Department of Veterans' Affairs
Transcript
Singapore: Isolated
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.
Singapore: Japanese aerial domination
Well they dominated ... You know there was virtually no opposition to their aircraft. What there was, you know, extremely and utterly brave ... You know to go up against these things.
I've got visions of them flying overhead, 27 of them, you know, all in groups of three. Nines, and three sets of nines. Perfect formation. They were flying over us towards Singapore. Clearly dominated the skies. That was a real plus for them. We were bombed a few times but nothing serious.
Burma-Thailand Railway
We marched at night. Japs were scared of tigers, so they mingled with the POWs. That took about 10 days I think, and that was a bit horrendous. You know, wet weather and yeah. Not good.
Well the ... the rail link was made up there, virtually between Burma and Thailand. And ... I don't know what the heck happened. But I know the walk was not, you know, not very nice. Quite horrendous really. And a lot of them dropped out of the, in various camps along the way. There were various camps along the way.
I think we took about 10 nights to do this thing. The battalion was broken up into about three or four sections and they were interspersed along the line, along the railway.
