Descent into Hell
Page 83
20 Corporal Jim Kennedy and Lance-Corporal John Roxburgh, 2/29th Battalion, interview with the author, Albury, NSW, 10 January 2005.
21 Private W. (Wal), Williams, 2/19th Battalion, interview with the author, Sydney, 30 September 2004, 23 April, 24 April 2005.
22 ibid.
23 Warrant Officer 2 Bert Mettam, 2/29th Battalion, interview with the author, Adelaide, 6 March 2005.
24 Gunner Richard Haynes, 2/10th Field Regiment, Diary and Papers.
25 ibid.
26 Warren, Singapore 1942, Britain’s Greatest Defeat, p. 279.
25 PURGATORY
1 AWM PR00016, file 92/0049, Papers of Major A. Thompson. The papers are divided into four folders. The material from the papers will henceforth be cited as ‘Thompson Papers’ and the folder number.
2 Most individuals and units took ample initial supplies in with them, and when Nimbs arrived five days after the capitulation, they were still prevalent. Nimbs MS.
3 Thompson Papers, folder 2 of 4.
4 Allan S. Walker, Australia in the War of 1939–1945, Medical Series, Middle East and Far East, p. 541.
5 Thompson Papers, folder 2 of 4.
6 Allan S. Walker, Australia in the War of 1939–1945, Medical Series, Middle East and Far East, pp. 545–9.
7 ibid. p. 549.
8 Thompson Papers, folder 2 of 4.
9 ibid.
10 Allan S. Walker, Australia in the War of 1939–1945, Medical Series, Middle East and Far East, p. 527.
11 Thompson Papers, folder 2 of 4.
12 Wigmore, The Japanese Thrust, p. 512.
13 ibid. p. 515.
14 R. P. W. Havers, Reassessing the Japanese Prisoner of War Experience, The Changi POW Camp, Singapore, 1942–45, pp. 36–9.
15 AWM 52: 15/1/6, 8th Division Pay Corps Unit Diary, Jan–Dec 1941 and Feb 1942.
16 AWM: PR00531 Papers of WO 1 K. J. Browne.
17 AWM 52: 15/1/6, 8th Division Pay Corps Unit Diary, Jan–Dec 1941 and Feb 1942.
18 AWM 91/0023 Papers of Sir Wilfred Kent Hughes, File 6 of 6.
19 Private John Boehm, 2/29th Battalion, interview with the author, Barwon Heads, Geelong, 29 December 2005.
20 Thompson Papers, folder 2 of 4.
21 ibid.
22 ibid.
23 Thompson Papers, folder 2 of 4.
24 ibid.
25 Thompson Papers, folder 2 of 4; and A. W. Penfold, W. C. Baylis, K. E. Crispin, Galleghan’s Greyhounds, pp. 239–49.
26 AWM 52: 1/5/19 8 Australian Division Administrative HQ AIF (Prisoner of War) No. 1 Prisoner of War Camp Changi. April 1943, part 3, Prisoners of War (Appendix 18).
27 ibid.
28 Warrant Officer 2 Bert Mettam, 2/29th Battalion, interview with the author, Adelaide, 6 March 2005.
29 Private Gus Halloran, 2/19th Battalion, interview with the author, Port Macquarie, NSW, 29 September 2004.
30 Thompson Papers, folder 2 of 4.
31 The Kent Hughes Papers, National Library of Australia, MS 4856 Box 11, series 3, folder 2.
32 ibid.
33 Menz Diary.
34 In his Diary, Menz identified both the culprit and his informant by their names and army numbers. The 2/29th Unit History records the culprit’s fate in Burma (once again by name and army number), and the 2/19th Unit History does the same for the informant.
35 AWM 52: 1/5/19, 8 Australian Division Administrative HQ AIF (Prisoner of War) No. 1 Prisoner of War Camp Changi. April 1943, part 3, Prisoners of war.
36 Menz Diary.
37 ibid.
38 ibid.
39 AWM 52: 1/5/19, 8 Australian Division Administrative HQ AIF (Prisoner of War) No. 1 Prisoner of War Camp Changi. April 1943, part 3, Prisoners of war.
40 Menz Diary.
41 AWM 52: 1/5/19, 8 Australian Division Administrative HQ AIF (Prisoner of War) No. 1 Prisoner of War Camp Changi. March 1943, Prisoners of war.
42 ibid.
43 Russell Braddon, The Naked Island, pp.154–5.
44 AWM 52: 1/5/19, 8 Australian Division Administrative HQ AIF (Prisoner of War) No. 1 Prisoner of War Camp Changi. April 1943, part 3, Prisoners of war.
45 ibid.
46 Warrant Officer 2 Bert Mettam, 2/29th Battalion, interview with the author, Adelaide, 6 March 2005.
47 AWM 52: 1/5/19, 8th Australian Division Administrative HQ AIF (Prisoner of War) No. 1 Prisoner of War Camp Changi. April 1943, part 1, Prisoners of War.
48 ibid.
49 ibid.
50 Thompson Papers, folder 2 of 4.
51 Nimbs MS.
52 Menz Diary.
53 ibid.
54 Nimbs MS.
55 Thompson Papers, folder 2 of 4.
56 Nimbs MS.
57 The National Library of Australia: MS 4856, the Kent Hughes Papers, Box 11, Series 3, folder 2.
58 Gunner Richard Haynes, 2/10th Field Regiment, diary and papers.
59 Nimbs MS.
60 ibid.
61 Newton, R. W., The Grim Glory of the 2/19 Battalion AIF, p. 404.
62 Private Paddy O’Toole, 2/29th Battalion, interview with the author, Melbourne, 4 January 2006.
63 Wigmore, The Japanese Thrust, pp. 518–19.
64 Captain Adrian Curlewis, 8th Division HQ, Diary.
65 The National Library of Australia: MS 4856, the Kent Hughes Papers, Box 11, Series 3, folder 2.
66 Nimbs MS.
67 Private Paddy O’Toole, 2/29th Battalion, interview with the author, Melbourne, 4 January 2006.
68 ibid. The author took particular care to mention Nimbs’s prices, manner of sales, Chinese contacts and opinions towards officer involvement etc. O’Toole agreed with almost all of Nimbs’s opinions. When I finally told O’Toole of Nimbs’s name, he had a vague recollection of him.
69 Wigmore, The Japanese Thrust, p. 519.
70 Private Paddy O’Toole, 2/29th Battalion, interview with the author, Melbourne, 4 January 2006.
71 Warrant Officer 2 Bert Mettam, 2/29th Battalion, interview with the author, Adelaide, 6 March 2005.
72 ibid.
73 The National Library of Australia: MS 4856, the Kent Hughes Papers, Box 11, Series 3, folder 2.
74 Thompson Papers, folder 2 of 4.
75 ibid.
76 ibid.
77 Thompson Papers, folder 2 of 4.
78 Wigmore, The Japanese Thrust, p. 523.
79 Thompson Papers, folder 2 of 4, and Wigmore, The Japanese Thrust, p. 523.
80 Thompson Papers, folder 2 of 4.
81 Galleghan quoted in Wigmore, The Japanese Thrust, p. 523.
82 Newton, R. W., The Grim Glory of the 2/19 Battalion AIF, pp. 481–2.
83 ibid. p. 481.
84 Thompson Papers, folder 2 of 4. Newton, in his The Grim Glory of the 2/19 Battalion AIF, stated that he brought ‘179 others’ with him from Pudu, p. 412.
85 Newton, R. W., The Grim Glory of the 2/19 Battalion AIF, p. 412.
86 E. E. Dunlop, The War Diaries of Weary Dunlop, Java and the Burma Thailand Railway 1942–1945, p. 141.
87 ibid. p. 143.
88 ibid. p. 144.
89 ibid.
90 E. E. Dunlop, The War Diaries of Weary Dunlop, Java and the Burma Thailand Railway 1942–1945, p. 144.
91 Sue Ebury, Weary, The Life of Sir Edward Dunlop, p. 371.
92 ibid.
93 E. E. Dunlop, The War Diaries of Weary Dunlop, Java and the Burma Thailand Railway 1942–1945, p. 146.
94 Ray Parkin, Into the Smother, p. 390.
95 Corporal Jim Kennedy and Lance-Corporal John Roxburgh, 2/29th Battalion, interview with the author, Albury, NSW, 10 January 2005.
96 Nimbs MS.
97 ibid.
26 THE SINGAPORE WORK CAMPS
1 Thompson Papers, folder 2 of 4.
2 Thompson Papers, folder 2 of 4. Thompson does not actually cite the River Valley Road Camp number. However, he states that 3400 were sent out on 12 March and, further, that the Great World had 2109 on 31 March. Therefor
e, it is assumed that the other 1291 were at River Valley Road.
3 Gunner Richard Haynes, 2/10th Field Regiment, Diary and Papers.
4 Private Gus Halloran, 2/19th Battalion, interview with the author, Port Macquarie, NSW, 18 April 2005.
5 Stan Arneil, One Man’s War, p. 27.
6 Exercise book, Curlewis Papers, Mrs Philippa Poole.
7 ibid.
8 Sergeant Frank Baker, 2/20th Battalion, interview with the author, Sydney, 9 January 2006.
9 ibid.
10 Such means of scrounging were recounted to the author in a multitude of interviews. For example, Gunner Richard Haynes, 2/10th Field Regiment, Diary and Papers. Private Gus Halloran, 2/19th Battalion, interview with the author, Port Macquarie, NSW, 18 April 2005, Sergeant Frank Baker, 2/20th Battalion, interview with the author, Sydney, 9 January 2006.
11 Gunner Richard Haynes, 2/10th Field Regiment, Diary and Papers.
12 ibid.
13 Private Gus Halloran, 2/19th Battalion, interview with the author, Port Macquarie, NSW, 18 April 2005.
14 Sergeant Frank Baker, 2/20th Battalion, interview with the author, Sydney, 9 January 2006.
15 Private W. (Wal) Williams, 2/19th Battalion, interviews with the author, Sydney, 30 September 2004, 23 April, 24 April 2005.
16 Corporal Jim Kennedy and Lance-Corporal John Roxburgh, 2/29th Battalion, interview with the author, Albury, NSW, 10 January 2005.
17 Gunner Richard Haynes, 2/10th Field Regiment, Diary and Papers.
18 Hank Nelson, P.O.W Prisoners of War, Australians Under Nippon, p. 29.
19 Gunner Richard Haynes, 2/10th Field Regiment, Diary and Papers.
20 Stan Arneil, One Man’s War, p. 41.
21 Private W. (Wal) Williams, 2/19th Battalion, interviews with the author, Sydney, 30 September 2004, 23 April, 24 April 2005.
22 Col. S. A. F. Pond’s ‘General Notes taken from diary kept while a POW and expanded here and there.’ After the heading it says: ‘Written more than 30 years later’. Lieutenant-Colonel Pond’s notes were given to Corporal Bob Christie, Secretary of the 2/29th Battalion Association. Christie gave the author copies of the originals on 11 October 2006. These notes, to be used in this chapter and for material in the chapters on the Thai–Burma Railway, will hereafter be cited as ‘Pond Papers.’
23 Pond Papers.
24 Stan Arneil, One Man’s War, p. 29.
25 Private Jim Stewart, Signals, 2/19th Battalion, interview with the author, Sydney, 1 October 2004; telephone conversation, 4 February 2007.
26 Private Paddy O’Toole, 2/29th Battalion, interview with the author, Melbourne, 4 January 2006.
27 Sergeant Frank Baker, 2/20th Battalion, interview with the author, Sydney, 9 January 2006.
28 ibid.
29 ibid.
30 Pond Papers.
31 ibid.
32 ibid.
33 Thompson Papers, folder 2 of 4.
34 Newton, R. W., The Grim Glory of the 2/19 Battalion AIF, p. 416.
35 Pond Papers.
36 AWM 52: 1/5/19 8 Australian Division Administrative HQ AIF (Prisoner of War) No. 1 Prisoner of War Camp Changi. April 1943, part 3, Prisoners of War (Appendix 18).
37 Pond Papers.
38 Sergeant Bert Donaldson, 2/19th Battalion, interview with the author, Temora, NSW, 8 October 2005.
PART IV THE THAI–BURMA RAILWAY
27 THE KILLER CYCLE
1 Sergeant Frank Baker, 2/20th Battalion, interview with the author, Sydney, 10 January 2006.
2 Private Paddy O’Toole, 2/29th Battalion, interview with the author, Melbourne, 5 January 2006.
3 Warrant Officer 2 Bert Mettam, 2/29th Battalion, interview with the author, Adelaide, 6 March 2005.
4 Private Wal Williams, 2/19th Battalion, interview with the author, Sydney, 24 April 2005.
5 Captain Adrian Curlewis, 8th Division HQ, Diary, 29 June 1943. Curlewis’s daughter Philippa Poole allowed the author to examine the diary and copy material not published in her book, Of Love and War, The letters and diaries of Captain Adrian Curlewis and his family 1939–1945. Referred to henceforth as ‘Captain Adrian Curlewis, 8th Division HQ, Diary’ and the date.
6 Captain Adrian Curlewis, 8th Division HQ, Diary, 30 August 1943.
7 Sergeant Frank Baker, 2/20th Battalion, interview with the author, Sydney, 10 January 2006.
8 Private Jack Coffee, 2/29th Battalion, interview with the author, Melbourne, 9 October 2006.
9 Warmenhoven Report. Copy kindly given to the author by Rod Beattie.
10 These statistics are taken from: Rod Beattie, The Death Railway, A Brief History, p. 20.
11 Wigmore, The Japanese Thrust, p. 545.
12 Rod Beattie, interview with the author, Kanchanaburi, Thailand, 13 January 2008.
13 ibid.
14 AWM 54, 554/2/5, Report by Lieutenant-Colonel G. E. Ramsay, on conditions of Prisoners of War Camps under Command during period February 1942–August 1944, with general comments only to subsequent events. Cited hereafter as ‘Ramsay Report’ and page number.
15 Ramsay Report, p. 4.
16 Thompson Papers, folder 2 of 4.
17 AWM PR 2DRL 2691, Papers of Varley, Brigadier R. L. WW2; transcript of diary. This diary will henceforth be cited as ‘Varley Diary’ and the date.
18 Captain Rowley Richards, RMO 2/15 Field Regiment, RMO Anderson Battalion, A Force, interview with the author, Sydney, 16 April 2007.
19 Varley Diary, 13 May 1942.
20 R. H. Whitecross, Slaves of the Son of Heaven, p. 19; and Leslie Hall, The Blue Haze, pp. 4–5.
21 Private Wal Williams, 2/19th Battalion and Ramsay Battalion, interview with the author, Sydney, 22 April 2005.
22 Varley Diary, 14 May 1942.
23 Report, Major J. S. Chambers, Australian Army Medical Corps, quoted in Leslie Hall, The Blue Haze, pp. 6–7.
24 ibid.
25 ibid.
26 Varley Diary, 20 May 1942.
27 ibid. 22 May 1942.
28 ibid. 24 May 1942.
29 Private Wal Williams, 2/19th Battalion and Ramsay Battalion, interview with the author, Sydney, 22 April 2005.
30 Ramsay Report, pp. 18–19.
31 ibid. p. 18.
32 ibid.
33 Varley Diary, 28 May 1942.
34 ibid.
35 Varley Diary, 6 June 1942.
36 ibid.
37 ibid. 22 June 1942.
38 ibid. 28 June 1942.
39 Varley Diary, 15 July 1942.
40 ibid. 11 July 1942.
41 Captain Rowley Richards, telephone conversation, 17 February 2013.
42 Varley Diary, 24 August 1942.
43 Private Wal Williams, 2/19th Battalion and Ramsay Force, interview with the author, Sydney, 23 April 2005.
44 ibid.
45 Leslie Hall, The Blue Haze, p. 108.
46 Varley Diary, 3 October 1942.
47 Private Wal Williams, 2/19th Battalion and Ramsay Force, interview with the author, Sydney, 23 April 2005.
48 ibid.
49 R. H. Whitecross, Slaves of the Son of Heaven, pp. 47–8.
50 Sergeant Jim Forbes, 2/19th Battalion and Ramsay Force, interview with the author, Sydney, 20 April 2005.
51 ibid.
52 Rowley Richards, A Doctor’s War, p. 108.
53 ibid. p. 113.
54 Varley Diary, 18 November 1942.
55 ibid.
56 ibid. 20 November 1942.
57 Varley Diary, 11 November 1942.
58 Private Wal Williams, 2/19th Battalion and Ramsay Force, interview with the author, Sydney, 23 April 2005.
59 Rowley Richards, A Doctor’s War, p. 132.
60 Sergeant Frank Baker, 2/20th Battalion, interview with the author, Sydney, 10 January 2006.
61 Rod Beattie, The Death Railway, A Brief History, p. 52. Beattie points out that these figures are approximate, because records concerning the Asian numbers on the Railway were destroyed.
62 Private Wal Willia
ms, 2/19th Battalion and Ramsay Force, interview with the author, Sydney, 23 April 2005.
63 Rod Beattie, The Death Railway, A Brief History, pp. 46–7.
64 Private Wal Williams, 2/19th Battalion and Ramsay Force, interview with the author, Sydney, 23 April 2005.
65 Whitecross, quoted in Wigmore, The Japanese Thrust, p. 556.
66 Lieutenant-Colonel Albert Coates, quoted in Rosalind Hearder, Keep The Men Alive, Australian POW Doctors in Japanese Captivity, p. 39.
67 Captain Rowley Richards, RMO 2/15 Field Regiment, RMO Anderson Battalion, A Force, interview with the author, Sydney, 16 April 2007.
68 Dunlop, quoted in The Australian Dictionary of Biography, for Lieutenant-Colonel Albert Coates, written by Rowan Webb.
69 Wigmore, The Japanese Thrust, footnote, p. 550.
70 Allan S. Walker, Australia In The War of 1939–1945, Medical Series, Middle East and Far East, p. 589.
71 ibid. p. 589.
72 ibid. p. 590.
73 The Australian Dictionary of Biography, for Lieutenant-Colonel Albert Coates, written by Rowan Webb.
74 Private Wal Williams, 2/19th Battalion and Ramsay Force, interview with the author, Sydney, 23 April 2005.
75 Captain Rowley Richards, RMO 2/15 Field Regiment, RMO Anderson Battalion, A Force, interview with the author, Sydney, 16 April 2007.
76 ibid.
77 ibid.
78 Captain Rowley Richards, RMO 2/15 Field Regiment, RMO Anderson Battalion, A Force, interview with the author, Sydney, 16 April 2007.
79 ibid.
80 Rowley Richards, A Doctor’s War, p. 118.
81 Anderson quoted in Wigmore, The Japanese Thrust, p. 561.
82 ibid. p. 551 (in text and in a footnote).
83 Captain Rowley Richards, letter to the author, 10 March 2013.
84 Rowley Richards, A Doctor’s War, pp. 123–4.
85 Wigmore, The Japanese Thrust, p. 561.
28 ‘U’ BATTALION
1 Thompson Papers, folder 2 of 4.
2 ibid.
3 ibid.
4 Hank Nelson, POW Prisoners of War, Australians Under Nippon, p. 62.
5 Pond Papers.
6 Sergeant Frank Baker, 2/20th Battalion, interview with the author, Sydney, 9 January 2006.
7 Private Walter Patterson, 8th Division Ammunition Sub Park, ‘U’ Battalion, interview with the author, Adelaide, 18 July 2005.
8 Sergeant Bert Donaldson, 2/19th and ‘U’ Battalions, interview with the author, Temora, NSW, 8 October 2005.