Showing 120 items
matching world war 1939-1945 - japan
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Monbulk RSL Sub Branch
Book, Halstead Press, Somewhere below : the Sydney scandal exposed, 2005
Eighteen days before Pearl Harbour and Japan opens fire on Australia. The RAN's cover-up of the action that sank HMAS Sydney on the 19th November 1941 has been a public scandal for decades. Here is the first book to explain how Churchill and Roosevelt sacrificed the Sydney and the US Pearl Harbour fleet.Index, bibliography, ill, p.159non-fictionEighteen days before Pearl Harbour and Japan opens fire on Australia. The RAN's cover-up of the action that sank HMAS Sydney on the 19th November 1941 has been a public scandal for decades. Here is the first book to explain how Churchill and Roosevelt sacrificed the Sydney and the US Pearl Harbour fleet.world war 1939 – 1945 – naval operations - australia, hmas sydney -
Monbulk RSL Sub Branch
Book, Australian War Memoria, Royal Australian Navy, 1939-1942, 1957
This volume tells briefly the story of the Royal Australian Navy and of Australian naval policy between the wars, and then records the part played by the ships and men of that Navy on every ocean and particularly in the eastern Mediterranean and Indian and Pacific Oceans from 1939 until the end of the first quarter of 1942. When the volume ends most of the surviving ships are on the Australia Station again and the Japanese fleets dominate half the Pacific Ocean and the seas to the north of Australia. The [author] describes not only the actions of the Australian ships but the problems and policies of the British fleets of which they often formed a part, and discusses the strategical and administrative questions encountered by the senior leaders in AustraliaIndex, ill, maps, p.686.non-fictionThis volume tells briefly the story of the Royal Australian Navy and of Australian naval policy between the wars, and then records the part played by the ships and men of that Navy on every ocean and particularly in the eastern Mediterranean and Indian and Pacific Oceans from 1939 until the end of the first quarter of 1942. When the volume ends most of the surviving ships are on the Australia Station again and the Japanese fleets dominate half the Pacific Ocean and the seas to the north of Australia. The [author] describes not only the actions of the Australian ships but the problems and policies of the British fleets of which they often formed a part, and discusses the strategical and administrative questions encountered by the senior leaders in Australiaworld war 1939 – 1945 – naval operations - australia, royal australian navy - history -
Monbulk RSL Sub Branch
Book, Fremantle Arts Centre Press, The time of the soldier, 1991
An account of the author's experiences in two World Wars, as a Sergeant Major in a machine gun battalion and as a prisoner of the Japanese in Java, Singapore and Thailand.Ill, p.210.non-fictionAn account of the author's experiences in two World Wars, as a Sergeant Major in a machine gun battalion and as a prisoner of the Japanese in Java, Singapore and Thailand. world war 1939 – 1945 – personal narratives – australia, prisoners of war - australia -
Monbulk RSL Sub Branch
Book, Werner Laurie, The naked island, 1954
... -and-the-dandenong-ranges Book The naked island Ill, p.266. World war 1939 ...Story of the Malayan Campaign of 1942 and subsequent captivity in the hands of the Japanese from a private soldier's point of view.Ill, p.266.non-fictionStory of the Malayan Campaign of 1942 and subsequent captivity in the hands of the Japanese from a private soldier's point of view. world war 1939 – 1945 - prisons and prisoners - japanese, prisoners of war - australia -
Monbulk RSL Sub Branch
Book, Hugh V Clarke, A life for every sleeper : a pictorial record of the Burma - Thailand railway, 1988
... of the Burma - Thailand railway Ill, p.115. World war 1939 – 1945 ...This book is based on documents, photographs and maps preserved in the records of the Australian war memorial, and on the experiences of the author.Ill, p.115.non-fictionThis book is based on documents, photographs and maps preserved in the records of the Australian war memorial, and on the experiences of the author.world war 1939 – 1945 - prisons and prisoners – japanese, burma thailand railway -
Monbulk RSL Sub Branch
Book, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Changi Photographer : George Aspinall's Record of Captivity, 1984
... of Captivity Index, ill, p.141. World war 1939 – 1945 - Prisons ...George Aspinalls photography hobby during captivity has resulted in a unique visual diary.Index, ill, p.141.non-fictionGeorge Aspinalls photography hobby during captivity has resulted in a unique visual diary.world war 1939 – 1945 - prisons and prisoners – japanese, changi prison -
Monbulk RSL Sub Branch
Book, Kangaroo Press, Singapore samurai, 1998
... -and-the-dandenong-ranges Book Singapore samurai p.250. World war 1939 – 1945 ...The authors escape from Changi jail and their subsequent recaapture and ill treatment.p.250.non-fictionThe authors escape from Changi jail and their subsequent recaapture and ill treatment. world war 1939 – 1945 - prisons and prisoners – japanese, changi jail -
Monbulk RSL Sub Branch
Book, McMillan, British civilians and the Japanese war in Malaya and Singapore, 1941-1945, 1987
... .156. World war 1939 – 1945 - Prisons and prisoners – Japanese ...An account of British civilians interned in Malaya and Singapore 1942-1945.Index, bibliography, ill, maps, p.156.non-fictionAn account of British civilians interned in Malaya and Singapore 1942-1945.world war 1939 – 1945 - prisons and prisoners – japanese, civilian internment - malaya and singapore -
Monbulk RSL Sub Branch
Book, Monsoon, You'll die in Singapore: True account of one of the most amazing POW escapes in WWII, 2005
... 1939 – 1945 - Prisons and prisoners – Japanese Prisoner of war ...With sixteen other POWs, author Charles McCormac broke out from his POW camp in Japanese-occupied Singapore and began a two-thousand-mile escape from Singapore, through the jungles of Indonesia to Australia. The POWs' escape took a staggering five months and only two out of the original seventeen men survived. This is McCormac's compelling true account of one of the most horrifying and amazing escapes in World War Two. It is a story of courage, endurance and compassion, and makes for a very gripping read.Ill, maps, p.223.non-fictionWith sixteen other POWs, author Charles McCormac broke out from his POW camp in Japanese-occupied Singapore and began a two-thousand-mile escape from Singapore, through the jungles of Indonesia to Australia. The POWs' escape took a staggering five months and only two out of the original seventeen men survived. This is McCormac's compelling true account of one of the most horrifying and amazing escapes in World War Two. It is a story of courage, endurance and compassion, and makes for a very gripping read.world war 1939 – 1945 - prisons and prisoners – japanese, prisoner of war escapes - singapore -
Monbulk RSL Sub Branch
Book, Allen & Unwin, The Burma-Thailand railway : memory and history, 1993
... and history Index, notes, ill, tales, p.175. World war 1939 – 1945 ...The reminiscences of Australian POW's and Japanese historians at a meeting 50 years after the war ended on the Burma Thailand railway.Index, notes, ill, tales, p.175.non-fictionThe reminiscences of Australian POW's and Japanese historians at a meeting 50 years after the war ended on the Burma Thailand railway.world war 1939 – 1945 - prisons and prisoners – japanese, burma - thailand railway -
Monbulk RSL Sub Branch
Book, Pan Macmillan, One fourteenth of an elephant : a memoir of life and death on the Burma-Thailand railway, 2003
... war 1939 – 1945 - Prisons and prisoners – Japanese Burma ...Four and a half days after being transported out of Singapore in a steel goods train in October 1942, prisoner of war Denys Peek found himself in Siam, and a part of the labor force destined for the project that was later to be known as the Thai-Burma Death Railway.Maps, p.520.non-fictionFour and a half days after being transported out of Singapore in a steel goods train in October 1942, prisoner of war Denys Peek found himself in Siam, and a part of the labor force destined for the project that was later to be known as the Thai-Burma Death Railway.world war 1939 – 1945 - prisons and prisoners – japanese, burma - thailand railway -
Monbulk RSL Sub Branch
Book, Hachette, The Changi Brownlow, 2010
... , ill, maps, p.376. World war 1939 – 1945 - Prisons ...After Singapore fell to the Japanese in early 1942, 70000 prisoners, including 15000 Australians, were held as POWs at the notorious Changi prison. To amuse themselves, a group of sportsmen created an Aussie Football League, complete with tribunal, selection panel, umpires and coaches, a final game, and a Brownlow Medal.Index, bibliography, notes, ill, maps, p.376.non-fictionAfter Singapore fell to the Japanese in early 1942, 70000 prisoners, including 15000 Australians, were held as POWs at the notorious Changi prison. To amuse themselves, a group of sportsmen created an Aussie Football League, complete with tribunal, selection panel, umpires and coaches, a final game, and a Brownlow Medal.world war 1939 – 1945 - prisons and prisoners – japanese, changi prison - singapore -
Monbulk RSL Sub Branch
Book, Penguin, Behind bamboo, 1991
... -and-the-dandenong-ranges Book Behind bamboo Ill, p.400. World war 1939 ...The bestselling memoir of life as an Australian POW on the notorious Thai-Burma railway. Rohan Rivett was a journalist in Singapore when it fell to the Japanese in 1942. He escaped south - across the treacherous Bangka Strait - to Indonesia, but was soon captured and became just one of thousands of POWs struggling for existence in a Japanese camp. The struggle was to last for more than three years. Behind Bamboo is unflinching in its honesty and haunting in its realism. It is a vivid, compelling testament to the Australians' will to survive and their unassailable spirit in the face of the most callous inhumanity.Ill, p.400.non-fiction The bestselling memoir of life as an Australian POW on the notorious Thai-Burma railway. Rohan Rivett was a journalist in Singapore when it fell to the Japanese in 1942. He escaped south - across the treacherous Bangka Strait - to Indonesia, but was soon captured and became just one of thousands of POWs struggling for existence in a Japanese camp. The struggle was to last for more than three years. Behind Bamboo is unflinching in its honesty and haunting in its realism. It is a vivid, compelling testament to the Australians' will to survive and their unassailable spirit in the face of the most callous inhumanity.world war 1939 – 1945 - prisons and prisoners – japanese, burma - thailand railway -
Monbulk RSL Sub Branch
Book, Department of Veterans' Affair, Stolen Years : Australian Prisoners of War, 2002
Created by the Australian War Memorial, this book is an online companion to a travelling exhibition that explores the lives of those who were held captive by the Japanese. It describes what happened during the time these individuals spend months and years behind barbed wire, hungry, bored, cold, and sick. The book tells the story of how many survived and why they deserve our respect and understanding.Ill, p.157.non-fictionCreated by the Australian War Memorial, this book is an online companion to a travelling exhibition that explores the lives of those who were held captive by the Japanese. It describes what happened during the time these individuals spend months and years behind barbed wire, hungry, bored, cold, and sick. The book tells the story of how many survived and why they deserve our respect and understanding. world war 1939 – 1945 - prisons and prisoners – australia, prisoners of war - australia - pictorial works -
Monbulk RSL Sub Branch
Book, Allen & Unwin, Four thousand bowls of rice : a prisoner of war comes home, 1993
Over 60,000 Australians and Americans captured by the Japanese during World War II toiled and died to build the Bridge over the River Kwai. Respected military historian Linda Goetz Holmes tells the story of one man's survival in Japanese labor camps during WWII. Amazing photographs, taken secretly by other prisoners, chronicle this dark history of Allied troops in the Pacific theatre of war.Index, bibliography, notes, ill, p.179.non-fictionOver 60,000 Australians and Americans captured by the Japanese during World War II toiled and died to build the Bridge over the River Kwai. Respected military historian Linda Goetz Holmes tells the story of one man's survival in Japanese labor camps during WWII. Amazing photographs, taken secretly by other prisoners, chronicle this dark history of Allied troops in the Pacific theatre of war.world war 1939 – 1945 - prisons and prisoners – australia, burma thailand railway -
Monbulk RSL Sub Branch
Book, Simon & Schuster, Smiles of fortune : a memoir of the war against Japan 1943-45, 2001
An account of the 2/13th battalion's actions in World War TwoIndex, bibliography, ill, maps, p.119.non-fictionAn account of the 2/13th battalion's actions in World War Two2/13th btattalion aif - history, world war 1939 – 1945 – personal narratives – australia -
Monbulk RSL Sub Branch
Book, Weldon Publishing, The Home front family album : remembering Australia 1939-1945, 1991
Rationing - Red Cross - Women's role in wartime - Japanese midget submarines - Clothes rationing - Coalminers' strike - Censorship - Ration books.Index, ill, p.208.non-fictionRationing - Red Cross - Women's role in wartime - Japanese midget submarines - Clothes rationing - Coalminers' strike - Censorship - Ration books.australia 1939-1945 - social conditions, world war 1939-1945 - social aspects -
Monbulk RSL Sub Branch
Book, Albert Coates et al, The Albert Coates story, 1977
A description of Albert Coates and of his imprisonment as a prisoner of the Japanese in Sumatra, Burma and ThailandIndex, bibliography, ill (b/w), p.185.non-fictionA description of Albert Coates and of his imprisonment as a prisoner of the Japanese in Sumatra, Burma and Thailandprisoners of war - australia, world war 1939-1945 - personal narratives - australia -
Monbulk RSL Sub Branch
Book, Sue Ebury, Weary: The life of Sir Edward Dunlop, 1994
... , bibliography, notes, ill (b/w) world war 1939-1945 - prisoners ...A biography of the varied and inspirational life of Sir Edward DunlopIndex, bibliography, notes, ill (b/w)non-fictionA biography of the varied and inspirational life of Sir Edward Dunlopworld war 1939-1945 - prisoners and prisons - japanese, sir edward dunlop - biography -
Monbulk RSL Sub Branch
Book, Alistair MacLean, South by Java head, 1958
A Singapore falls to the Japanese a small group of men and women set sail on desperate journey. One of them carries a cargo without price, the complete plans for the Japanese invasion of Australia. In order to get at there is nothing the Japanese will not do. They will stop at nothing.p.286.non-fictionA Singapore falls to the Japanese a small group of men and women set sail on desperate journey. One of them carries a cargo without price, the complete plans for the Japanese invasion of Australia. In order to get at there is nothing the Japanese will not do. They will stop at nothing. world war 1939-1945 - fiction, war stories -
Monbulk RSL Sub Branch
Book, NAL Caliber, Final patrol : true stories of World War II submarines, 2006
During World War II, the U.S. Navy's submarine service suffered the highest percentage of casualties of any branch of the American armed forces. One in five submariners was lost. But despite the odds, these underwater warriors accounted for almost sixty percent of Japanese shipping losses and were a major factor in winning the war.Index, ill, p.331.During World War II, the U.S. Navy's submarine service suffered the highest percentage of casualties of any branch of the American armed forces. One in five submariners was lost. But despite the odds, these underwater warriors accounted for almost sixty percent of Japanese shipping losses and were a major factor in winning the war.submarine warfare - world war ii, world war 1939-1945 - naval operations - united states -
Monbulk RSL Sub Branch
Book, Panther, Empire of the sun, 1985
... - fiction World war 1939 – 1945 - Prisons and prisoners - Japanese ...The heartrending story of British boy Jim's four year ordeal in a Japanese prison camp during the second world war. Based on J. G. Ballard's own childhood, this is the extraordinary account of a boy's life in Japanese-occupied wartime Shanghai--a mesmerising, hypnotically compelling novel of war, of starvation and survival, of internment camps and death marches. It blends searing honesty with an almost hallucinatory vision of a world thrown utterly out of joint. Rooted as it is in the author's own disturbing experience of war in our time, it is one of a handful of novels by which the twentieth century will be not only remembered but judged.p.351.fictionThe heartrending story of British boy Jim's four year ordeal in a Japanese prison camp during the second world war. Based on J. G. Ballard's own childhood, this is the extraordinary account of a boy's life in Japanese-occupied wartime Shanghai--a mesmerising, hypnotically compelling novel of war, of starvation and survival, of internment camps and death marches. It blends searing honesty with an almost hallucinatory vision of a world thrown utterly out of joint. Rooted as it is in the author's own disturbing experience of war in our time, it is one of a handful of novels by which the twentieth century will be not only remembered but judged. world war 1939-1945 - fiction, world war 1939 – 1945 - prisons and prisoners - japanese -
Monbulk RSL Sub Branch
Book, Futura Publications, Return from the river Kwai, 1980
... .320. World war 1939 – 1945 - Prisons and prisoners - Japanese ...2000 survivors of the Burma railway were sent to Japan but their ship was sunk by an american submarine.Index, ill, maps, p.320.non-fiction2000 survivors of the Burma railway were sent to Japan but their ship was sunk by an american submarine.world war 1939 – 1945 - prisons and prisoners - japanese, burma - thailand railway -
Monbulk RSL Sub Branch
Book, Allen & Unwin, Gull Force : Survival and Leadership in Captivity 1941-1945, 1988
... in Captivity 1941-1945 Index, bib, ill, map, p.220. World war 1939 ...The captivity experiences of Gull Force taken prisoner by the Japanese in Ambon in 1942Index, bib, ill, map, p.220.non-fictionThe captivity experiences of Gull Force taken prisoner by the Japanese in Ambon in 1942world war 1939 – 1945 - prisons and prisoners - japanese, prison camp - ambon -
Monbulk RSL Sub Branch
Jove Books, Bataan : the march of death, 1984
... . World war 1939 – 1945 - Prisons and prisoners - Japanese ...The story of the infamous Bataan death marchIndex, ill, map, p.242.non-fictionThe story of the infamous Bataan death marchworld war 1939 – 1945 - prisons and prisoners - japanese, atrocities - japan -
Monbulk RSL Sub Branch
Book, Hugh V. Clarke and Colin Burgess, Barbed wire and bamboo : Australian POWs in Europe, North Africa, Singapore, Thailand and Japan, 1993
... .159 World war 1939 – 1945 - Prisons and prisoners - Japanese ...A collection of stories of capture, imprisonment and escape in World War I and II. Covering experiences in Europe and in South East Asia, the book presents contrasting PoW experiences - of daring escapes from Colditz Castle, and of endurance and slow suffering in Japanese camps.Ill, maps, p.159A collection of stories of capture, imprisonment and escape in World War I and II. Covering experiences in Europe and in South East Asia, the book presents contrasting PoW experiences - of daring escapes from Colditz Castle, and of endurance and slow suffering in Japanese camps.world war 1939 – 1945 - prisons and prisoners - japanese, world war 1939 – 1945 - prisons and prisoners – germany -
Monbulk RSL Sub Branch
Book, George Allen & Unwin, Twilight liberation : Australian prisoners of war between Hiroshima and home, 1985
... – 1945 - Prisons and prisoners – Japanese World War 1939-1945 ...Australian prisoners of war in Japan in the aftermath of The Japanese surrenderIll, p.165non-fictionAustralian prisoners of war in Japan in the aftermath of The Japanese surrenderworld war 1939 – 1945 - prisons and prisoners – japanese, world war 1939-1945 - personal narratives - australia -
Monbulk RSL Sub Branch
Book, University of Queensland Press, Captives: Australian Army Nurses in Japanese Prison Camps, 1986
... Prison Camps Index, ill, p.162. World war 1939 – 1945 - Prisons ...The story of the experiences of Australian Army nurses as Japanese prisoners of warIndex, ill, p.162.non-fictionThe story of the experiences of Australian Army nurses as Japanese prisoners of warworld war 1939 – 1945 - prisons and prisoners - japanese, australian army nursing service -
Monbulk RSL Sub Branch
Book, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, P.O.W. : prisoners of war, 1985
... – Japanese World war 1939-1945 - Personal narrativies - Australia ...Within three months of the Japanese entering World War II on December 8, 1941 over 22 000 Australians had become prisoners-of-war. They went into camps in Timor, Ambon, New Britain, Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Singapore and Malaya, and a few were scattered to other points in what was briefly part of the Japanese empire. Later most of the prisoners were to be shifted further north into South-east Asia, Formosa, Korea, Manchuria and Japan itself. They were captives within lands and cultures and to experiences alien to those known to all other Australians. At the end of the war in August 1945, 14315 servicemen and thirty service women were alive to put on new, loose-fitting uniforms and go home. One in three of the prisoners had died. That is, nearly half of the deaths suffered by Australians in the war in the Pacific were among men and women who had surrendered. Another 8174 Australians had been captured in the fighting in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa: but of these men only 265 died as a result of wounds, disease or execution.By any quantitative measure the imprisonment of so many Australians is a major event in Australian history. For many soldiers it was living --and dying --in captivity which made World War II different from that of World War I. But the prisoners have received no permanent place in Australian history. Their story is not immediately recalled on celebratory occasions. In a general history of the nation in which a chapter is given to the war the prisoners might be mentioned in a sentence, or part of a sentence. Where the horror, stoicism and gallantry of Gallipoli have become part of a common tradition shared by all Australians, the ex-prisoners are granted just the horror. The public may be sympathetic; but the horror is for the prisoners alone. To make another comparison: in five months of fighting on the Kokoda Trail in 1942 the Australians lost 625 dead, less than the number who died on Ambon. Yet the events on Ambon are unknown to most Australians. There were no reporters or cameramen on Ambon and, for the 309 who defended Ambon's Laha airfield, no survivors. How many of them died in battle or died as prisoners will never be known. But there are more than just practical reasons why the record of the prisoners of war is so slight and uneven in the general knowledge of Australians. They have not tried to find out. No historian has written a book to cover the range of camps and experiences, and only in specialist medical publications has anyone investigated the impact of prison life on subsequent physical and mental health. The complexity of the experience and its impact on particular lives have not been expressed in a way to give them significance for other Australians.Index, bib, ill, maps, p.224.Within three months of the Japanese entering World War II on December 8, 1941 over 22 000 Australians had become prisoners-of-war. They went into camps in Timor, Ambon, New Britain, Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Singapore and Malaya, and a few were scattered to other points in what was briefly part of the Japanese empire. Later most of the prisoners were to be shifted further north into South-east Asia, Formosa, Korea, Manchuria and Japan itself. They were captives within lands and cultures and to experiences alien to those known to all other Australians. At the end of the war in August 1945, 14315 servicemen and thirty service women were alive to put on new, loose-fitting uniforms and go home. One in three of the prisoners had died. That is, nearly half of the deaths suffered by Australians in the war in the Pacific were among men and women who had surrendered. Another 8174 Australians had been captured in the fighting in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa: but of these men only 265 died as a result of wounds, disease or execution.By any quantitative measure the imprisonment of so many Australians is a major event in Australian history. For many soldiers it was living --and dying --in captivity which made World War II different from that of World War I. But the prisoners have received no permanent place in Australian history. Their story is not immediately recalled on celebratory occasions. In a general history of the nation in which a chapter is given to the war the prisoners might be mentioned in a sentence, or part of a sentence. Where the horror, stoicism and gallantry of Gallipoli have become part of a common tradition shared by all Australians, the ex-prisoners are granted just the horror. The public may be sympathetic; but the horror is for the prisoners alone. To make another comparison: in five months of fighting on the Kokoda Trail in 1942 the Australians lost 625 dead, less than the number who died on Ambon. Yet the events on Ambon are unknown to most Australians. There were no reporters or cameramen on Ambon and, for the 309 who defended Ambon's Laha airfield, no survivors. How many of them died in battle or died as prisoners will never be known. But there are more than just practical reasons why the record of the prisoners of war is so slight and uneven in the general knowledge of Australians. They have not tried to find out. No historian has written a book to cover the range of camps and experiences, and only in specialist medical publications has anyone investigated the impact of prison life on subsequent physical and mental health. The complexity of the experience and its impact on particular lives have not been expressed in a way to give them significance for other Australians.world war 1939 – 1945 - prisons and prisoners – japanese, world war 1939-1945 - personal narrativies - australia -
Monbulk RSL Sub Branch
Book, Hesperian Press, Borneo surgeon : a reluctant hero : the life and times of Dr. James Patrick Taylor, OBE, MB, CH.M, 1995
... World war 1939 – 1945 - Prisons and prisoners - Japanese World ...Peter Firkins has produced a heroic figure comparable in courage and selflessness to that of the legendary 'Weary' Dunlop, and whose story should be known by all Australians in the same way. What a wonderful epitaph to a man born into a humble Yass family at the end of the nineteenth century who, by his own determination and intellect, won a scholarship for his secondary education at St Patrick's College, Goulburn and an Exhibition to study medicine at Sydney University. Almost by pure chance he pursued his medical career in an outpost of the British Empire then known as British North Borneo to become Principal Medical Officer at the time of the Japanese occupation during World War II. The Japanese allowed the civilian medical staff to remain at their posts with the status of 'simple confinement' while at the same time the bewildered local people looked to someone for leadership in their new and unaccustomed circumstances.Aided by his wonderful wife Celia he was imperceptibly drawn into the key role of organising the underground movement among loyal native and giving support to the Australian Prisoners of War transferred to Borneo from Singapore. In 1943 he was exposed to the Japanese, arrested and terribly tortured. Donated by Major General M.P.J. O'Brien, July 2018. Signed by authorIll, p.151non-fictionPeter Firkins has produced a heroic figure comparable in courage and selflessness to that of the legendary 'Weary' Dunlop, and whose story should be known by all Australians in the same way. What a wonderful epitaph to a man born into a humble Yass family at the end of the nineteenth century who, by his own determination and intellect, won a scholarship for his secondary education at St Patrick's College, Goulburn and an Exhibition to study medicine at Sydney University. Almost by pure chance he pursued his medical career in an outpost of the British Empire then known as British North Borneo to become Principal Medical Officer at the time of the Japanese occupation during World War II. The Japanese allowed the civilian medical staff to remain at their posts with the status of 'simple confinement' while at the same time the bewildered local people looked to someone for leadership in their new and unaccustomed circumstances.Aided by his wonderful wife Celia he was imperceptibly drawn into the key role of organising the underground movement among loyal native and giving support to the Australian Prisoners of War transferred to Borneo from Singapore. In 1943 he was exposed to the Japanese, arrested and terribly tortured. Donated by Major General M.P.J. O'Brien, July 2018. Signed by authorworld war 1939 – 1945 - prisons and prisoners - japanese, world war 1939 – 1945 – personal narratives – australia