Bill Ennis - Singapore: Isolated

Transcript

First experience. Well, we moved around a few defensive positions before we set up an ambush at Gemas ... which was from our point of view, very satisfactory. Annihilated a few Japs. And then the next day it was head-on, and we were in danger of being surrounded so we retreated. That was the story right down the peninsula. You know, we'd meet up with them and they'd try and encircle you and back we went. Till we arrived at the island and then same sort of thing it was on the island.

Well, we'd had no training with it and actually we were never, our particular battalion was never in the jungle apart from the ambush. And then they were in the jungle, you know. There was only one company, they drew lots for it. It wasn't our company. Yeah. Yes, my particular company was isolated. We were waiting for the engineers who had set fire to the oil tanks, and they didn't turn up so we were left on, lost babies.

I was wounded just three days before the capitulation. Not seriously, but enough to put me in the hospital so I missed the last few days.