up and in August a passing Frenchman shouted to a work party, 鈥淩ussia is in the war鈥�.

A few days later no working parties were called for, food greatly improved. Medical supplies suddenly appeared, then we were told THE WAR IS OVER.

We had to wait quite a while until British forces were able to take over control so the Japs had now the job of doing police work, The local Vietnamese were now in revolt against the French and were attacking them, at one time the POWs brought many French people into the camp for safety. Many of us stayed with French people while waiting for Repatriation.

We were all eventually flown back to Rangoon and the came home by troopship. I myself arrived home towards the end of October 1945, having been away four and a half years. At Christmas 1940 I got engaged to Lillie. In June 1941 she agreed to get married the next time I carne home on leave, although posted as missing, fate unknown she never gave up hope that I would come back and she waited for me. We were married on her twenty third birthday 6th December 1945, four and a half years later ...

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