Roy Cornford - Living conditions on the Burma-Thailand Railway part 2

Running time
1 min 9 sec
Date made
Copyright
Department of Veterans' Affairs

Transcript

Roy Cornford:
All our guards were the worst of the lot. They were all Koreans and they enjoyed kicking you or slapping you or hitting you with anything. I'll admit they were cruel to us, but the Japanese were in a way cruel to them, they used to knock them around a bit, but they knocked us around. And then the first couple of camps, we had very bad Japanese officers in charge of them, and then when we started the lay the railway line we got a good Japanese Commander in Charge and things were a lot better.

But he couldn't do much for you. And even when we finished the railway line, he was the one man who was sent with us to the staging camp where they chose us to go to Japan, and he was also chosen to go to Japan with us, so we thought we were lucky to at least have him.

Interviewer:
Do you know what?

Was this page helpful?
We can't respond to comments or queries via this form. Please contact us with your query instead.
CAPTCHA

Indigenous content warning

The Department of Veterans' Affairs recognises Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Nation Peoples of Australia and acknowledges their continuing spiritual, cultural, social and economic connection to Australia's lands and waters.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples should be aware that this website contains images, names and voices of deceased persons.