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Description: | British officer served with 7th Bn Gordon Highlanders on Western Front, 1916-1917. Served as commanding officer 2nd Bn Gordon Highlanders in Malaya, 1941-1942; captured in Singapore, 2/1942 and POW of Japanese in Singapore and Thailand, 2/1942-8/1945
REEL 1 Scottish family background. Aspects of service with 7th Gordon Highlanders on Western Front 1916-1917: wounded in action at Arras 23/4/1917. Recollections of operations commanding 2nd Battalion Gordon Highlanders during Malayan campaign, 12/1941-1/1942: Japanese aerial attack on Singapore 7/12/1941-8/12/1941; decisive role of Japanese air superiority; dedication of Japanese troops; opinion of Indian troops; rejection of Board of Survey's defence recommendations for Straits of Johore 1939; action at Ayer Hitam; Japanese tactics; opinion of Australian troops.
REEL 2 Continues: Fall of Singapore, 1/1942-2/1942: withdrawal over Causeway; defensive actions; Stitt's surrender speech. Aspects of period in Changi POW camp, 2/1942-10/1942: opinion of Indian National Army guards; hospital. Aspects of period in POW camps in Thailand, 10/1942-7/1944: obtaining supplies and money from Thais; helpful Thai trader. Aspects of period in Changi POW camp, 2/1942-10/1942: scarcity of food; supplies from dock work parties; execution of attempted escapers and obstacles to escape; civilian imprisonment in Changi gaol. Stitt's family details; contact with home during imprisonment.
REEL 3 Continues: Australian attitude towards surrender of Singapore. Aspects of POW experience 1942-1945: recollections of Dutch POWs; Japanese characteristics; opinion of Korean guards; question of atomic bombs saving POW lives; Japanese attitude towards POWs; Japanese control over POWs; speaking Japanese language; POWs trading possessions; Selarang Square incident, 8/1942. Aspects of period in POW camps in Thailand, 10/1942-7/1944: train journey to Thailand 10/1942; conditions at Ban Pong camp; march up country; Chungkai camp hut accommodation; progress of Burma-Thailand railway up country; hut camps; washing facilities; POW discipline; religious services; Stitt's supervisory duties; incident illustrating unpredictability of Japanese punishments.
REEL 4 Continues: Aspects of period in POW camps in Thailand, 10/1942-7/1944: proportion of officers and men at Chungkai camp; officers' working parties; sleeping arrangements; climate; tropical ulcers and amputations; observance of rank; Japanese punishment of officer; Japanese camp personnel; occasional meat supply; Japanese detailing sick for work; cholera epidemic at Camp 211; POW's cholera cure; Malay cholera deaths; Stitt's illnesses; medical supplies.
REEL 5 Continues: Aspects of period in POW camps in Thailand, 10/1942-7/1944: removal of senior officers; Army hierarchy within POW camps; organisation of railway work; completion of railway; POW interpreters; two interpreters tortured by Japanese; comparison of Far Eastern and European POW conditions; POWs' weight loss; freedom of movement; pastimes; food hygiene precautions; panic caused by snake in camp theatre; POW morale; clothing; officer cooks; tobacco; Chungkai latrines and cookhouse; shaving; camp library.
REEL 6 Continues: Aspects of POW experience, 10/1942-8/1945: conditions in Kanburi officers' camp, 1944-1945; POW casualties from Allied air attacks on railway; cremating cholera victims; POW pay; supplementing diet with eggs; camp social activities; camp distillery; growing fruit and vegetables; disseminating war news from secret radio; war news from Japanese; hearing news of atomic bombs from Thais; contact with Thais.
REEL 7 Continues: Aspects of period in POW camps in Thailand, 10/1942-8/1945: nature and methods of railway work; Stitt's supervisory role; POW sabotage; opinion of film 'Bridge Over the River Kwai'; expectation that POWs would be shot towards end of war; increasing cruelty of Japanese. Aspects of POW experience, 2/1942-8/1945: morale; relevance of age; POW enterprise; importance of officer presence in camps; hearing news of end of war on train journey; returning to Singapore with Allied administrators. Reflections on period as POW. | Publisher: | http://www.iwm.org.uk | Source: | Imperial War Museum | Creator: | Smith, Lyn E | Identifier: | http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/o... | Go to resource |
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