Arthur Wright interviewed by Rob Willis in the Rob and Olya Willis folklore collection [sound recording]
- Bib ID:
- 2848995
- Format:
- Audio
- Author:
- Wright, Arthur, 1906-, interviewee
- Online Version:
- National Library of Australia digitised item
- Access Conditions:
- Access open for research, personal copies and public use.
- Description:
-
- 1995 Mar. 1
- 3 digital audio tapes (ca. 264 min.)
- Series:
- Rob and Olya Willis folklore collection.
- Summary:
-
Folkloric recording. TAPE 67, Wright, former inmate of Japanese POW camps and worker on Burma railway, speaks of being trapped behind Japanese lines after the bombing of Nithesdale and trying to get back to Singapore, how he avoided the Japanese soldiers and endured lack of food and sleep along the way, the problems with defence at the Fall of Singapore, how he stole a push bike to escape, how he finally made it back to Singapore, how badly prepared soldiers based in Singapore were and the performance of officers, how the soldiers in Singapore finally surrendered to the Japanese, his view of Japanese character, the first displays of violence, the conditions of Changi POW Camp in 1941, how they needed food from the local people and their attempts to obtain it, the Japanese use of incendiary bullets, coping with dysentery and the camp discipline.
TAPE 68, the performance of the British and Australian commanders and the strong discipline by the British troops in Changi, how the Japanese massacred the local Chinese, passing of contraband among the prisoners, how they were moved from Changi by ship, the conditions on the prison ship, how they were set to work on an aerodrome and later moved to commence work on the Burman Railway, how he was relieved of duty while he had an eye disease but there was no medicine, lice in their clothes, Russell Braddon as one of the Changi prisoners, how their intended food mostly cattle was being sold by some Japanese soldiers, how they entertained themselves in the Camp, the tools used in building the Railway.
Japanese committing suicide, the doctors available on the Burma Railway and the setting up of a hospital camp, how they boiled cattle heads for stew and the fights over food distribution, the damage caused by the American bombing raids and the deaths and injuries caused to the prisoners, how the Japanese moved the base camp yet the Railway was completed, his description of the Death Marches, how the prisoners who were dying and who had died were treated by prisoners and the guards, how they dealt with tropical ulcers and amputations. TAPE 69, the need for strict hygiene to avoid deadly disease, how they kept up their morale with stage productions and concerts to entertain their captors, Hirohito's order that all POWs were to be killed and their bodies disposed of.
Wright discusses how the Japanese told them that the whole of Australia was being bombed, how they would drive a truck into a local village for supplies and when the guard disappeared the men would rush in for a feed and the locals would load up the truck for them, how the Dutch inhabitants were untrustworthy and the prisoners would never confide in them, the terrible effect of berri-berri and the type of medical treatment they could get, how Changi was heaven compared to conditions on the Railway, how the U.S. failed in the East but the British wiped out more Japanese than in the whole of the Pacific Theatre, how he was picked for transportation as a prisoner to Japan which began with a boat trip to Saigon which was under siege by the Allies and so they were sent back to Singapore, they finally left for Japana with a convoy of ships including tankers which were soon attacked by submarines.
Wright tells how their ship was torpedoed while most of the prisoners slept on deck, how most POWs were able to escape the sinking ship on rafts paddling with their hands but the Japanese had mostly escaped in boats, after five days at sea they were finally picked up by a Japanese ship escaping being machine gunned because they identified themselves as Aussies (British and American troops were to be killed immediately), finally transferred to another ship to complete the journey to Japan, how they were treated on arrival in Japan, why their IQs were tested, their work in the Japanese factory, how he was hospitalised when he was sick with dysentery of which the Japanese had a great fear.
- Notes:
-
- Recorded on Mar. 1, 1995 at Forbes, N.S.W.
- Also available online http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-542643610
- Subject:
- Other authors/contributors:
- Willis, Rob, 1944-, interviewer
- Related Records:
-
This belongs to the Rob and Olya Willis folklore collection.
This collection contains 1,003 records. - Copyright:
-
In Copyright
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- Reason for copyright status:
- Until 2065 [Created/Published Date + 70 Years]
Copyright status was determined using the following information:
- Material type:
- Sound Recording
- Published status:
- Unpublished
- Creation date:
- 1995
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