James Kerr - D Force

Transcript

I went up to Thailand March 1943, on D force. We were 30 men to a steel rice truck, enclosed rice, steel truck, fortunately, the doors were open with the Japs sitting at the door. 30 men to a truck for a five-day journey to Bangkok. So that was not a very pleasant journey. I can remember marching into my camp, which was Konyu in the night, one day 1943. That day sticks in my mind, day 1943.

I marched in on the railway camp and I worked on the railway then until I was evacuated, second of August 1943, and I was in the hospital. I've still got the medical discharge it was a little piece of cardboard. I've still got my original discharge from Thailand hospital. And I was discharged in January 1944. We were right next to the ulcer ward, that was the big hospital camp then. I was right next to the ulcer ward, and the people with ulcers. And I'm not talking about tiny little ulcers, I'm talking huge. They'd take up all the shin. And they used to have to be cleaned each morning, the only means of cleaning those was with a sharpened spoon with no anaesthetic. So you can imagine the pain and the screaming. Terrible.