Notebook relating to the service of Major Charles Patrick Tracey, 1942-1944 - Part 2










For Mercy, Courage, Kindness, Mirth,
There is no measure upon earth.
May, they wither, root and stem,
If an end be set to them.
Overbrim and overflow,
If your own heart you would know;
For the spirit born to bless,
Lives best in its own excess
Laurence Binyon
Lose this day loitering, 'twill be the same story,
Tomorrow, and the next more dilatory,
For indecision brings its own delays
and days are lost, lamenting o'er lost days.
Are you in earnest? Seize this very minute,
What you can do, or think you can, begin it
only engage, and then the mind grows heated.
Begin it and the work will be completed.
Goethe.
He either fears his fate too much,
or his deserts are small,
That dares not put it to the touch,
To gain or lose it all.
Earl of Montrose.
Man with his burning soul
Has but an hour of breath
To build a ship of truth
In which his soul may sail -
Sail on the Sea of Death
For Death takes toll
of beauty, courage, youth
of all but truth.
John Masefield
Philip the King.
TO-DAY
For all we have and are,
For all our children's fate,
Stand up and meet the War.
The Hun is at the gate!
Our world has pass'd away
In wantonness o'er thrown.
There is nothing left today
But steel and fire and stone
Though all we knew depart.
The old commandments stand:
"In courage keep your heart,
In strength lift up your hand."
Once more we hear the word
That sickened earth of old:
"No law except the sword
unsheathed and uncontrolled";
Once more it knits mankind,
Once more the nations go
To meet and break and bind
A crazed and driven foe.
Comfort, content, delight, -
The ages slow bought gain,
They shrivel'd in a night,
Only ourselves remain
To face the naked days
In silent fortitude
Through perils and dismays
Renew'd and re-renew'd.
Though all we made depart,
The old Commandments stand:
"In patience keep your heart,
In strength lift up your hands.
No easy hopes or lies
Shall bring us to our goal,
But iron sacrifice
Of body, will, and soul.
There is but one task for all-
For each one life to give.
Who stands if Freedom fall?
Who dies if England live?
Rudyard Kipling
Before Agincourt.
Foe he today that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother: be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And Gentlemen in England now abed
Shall hold themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhood cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon St Crispins day.
Wm Shakespeare (Henry V)
-----------------------------------------
Arm yourselves, and be ye men of valour,
and be in readiness for the conflict; for it
is better for us to perish in battle than to
look upon the outrage of our nation and
our altars. As the will of God is in heaven,
even so let him do.
Church Collect, "Accingimini."
-----------------------------------------
To Bombing Raiders
How are ye blind,
Ye treaders down of cities, ye that cast
Temples to desolation, and lay waste
Tombs, the untrodden sanctuaries where lie
The ancient dead: yourselves so soon to die!
Euripides, (The Trojan Women)
--------------------------------------
Cargoes.
Quinquereme of Mineveh from distant Ophir
Rowing home to haven in sunny Palestine,
With a cargo of ivory
and apes and peacocks.
Sandlewood, cedarwood, and sweet white wine.
Stately Spanish galleon coming from the Isthmus,
Dipping through the Tropics by the palm-green shores
With a cargo of diamonds.
Emeralds and amethysts,
Topazes, and cinnamon, and gold moidores.
Dirty British coaster with a salt coated smoke-stack
Cutting through the channel in the mad March days
With a cargo of Tyne coal,
Road tails, pig lead,
Firewood, dinnerware, and cheap tin trays.
John Maxfield.
A wet sheet and a flowing sea,
And a wind that follows fast,
And fills the white and rustling sail,
And bends the gallant mast;
And bends the gallant mast, my boys ,
which, like the eagle free
Away the good ship flies, and leaves
Old England on the lee.
............................................................
Oh, for a soft and gentle wind!
I heard a fair one cry;
But give to me the snorting breeze,
and white waves heaving high;
and white waves heaving high, my boys,
the good ship tight and free -
The world of waters is our home,
and merry men are we
...................................................................
There's tempest in yon horn'ed moon,
And lightning in your cloud:
And hark the music, mariners!
The wind is piping loud:
The wind is piping loud, my boys
The lightning flashing free,
While the hollo oak our palace is,
our heritage the sea
Allan Cunningham
-----------------------------------
The Fighting Timiraine
There's a far bell ringing
At the setting of the sun,
And a phantom voice is singing
of the great days done.
There's a far bell ringing,
and a phantom voice is singing
of renown for ever clinging
To the great days done
Now the sunset breezes shiver,
Timiraine! Timiraine!
And she's fading down the river
Timiraine! Timiraine!
Now the sunset breezes shiver
And she's fading down the river,
But in Englands song for ever
She's the Fighting Timiraine
Sir Henry Newbolt.
You may well have a greater prince,
but you shall never have a more
loving prince.
Queen Elizabeth addressing the
citizens of London
149
Lieut Fukuda 30.5.43
Camp Supervisor
Following on yesterday the submission
of a memorandum signed by myself
Majs Tracey & Anderson & SMO. Mg Hunt
I now submit an extract of a report
received today from the S.M.O.
"During the past 24 hrs the medical situation
has gone from bad to worse. 447 men
attended sick pde today. Of these only 190
are fit for very light work. 183 have been
excused all work. about 25 new cholera
cases have been admitted about 50 new
patients have been admitted to the Gen Hosp.
Of the above adms 10 have been nurses & the
supply of nurses is almost exhausted.
In view of the above and the generally
debilitated condition of the so called "fit"
men, it is obvious from the medical point of
view that the present cessation of road &
railway work must continue indefinitely.
Fewer & fewer men are available every day
for work and within a few days there will
only be sufficient work fit men available
to maintain essential camp services and
to nurse the sick" Signed Bruce Hunt. Maj
The figures quoted in this report only
refer to the result of todays sick pde.
The present camp sickness position is as
follows.
Total men in Hosp- Cholera 114
Others 240
" ' unfit for duty 183
" " fit for very light duty 190
" " on hospital staff 116
843
It will be seen from these figures
that the cholera epidemic is showing
no improvement yet, but on the other hand
sickness generally has become more prevel.
due to the high incidence of fever.
Thus the recommendations outlined in
yesterdays mem. is being justified by
continued evidence of deterioration in the
health of POWS in the camp & in the circs
it is considered to be of extreme urgency
that the cessation of work - from both the
position of the work in camp & the ultimate
requirements of the work itself in FIT men-
be continued indefinitely.
xxxxxxxxx Maj.
O/C 29.5.43
Shino Sonkurai Camp
The medical situation in this camp is
extremely grave & is becoming worse
every hour. At the present moment cholera
is raging - there have been 37 deaths (by 2.6.43
total deaths 63) & over 90 patients in hospital -
new cases are occuring at the rate of more
than 25 daily. Dysentery is still a very
serious problem and men are so debilitated
from prolonged dysentery or diarrhoea that
they will be many weeks before they are fit
for any form of work; meanwhile their
resistance to cholera or any other disease is
seriously impaired. Malaria is rapidly
increasing and we anticipate that within
a week or two there will be hundreds
of sufferers.
Taking the situation as a whole it is
our anticipation that within one month a
week or two there will be hundreds of sufferers,
one month there will NOT be 250 men in this
camp fit to do a days work. The reason
for this situation are that the men in this
camp have been subjected to treatment
which is wrong for any civilised nation
to inflict on its POWS.
In detail:
(i) The men before leaving Changi were
weakened by dysentery and deficiency
diseases (beri-beri & Pellagra?) and were
in NO condition to withstand infectious
diseases.
(ii) An assurance was given by the I.J.A. at
changi to Comd A.I.F. at Changi that food
would be better here than in Changi and
that tps would NOT have to march from
the railway to their destination neither of
these promises have been kept. Relying on
the second promise many men totally
unfit to march were included in the Force -
Very many of these are now in hospital -
some have died.
(iii) The hygiene of the camp on the road was
appalling and hundreds of men were successively
infected by dysentery, by malaria, and
finally by cholera - the present tradgedy is
the result.
(iv) The conditions of marching were extremely
arduous and in some cases unwarrantably
mad. Still men were driven out onto the
road night after night, in some cases
with high fever or dysentery. As a result
when men arrived here they were
completely exhausted.
(v) After arrival men were put in an unhygenic
badly situated camp, roofless, and with very
bad latrine accomodation; all conditions
ideal for the spread of disease were present &
disease has in consequence, rapidly spread -
your own report that 53 positive results for
cholera were found in about 500 men apparently
healthy men shows how rapidly and wildly
the spread took place.
(vi) No adequate rest was given to men nor was
any assistance given to requests for help. On
the contrary men were sent out to work and
kept out of camp 12-13 hrs a day in pouring
rain conditions typical NOT to the honourable
treatment of POWS but of slave labour.
At the present moment (approx)
37 men are dead of cholera
95 in hospital with cholera
250 " " other diseases
140 excused duty on account of sickness.
and many of these would be in hospital
if there was enough room, drugs & nurses.
150 men are so weakened by illness that
they are only fit for light duty.
120 men are being (or have been) used in the care
of the sick - of these 30 have already become as sick
as to have been admitted to hospital. Thus about
500 men out of 2000 have been invalids or have been
required to nurse the sick within 14 days of the
arrival of the tps in this camp - and the number is
likely to increase rapidly.
In view of the above facts we demand:
- That this document be forwarded to the rep. of the
International Red Cross in BANKOK or RANGOON.
2. That all work shall cease, NOT for 3 days, but
indefinitely until the recent cholera epidemic
has been got fully under control. In these conditions
we draw your attention to the promise given on
the 27th May 43 that all work would cease for 3
days. This promise was broken the day after
it was given.
The reasons for asking for all work to cease are
a) To enable all necessary constructive work
around the camp on latrines, roofing & drainage
to be done
- To enable hundreds of debilitated men to rest
and recover their health.
2. To permit of enough men being allotted to
nursing work & give adequate treatment to the
hundreds of sick and the rest of the present
overworked and exhausted nursing staff.
3. The supply of adequate drugs, disinfectants,
soap, lights and other medical supplies.
4. The supply of blankets for the sick.
5. The supply of invalid foods, soups and tea &
sugar for the sick.
6. The improvement of the camp diet by extra
vitamin containing food. eg. Rice polishings
Towgay, meat, oil & fats.
7. The supply of suppressive atabin for the whole
camp - the present small dosage of quinine
is quite inadequate and without effect.
8. The supply of water containers, especially 44
gallon containers to enable water to be used
on a large scale, also smaller containers
for water boiling to make sterilisation
possible.
9. The supply of a large number of waterproof
tarps for the cholera area which is
expanding daily. At least 30 large tents for
are required apart from what is now in
the camp.
10. The supply of oil for dealing with mosquito
breeding places in the camp - a visit from
Capt Wilson, malaria expert at H.Q. camp
is urgently necessary to locate these.
11. The supply of protective clothing - white
coats for nurses handling cholera.
12. As soon as the health of the camp has been
improved which may NOT be for several
months, the evacuation of the area by tps
and their subsequent treatment in a
manner befitting the honourable Japanese
Nation whose reputation must suffer
gravely if the present conditions continue
We demand that this document be laid
before Lt Col BANNO and the Senior
Japanese Medical Officer for the area
and also before Lt Col HARRIS at the earliest
possible moment - preferably tonight.
Signed N. JOHNSON, MAJ Comd AIF Tps
Shino Sonkurai Camp
BRUCE HUNT MAJ SMO. Camp
C. TRACEY MAJ Comd No 1 Bn
R. ANDERSON " " No 2 Bn.
31.5.43 Took over cmd of camp - Got
all men kept in camp for day to do essential
work on latrines, blgs, etc.
Again prevailed on Japs to leave men
1.5.43 in camp and continued works
2.5.43 Broke number down from 500 to 45044
3.5.43 " " " " " to 400
Had an increase in rations. All
above at the expense of much argument and
strain which I am beginning to feel a bit [[?]]
--------------------------------------------------------
hopes on Court of Inquiry held about
13/7/43 into the loss of $1200 by us.
Members. Pres Maj Johnston 2/30 Btn
Maj Anderson 2/30 Btn
Maj Hunt AAMC
Circumstances At changi all train
comds were given two lots of $600
for delivery to Col Kaffe' when
required. We signed two separate
receipts for these amounts on
a very large number [[?]]
P.S
Regarding the anticipated trip
to the Truck dump on April 26/43.
this trk was very definitely
inspected by Capt Swartz , for, when
I appointed him in a spirit of
some chagrin at being unable
to get at my truck, I was
assured that representation had
already been made for a faster
trip, & that the tarp would most
probably take place during the
a.m. 26 Apr 43 - not only did this
trip not eventuate, but a
request to draw further medical
supplies from the camp was also
refused. [[Doub?]] [[Hary?]] - Capt
Shine [[Sork?]] 2/26 Bn
24.7.43 Case cancelled 30/12/43
Following letter dropped by IJA
plane & delivered to Malayan
Command 10 Feb 42
------------
Lieut Gen Tawayaki Yamishita
High Comd Nippon Army
To High Command
British Army in Malaya
Your Excellency,
I, the High Comd of the
Nippon Army in the Spirit of Japanese
Chivalry have the honour of presenting
this note to your Excellency advising
you to surrender the whole force
in Malaya. My sincere respect
is due to your Army which, [[?]] to
the traditional Spirit of Gt Britain, is
bravely defending Singapore, which
stands isolated & unaided.
Many fierce & gallant fights have been
fought by your gallant Offrs & men
to the honour of British Warriorship, but
the developments of the General War
situation has already sealed the fate
of Singapore and continuation of futile
resistance would not only serve to
inflict direct harm & injuries to
thousands of non-combatants living in
the city, throwing them into further
miseries and horrors of war, but also
would not certainly add anything
to the honour of your army.
I expect that your Excellency, accepting
my advice, will give up this.

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