Warfare in News

Posted on Wednesday 15th February
Today marks the 70th anniversary of the day Singapore fell to the Japanese during the Second World War and thousands of British soldiers were taken prisoner.
Carol Cooper, the daughter of Lance Corporal William Smith of the Royal Norfolk Regiment, who was captured by Japanese troops and taken to Changi Prison in eastern Singapore along with many other British prisoners (and later died of malnutrition, dysentry, malaria and a cardiac condition), set up the Children of the Far East Prisoner of War charity.
Mrs Cooper was motivated by a desire to educate people about the Far East prisoners' experiences. Her father's experience had not been discussed in the family and she knew very little of his experiences until his diaries were found in 1994.
The COFEPOW charity will hold a remembrance service at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire later today in honour of all the POWs who suffered and died in Asia.
For a further account of serving in 1942 in Singapore, see that of Fergus Anckorn in Warfare issue 4.
Carol Cooper, the daughter of Lance Corporal William Smith of the Royal Norfolk Regiment, who was captured by Japanese troops and taken to Changi Prison in eastern Singapore along with many other British prisoners (and later died of malnutrition, dysentry, malaria and a cardiac condition), set up the Children of the Far East Prisoner of War charity.
Mrs Cooper was motivated by a desire to educate people about the Far East prisoners' experiences. Her father's experience had not been discussed in the family and she knew very little of his experiences until his diaries were found in 1994.
The COFEPOW charity will hold a remembrance service at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire later today in honour of all the POWs who suffered and died in Asia.
For a further account of serving in 1942 in Singapore, see that of Fergus Anckorn in Warfare issue 4.
Further Reading
No Mercy from the Japanese
(Hardback - 160 pages)by John Wyatt
By the laws of statistics John Wyatt should not be here today to tell his story. He firmly believes that someone somewhere was looking after him during those four years. Examine the odds stacked against him and his readers will understand why he hold this view. During the conflict in Malaya and Singapore his regiment lost two thirds of its men. More than three hundred patients and staff in the Alexandra Military Hospital were slaughtered… Read more...
Of further interest...

Healing in Hell - Memoirs of a Far Eastern POW Medic
Wed 6th AugustThis article is based on extracts from Ken Adams' Second World War memoirs of life as a POW medic in the Far East. From the fall of Singapore to the difficulties of returning home. Contains graphic images. Read article...

The Fall of Singapore – 1942
Mon 23rd AprilArticle by Peter Fyans, extracted from Captivity, Slavery and Survival as a Far East POW, reproduced by permission of Pen and Sword Books Ltd. Read article...


Disabled Veterans remember the Fallen
Fri 18th NovemberDisabled veterans from The Royal Star & Garter Homes paid tribute to the Fallen at several Remembrance events, in the centenary year of the Battle of the Somme and the Charity’s own Centenary. Read article...