大象传媒

We got through Sumatra to a place called Padang, on the west coast of Sumatra. I got taken prisoner on St Patrick's Day.

We were there about 6-7 wks until they shipped us up to Northern Sumatra and across to Burma, a place called Mergui. I worked there for about 6-7 wks, then they moved us to a place called Tavoi, and then up to Mulmeen, then onto the Burma Railway.
On the Burma side there were only 500 British, that was the ones who were captured at Sumatra. The remainder on the Burma side of the railway were Australian and Dutch. There were 500 of us British, and within a year and a half there were 167 that was dead of dysentery, malaria, malnutrition and overwork. Conditions were horrible.

After nearly 2 yrs the railway was finished. We moved into Siam, and then finished up into French Indochina, up to Saigon. Conditions were much better there, as regards to food. We were supposed to go to Japan, but due to so many of the ships being sunk, the Hell-ships they called them. The Japanese stopped sending prisoners so we stayed in Saigon. The food was much better, we had fresh water, which was a great thing there, because of the reservoir. The Japanese had to treat us much better there because the French were Vichy French. Although the Vichy were pro-Japanese and Nazi and all that, but they were pro-white as well, if you understand what I mean. The Japanese had to make an impression by treating us much better in Saigon, as opposed to when we were up in the jungle where there was nobody there to observe us. We were there for a year and a half until the war ended. We didn't really know the war in Europe had finished. We did eventually get word sort of filtered through.
Towards the end of it the Japanese packed up, and we were left for 3-4 wks in Saigon, living it up until we were flown out.

[After the liberation of France in 1944] the French were interned. They put them into a sort of ghetto, and then when the Japs packed up there was not enough British Occupation Forces to police the area, and the Japs themselves then ...
The Vietnamese rose up in revolt against the French. It finished up at one time, the ex-prisoners of war who had been in the French army barracks, we took the French civilians into the Prisoner camp and then went out and lived in their houses
It was good, it was a bit of a mix-up and for about about 3 weeks ...

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