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Raymond was called up in June 1940, joined the 5th Sherwood Foresters and was captured at the fall of the Singapore Garrison early in February 1942. This is what Alice was to learn after the war and, 60 years later, committed to paper.
Thousands of troops were then taken to Changi Jail and Ray was among many who slept on the roof — it was almost impossible to find room anywhere. This went on for nine months in terrible conditions. Malaria, Beri Beri and many other fevers were rife. Part of the problem was caused by the rice which had been treated with lime. All fit men were sent to build the ‘Death Railway’ up to Moulmein — Ray being one of them. Apart from this work, he also still helped the doctors. Conditions were dreadful. They had to build their own camp which was made of Bamboo with Banana leaves for the floor and roof, and was built on stilts because of the snakes. They started building the railway through solid rock and deep ravines with pick and shovel. This was virgin jungle. They worked from dawn to dusk in blazing heat with only a meal of rice a day. To supplement the diet they boiled grass, killed small snakes and even picked sparrows for extra protein.
As time went on they had little left in the way of clothing. Ray's boots were the last thing to wear out; he then had to wrap his feet in Banana leaves. His legs were covered in tropical ulcers due to bamboo poisoning. As they moved up the railway line more camps had to be built and were numbered one, two, three and four. Many men died every day and had to be buried at the side of the line. In a camp at Chunkia they had a cholera outbreak. This was a killer disease and terrified the Japanese so much that they came to the doctors and gave them vaccines and medical supplies to inject the prisoners against this. The doctor that Ray helped asked him if he would go to the hut which was used as a hospital. He injected Ray and himself, then went to inject the other prisoners; some survived but many died. When the railway was finished, all the men who had worked on the line were put on the train and took the first ride up to Moulmein in case they had sabotaged the line.
Ray came back to Singapore in poor health and only weighed eight stone, but the Japs said he was fit for more work, so he and thousands more were packed into the holds of ships called Lisbon Maru Hell ships and sailed for Japan. It took three weeks, a terrible journey, many died on the way, and some of the ships were bombed by the American Air Force. Some men escaped and were picked up by the US ships.
On arrival, Ray and many others were taken to a place called Yochachi and worked in a factory making cobalt for hardening steel. Whilst there he lived through two earthquakes. They were marched to the factory and before every shift had to visit the Shinto Shrine and make a bow. As you can imagine, lots of funny things were said. One morning when they arrived the Japanese were wailing and making terrible noises. The men wondered what had happened, but were not told anything. When it was time to go back to the camp, they washed in warm water which drained from the factory but they had no soap. The Japanese Guard brought some soap and started washing. Ray said to his pal: "The war must be over." This Japanese guard could speak a little English because he had been to Glasgow as a cabin boy, and he said to Ray: "There is something I'd like to tell you but I'm not allowed to — go back to camp". Later they heard that the atomic bomb had been dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, thus bringing the war to an end.
When they arrived, all the guards had gone so the first thing they did was to write POW on the roof. Soon after this, a small American plane came flying over and dropped a parachute with a canister containing the news that two atomic bombs had brought the war to an end. They asked that if there was anything that they needed they should write it in the sand. The men went to the factory and got a bag of lime and wrote ‘PLASMA’ in the sand because a few days before an American lad lost both feet when the camp was straffed by US planes and they had no medical supplies. The plane returned in half an hour and dropped plasma and medical supplies, thus saving the life of the US prisoner. These planes were from the aircraft carrier Indefatigable which was anchored in the bay. It was another three weeks before the camp was located by the US Army — 25 British; the rest were Americans and Dutch.
They were then taken to Tokyo to a cleansing ship to be de-loused and given clean clothes. Then they started their journey home. First they were flown to Okinawa, then on to Manila. Ray had to stay there for a month as he was taken ill with malaria. He was brought home on the troop ship US West Point. The long journey home by sea was to help the men get well. Ray was so well looked after that when they docked at San Fransisco he was feeling much better. He crossed America on the Canadian Pacific Railway to New York, then boarded the Queen Mary for the home journey to Southampton, arriving there on 22nd November 1945, having completed a round the world trip.
From 1942 to 1945 I received six postcards from Ray, all of which were six months old when they arrived. The first card was dated June 1942. It had been 17 months since I heard the news that Ray was missing, believed killed, and this card was 14 months old. I received two cards in 1943 which were not dated. One card on 15th January 1944, and one on 10th June 1944. The last one was received on 30th January 1945. It was always six months between cards and I was informed by the Prisoner of War Association that if I had not heard within the next week I was to be classed as a War Widow, but thank God, many times there were only days left before receiving a card.

This story has been added to the site by Alison Tebbutt, Derby CSV Action Desk, on behalf of Norman Wilson and Andrew McCloy. The author has given his permission, and fully understands the site’s terms and conditions

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