SKETCHES AND PHOTOCHRAPHS BY G.S. GIMSON
The sketches of camps by G S Gimson were drawn on the spot (except for 'Dysentery Ward, Kanyu Camp', to which the figures were added post-war). At first he sketched openly but when it became clear that the Japanese were becoming paranoid about security, he then sketched secretly with friends acting as lookouts. In April 1944, the risks involved in being found with even blank paper made it unwise to continue. With other papers, the sketches were inserted in a wine bottle, and buried, along with the records of one of the regiments, in an identifiable spot in Chungkai Camp Cemetery. After the Japanese surrender the regiment sent a squad to dig up the bottles and the sketches were returned to the artist.
Selarang Barrack Square, Changi, 1st - 5th September 1942 Kanyu Camp, Kiver Kwai, 14th March 1943 Chungkai Camp Hospital: Skin Wards Wampo: The Largest Viaduct on the Line (post-war photo) Train Journey, Singapore to Thailand, 28 December 1942 Tamarkan Bridge 5th April 1943 Chungkai Camp Distillery Chungkai Camp: Bamboo Artificial Leg Tamarkan Bridge (post-war photo by G S Gimson) Chungkai Camp: In Hospital with all Belongings Constructing the Railway: Cutting at Chungkai Camp (post-war photo) Typical Insects (sketched post-war) Chungkai Camps: New Operating Theatre, 1944 Dysentery Ward, Kanyu Camp Final (Officers') Camp, Nakom Nayok View from Tail-board of Lorry leaving Nakom Nayok Camp on Journey to the Free World Nakom Nayok Camp after the Japanese Surrender Chungkai Camp Cemetery Spring 1944
OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS
Map of Burma and Thailand (Jack B Chalker) Singapore's Final Hours (impression Tom McGowran) Preparing the Trace in Bamboo Jungle (watercolour by Jack B Chalker) Boon Pong & Brothers, Bangkok Today (photo Tom McGowran) Mergui and Borneo Marches (impression by Tom McGowran) Lisbon Maru Peggy Thin Men (source unknown)
POW WOW, the Newsletter of the Scottish Far East Prisoner of War Association, was never just an ordinary newsletter. With a small circulation that seldom ventured beyond the bounds of its select membership, it is a vital link and a very private avenue of communication between men and women who had survived against the odds.
Hong Kong fell to the Japanese on Christmas Day 1941. Seven short weeks later Singapore suffered the same fate. Those who had survived the onslaught became prisoners of the Japanese. Their experiences in captivity were to be worse than any battle.
After the war, the surviving Far East Prisoners of War, bearing their indelible scars, seldom spoke of their imprisonment, deprivation and cruel handling. Many found relief from the nightmares and memories in comradeship. Many also shared their experiences in writing with the only people who really understood: their fellow survivors.
These few Scots whose words appear in these pages are extraordinary men and women. We read this book with incredulity, with humility, with tears and with pride. Had the atom bombs not been dropped on Japan, none of these storytellers would have survived.
Beyond the Bamboo Screen is a chapter in our history that must never happen again.
Dr Diana M Henderson Research Director THE SCOTS AT WAR TRUST
