Far East POW Memories of Java

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Author : Brian MacArthur
Genre : Prisoners of war

Summary : During World War II, there were few fates that could befall a soldier so hellish as internment in a Japanese prisoner of war camp. To this day, many survivors–most of whom are in their eighties–still cannot talk about their experiences without unearthing terrible memories. Surviving the Sword gives voice to these tens of thousands of Allied POWs and offers us a powerful reminder of the terror and depravations of war and the resilience of the human spirit. In this important book, Brian MacArthur draws on the diaries of American, British, Dutch, and Australian Fepows (Far Eastern prisoners of war), some of whose recollections are published here for the first time. These soldiers wrote and kept their diaries, in secret, because they were determined that to record for posterity how they were starved and beaten, marched almost to death, or transported on “hellships”; how their fellows were summarily executed by guards or felled by the thousands by tropical diseases; and how they were used as slave labor–most notoriously on the Burma-Thailand railway, as depicted in The Bridge on the River Kwai. The diaries excerpted in this book make plain why the Fepows believed that their brutal treatment by Japanese and Korean guards was, literally, incomprehensible to those who did not live it. The prisoners whose stories appear here risked torture and execution to keep diaries and make sketches and drawings that they hid from the guards wherever they could, sometimes burying them in the graves of lost comrades. The survivors’ narratives reveal not just a litany of horrors, but are a moving testament to the nobler instincts of humanity as well, detailing how the POWs prevailed over horrible conditions, even finding or creating a precious few creature comforts and sustaining the rudiments of culture, learning, and play. Forced into solidarity by inhuman conditions, the soldiers showed incredible compassion for one another, improvising ingenious ways to care for the sick, boost morale by subtly mocking their jailers’ authority, or even turn meager rations into the occasional feast. Countless thousands died in Japanese prison camps during World War II. Those fortunate enough to emerge from their ordeal were never the same again.Surviving the Swordat last fills a notable historical gap in our understanding, while also commemorating and memorializing the Fepows’ struggle and sacrifice.

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Author : Terry Smyth
Genre : Art

Summary : Why are the daughters and sons of Far East prisoners of war still captivated by the stories of their fathers? What is it that compels so many of the children, after so many years, to search for the details of their fathers' captivity? And how, over the decades, have they come to terms with their childhood memories? In his book Terry Smyth treads new ground by examining the processes through which the children's memory practices came to be rooted in the POW experiences of their fathers. By following a life course approach, and a psychosocial methodology, the book demonstrates how memory and trauma were 'worked into' the social and cultural lives of individual children, and explores how the relationship between their inner psychic worlds and subsequent memory practices unfolded against a challenging and morally ambivalent geopolitical background. The book invites readers to engage with the author in a journey of exploration and self-reflection, with elements of auto-ethnography adding richness to the text. Enlivened by interview extracts, case study material and ethnographic observations, this work opens up fresh and ambitious perspectives on the personal legacies of war.

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Author : Angela K. Smith
Genre : History

Summary : This edited collection explores and develops representations of war experience from 1914 to the ongoing conflicts of the 21st century, through the specific lens of memory. It builds on recent explorations of the importance of war experience in shaping cultural memory that have focused on the aftermath of the First World War and the Second World War, particularly through Holocaust studies. These essays, by a range of international and interdisciplinary scholars, broaden the scope considerably, examining the alternate spaces of the First World War and those that followed it through a range of different media, offering an artistic trajectory to the centennial commemorations of 2014-18.

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Author : Hamwic Publishers
Genre : Prisoners of war

Summary :

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Author : Peter Fyans
Genre : History

Summary : Captivity, Slavery and Survival as a Far East POW is the incredibly moving story of Gus Anckorn, a British soldier who was captured by the Japanese and held for over three and a half years. Before the war, Gus was a magician and throughout the war, entertained both fellow soldiers and Japanese guards with his tricks. Gus has a brilliant sense of humor and a 'tell it as it is' attitude which got him into a number of scrapes with both the Japanese and his own side. He has a remarkable humility to his character and is extremely endearing, both in the book and face to face guaranteeing massive media attention. Gus experienced terrible ordeals that no one should have to face. He should have been killed on four or five occasions, but remarkably survived due to quick thinking and good luck. Gus also reveals the heartache of leaving his fiancee behind and not knowing if he would ever see her again. This is an incredibly moving book and will surely be considered as one of the classic Far East POW stories. Gus is still alive and active today, very publicity focused and well connected. He still holds the unique claim of being the youngest ever member of the Magic Circle and is now currently their oldest ever member. He is also a member of the Masons. Gus has appeared on BBC TV when they arranged for him to meet a Japanese POW camp guard on the bridge at Kwai.

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Author : Emma Jolly
Genre : Reference

Summary : Tracing Your British Indian Ancestors gives a fascinating insight into the history of the subcontinent under British rule and into the lives the British led there. It also introduces the reader to the range of historical records that can be consulted in order to throw light on the experience of individuals who were connected to India over the centuries of British involvement in the country.Emma Jolly looks at every aspect of British Indian history and at all the relevant resources. She explains the information held in the British Library India Office Records and The National Archives. She also covers the records of the armed forces, the civil service and the railways, as well as religious and probate records, and other sources available for researchers. At the same time, she provides a concise and vivid social history of the British in India: from the early days of the East India Company, through the Mutiny and the imposition of direct British rule in the mid-nineteenth century, to the independence movement and the last days of the Raj. Her book will help family historians put their research into an historical perspective, giving them a better understanding of the part their ancestors played in India in the past.

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Author : Ken Adams
Genre : History

Summary : Ken Adams, as a trained medic, was sent out to the Far East and immediately saw action on the Malay Peninsula. Captured at Singapore he initially worked at Changi Hospital. Many moves and much worse capos in Thailand were to follow. He describes his life, work and the terrible conditions endured at the hands of the Japanese and Korea guards and worst of all, the Kempetai secret police. Illnesses such as dysentery, malaria, avitominosis, cholera and smallpox had to be treated with minimal or no medicines. Starvation was a fact of life. The author was frequently moved around and in 1945 took part in a march of many hundreds of miles which inevitably proved fatal to many of his fellow POWs. Liberation and repatriation are movingly described as, most significantly, is the whole process of settling back into normal life after so long in captivity of the worst kind. Healing in Hell is an exceptional account that demands reading.