大象传媒

You had to be fit to be in a fighting position. You just had to do it. The Officers were very strict.

Brigades stuck together, always.

They never told you where you were going. We went to America, then to Singapore. On the way to Singapore we still didn't know where we were going. When we got there Singapore was taken. The Japanese had taken it.

We were captured, all the troops were. We all thought we'd get relieved, but we didn't. They used to ill treat us. Slap us. We were not getting fed properly. We ended up doing things for the Japanese, such as building the railways.

There were no proper beds to sleep on at night. There was a lot of disease going around. We couldn't get any medical attention. If some men had been kicked, or were bleeding, they would cover the sores up with leaves to stop the flies getting to the wounds.

It was luck how I escaped that situation. Thousands of our lads died. I was a Prisoner of War for three and a half years. We were released when the Atom bomb dropped.

The war had finished and we went to Madagascar, where we were fitted with clothes. The we sailed to India, and then finally home.

This story was submitted by Alison Tebbutt, Derby CSV Action Desk on behalf of Thomas Arthur Chadwick, B.E.M. The author has given his permission, and fully understands the site's terms and conditions

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