Diary of service - Donald Morrison, 1940 - 1945 - Part 19

POW Life: 1942 - 1945
Without the fire we would have been weeks on the job; as it was it took two days to
roll the wire and carry it up from the beach. The biggest nuisance on the job was the
monkey belonging to the interpreter. The damned thing would suddenly jump at
anybody and take a bit at the calf of the leg and jolly painful it was tool The Nips
were the only ones who could see the joke.
The GL work went on every day and after the parties had loaded and carted the debris
left by the bull dozers, the levelling of the area commenced.
It was possible not to see the expanse of the drome and the number of persons
employed on the job. There must have been as many Chinese as there were POW
from change as well as a large number of Indian troops. The Chinese, old and young,
were brought from Singapore daily; they had to work to get a rice ration.
Several hills of varying size had to be removed and the spoil used to fill the
depressions. To help with the work of moving the soil there were three steam trains,
for the bigger jobs; five lines of manhandled skips which could be moved from site to
site and were used for smaller works. We also had the assistance of three Tourneau
scoops and five bull dozers.
The AIF generally worked on the skips which entailed shovelling the earth into the
skips and then pushing the train to the emptying point and spreading the earth in the
depression. Adjacent lines of skips had to regulate their pace so that they completed
the same number of journeys daily. Otherwise the Nips would charge the slower line
with loafing and deal out a bashing or two.
After one section was levelled, the line was taken apart like a Hornsby train and was
manhandled to the next position while skips were loaded onto a motor truck for the
journey.
We were gradually working along the line of the runway which was to traverse the
padangs between Roberts and Selerang Barracks. This entailed digging up the
bitumen of the Changi Road for a distance of nearly a mile. Picks were used to break
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the surface and it was pretty hard work. A few houses were in the way. These fell to
the onslaughts of bull dozers but the rubble was loaded into trucks by hand.
Someone on the staff of Malaya Company decided that the GL party was getting lax
so MC issued a screed pointing out the lack of discipline amongst all ranks. The
officers were not getting enough salutes and the NCO's were more of a hindrance
than a help in maintaining order; thins must be smartened up.....Hooey. Then
Headquarter AIF added their pin prick. GL officers were to wear Parade ground dress
on the drome; boots, long socks, puttees, flashes, shorts, shirts, hats, webb belts and
canes regimental swagger. We had been wearing boots, short socks, hat and armband
showing rank. A bit of a change but considered necessary to restore dignity to the
officers.
Alf Lamacraft, Gp Commander, came out on the job for a couple of days before
Christmas. He just wanted to see what went on and would take no part in the running
of the party. His visit did me some good in that he found another job for a very
useless subaltern that I had and gave me Jock Dole in his place.
Colonel Holmes, the Camp Commander, had been protesting for sometime against the
condition of the prisoners in Outtram Road Goal. These lads had either escaped from
"B" Force or had committed some crime in Japanese eyes. They lived in the most
appalling conditions; shortage of food and generally kept in solitary confinement. The
Nips were fed up with these protests and decided that Holmes would go to work on
the drome for two weeks and that he would not be allowed to sign his routine orders
and such screeds as "Colonel Commander POW". The Colonel took it in his
stride and never turned a hair but kept on fighting for better conditions all round.
Early in December 1943 I had a spell from the drome for several weeks. Something
went wrong with my groin and I could hardly walk. John Catchlove, MO, 2/20
Battalion, made me stay in the lines and so I was able to catch up with some of the
Administration work of the Company. There was some return or other to be supplied,
mostly to do with clothing. It was an uphill fight to keep the men at all decently clad
and they used to make good use of their day off from the drome to wash and mend
what they had.
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As a trial run after a few weeks I went to work in the IJA garden before returning to the
drome.
These few weeks saw great advances in the GL work but there was still a tremendous
amount of filling and levelling to be done before any real semblance to a drome
would be seen.
There was a lot of visiting between Selarang and the G and W area; when rations
permitted we asked a few of "F" Force over for a meal and the chaps were able to
have a good old yarn about their various doings.
Mail was still arriving every now and then and Headquarters AIF asked everyone to
hand in news of interest so that it could be collated and circularised in a Newsletter. In
this way we learnt of the submarine attack on Sydney Harbour and that Ian Morrison
had written a book on the Malayan campaign.
General Saito decided to inspect all POW in change so we paraded on the Square at
1030 hours one Sunday morning. The General turned up at 1400 hrs and spent three
minutes addressing up; there was no actual inspection. We got back to our lines for
lunch at 1500 hours.
The next day we heard that Lionel Mathews, 8 Division Signals, had been executed in
Borneo for operating a radio set and for consorting with friendly natives ..... A
tragedy...
Ward Booth, 2/30 Battalion, marched into 154 on 29 March. His job was to take note
of the fittings, lights etc and to see that they were there after we moved out to the G
and W area. I was quite prepared to hand over the house as I found it but not to leave
behind all the stools, cupboards and various oddments the men had made for
themselves. Ward and I spent a long time trying to come to some agreement but it was
hopeless. Our ideas of what was reasonable would not meet. Leo Green gave me the
nod and said that he would see to everything and that I was not to worry. He
organised a bit of a moonlight flit and on the final inspection before leaving quite a
few things were found to have been lost.
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"C" Group broke up on Saturday 1 April 1944 after a fairly happy association lasting
eight months. There had been no undue mucking about due mainly, I think, to the fact
that the Gp Commander was of no higher rank than Captain and that he had an
Adjunct, "Q" and CSM who did not stand on ceremony but who rather talked you into
helping them,
April 1944
G & W
When I reported back to the Unit, now under Fred Hore while SAF was acting
Brigade Commander, I found that I was OC to a combined C and D Company. This

was rather a blow as I did not know the men very well and would have much

preferred A and B. My CSM was George Murphy with whom I had working in Happy

Valley and I had Len Stewart as P and O Corporal.

All the chaps who had been on F Force were still suffering the after effects of that

experience and I do not think that they appreciated the Regimentation that went on. I

went into the matter of duties with Murphy and found them just as heavy as in C

Group and there was nothing we could do about it.

After I had got the feel of the new job I crossed over to the AGH to do some Hospital

visiting. Most of the lads were in very good heart but Chris Nestor was very down in

the dumps and appeared to have chucked up the sponge. Chris died a couple of days

later, on 4 April 1944, to be exact, and I was in charge of the general party. I asked

that Harry Archdall, who was Chris's PI Commander during the island fighting, be

relieved from GL for the day in order to attend the funeral. This request was refused

and I was very peeved.

Following the practise in Burma, the IJA decided that Changi-ites should give all

orders for saluting and that all counting on parade should be done in Nippon-go. This

entailed a bit of study on my part as languages are not my strong point. Also, they

instituted a Flag Ferry service between G and W and Selarang. Those wishing to cross

had to assemble at the gate and then await the work of the Nip before moving off.

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My main recreation was bridge and working in the officers' vegetable garden with

Ben Hackney. The latter was rather irregular as my groin was playing up again and I

had to go out on the Drome a few times. The Drome was now organised in three

shifts;

• 0700 to 1400
• 1300 to 2000
• 8 to 1700

I always managed to be given the early shift which was considered the best one. It

was cooler then and our clocks were actually an hour and a half fast. There was only

the meal break in each shift which made the hours long. Previously we had morning

and afternoon tea as well.

Battalion Check parades each night were an awful business and seemed to be very

long drawn out. At the commencement I had great trouble in getting the numbers and

the bodies to tally and had to detail two NCOs to act as "whips". These parades were

full dress shows when everyone had to wear ones best. This was a good idea as it

made us all take a bit of pride in our turnout.

Ben Hackney had to go to AGH as he overworked in the garden and had a breakdown

and then Mel was packed off with Pellegra and was away for some months. Ben 

returned to the Unit after a short absence. People were coming and going the whole

time – in and out of AGH and to and from special work parties and returning from

upcountry.

April - May 1944

Rumour had it, and once more was to prove correct, that all POW on Singapore Island

were to be moved round. The civilians were to go from the goal to Sime Road; the
Hospital was to move to Kranji on the North of the island and the prisoners in the G
and W area and in Selarang were to live at Changi Goal. Officers were to be
segregated from the men for the first time and were to live in an Officers Area outside
the Goal walls. The men were to be housed in the cells of the Goal proper and in huts
100 metres long to be erected to the South of the Goal. Certain offices were to be in a
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work pool which was to provide Centurions for GL party and OCs for any other jobs
that might need supervision.
The move was to be completed by the end of May and in that period Attap huts had to
be dismantled from G and W and taken by the time honoured method of man, drawn
trailers to the Goal area and there re-erected. Preparation for the movement was so up
to schedule that General Saito issued an order of the day expressing his satisfaction.
At intervals, small parties would move out to the Goal to help with the finishing
touches so that the main body could take up residence with the least inconvenience.
Kitchens, latrines and ablution benches had to be provided.
Mail from Australia kept drifting into camp. Of this movement we were kept well
informed by the work party who went to IJA Headquarters each day for various
duties. On 1 May, I received two letters from Ivy, each of which contained a bit of
bad news. The first said that her Father had died on 21 September 1942 and the
second that Mum died on 6 June 1943. This news put a damper on things for awhile
but after all it was only to be expected.
Work on the Drome went on for some months but I did my last job there on 20 May
1944. I brought back the early morning shift to the G and W Area about 1500 hours as
usual, expecting to get a cup of tea before we put our feet up. Such was not to be; the
area was completely deserted. During our absence the remainder of the Unit had
moved across to Selarang and taken everything with them including the personal
possessions of our party. Not a clue to their whereabouts. So, tired and hungry, and
a bit fed up, we crossed over to find them near the Square. Another letter from Ivy
awaited me; in it she said David and his Unit were in England.
May 1944
Goal
Until 25 May 1944, we did nothing but loaf about and play cards and suchlike. John
Wyett came round one night; we had not seen him for sometime as he had been in
solitary confinement in Outtram Road Goal. It was good to see him again; he had
been a great help during the fighting.
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While waiting to move off to the Goal on 25^th, I met Hal, a brother of Mac Thirlwell
who was at Albury with me and then went into 2/23; Mac was wounded and got an
MC. I heard also of a Corporal Brown of B Company 2/22 who got away from Rabaul
and landed in WA two months later.
Officers of 2/29 who moved down to the Goal in the same party as myself were
Kemp, Trewin, Paul and Hackney. It was a leisurely stroll as we had to push a trailer
carrying our gear. That night was the first I had spent outside of the Barracks area since
February 1942, 827 days ago.
Officers were to have slept in the Coolie Lines but, as these were not ready for us, we
lived in one of the attap huts for the first two nights.
The Coolie lines were designed to accommodate native labour employed at the Goal.
They comprised six concrete buildings set in depth and each was divided into eight
flats. Each flat had a verandah in front from which opened a room big enough, by
POW standards at any rate, to sleep four or five men. Through the back door of this
room was a small passage which housed ablutions, latrine and kitchen. These
conveniences could not be used as was intended as the water supply was disorganised.
Communal kitchens, banks of borehole latrines and showering facilities were being
set up gradually by the Advance Parties.
The lines had to be cleaned out before we could take up residence. Kemp, Bowring,
Brown and I shared a flat while MacGregor was attached for rations.
The next three months were a sort of transitionary period - people coming and going;
all Commands from POW to Officers Pool being changed continually; the Camp
gradually filling up with the return of work parties from upcountry as the
accommodation at the Goal increased with the erection of more huts; clearing and
planting new areas for vegetable gardens and the various household chores which had
to be done.
Everyone considered that the general move to the Goal had been carried out in pretty
good time. However, we were set back on our heels when we heard about the Hospital
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at Selerang. On 29 May the IJA gave them one hours notice to have the worst patients
ready to move out to Kranji. Sixty five trucks were promised to do the job. Naturally 
there was a bit of a panic for a short time but, Glyn White and others calmed things 
down and had the preparations completed on time.

Glyn was an excellent DADMS and carried out many "panic" moves of Hospitals and 
Clearing Stations etc. Perhaps his best effort was moving 10 AGH from Malacca to 
Johore Bahru; the good book said that seven days were necessary for such a move but 
Glyn cut the time to thirty six hours.

June 1944

Hut E2

My life was mostly ups and downs as I had several attacks of "colic" which laid me 
low every now and then. In between times I worked on the Officers trailer party or in 
the garden. To fill in any spare time there was always the Unit records to be kept up to 
date. I decided to list all the men under their various trades or professions. I drew up a 
few specimen cards which I took round to the Company Officers and asked for help in 
getting them completed. Of all cards sent out only 1% were not completed and 
returned. Bill Osborne looked after the cards for those at Kranji.

One of the most interesting persons I have met was Hill Regan, OBE, Master Mariner. 
Bruce Bowring picked him up somewhere and brought him along to the Flat for a 
yarn. Hill Regan had been in Australia five months ago; January 1944. He told us 
about Rationing, the Black Out, the Bombing of Darwin and the infiltration of Yanks. 
He was awarded the OBE for bringing into port one half of his ship which had been 
torpedoed in the English Channel. His main job was commanding tankers on various 
runs from the Persian Gulf. His stories about the performances of the two "Queens" 
seemed fantastic to us but later on proved to be slightly underrated. He was an 
excellent raconteur and we did enjoy listening to him.

To provide adequate amenities is always one of the problems confronting those in 
charge of a lot of men. I think that the most important amenity for us was "occupying 
the Mind" and this could best be brought about by entertainment; plays, revues, talks. 
As the Goal camp was divided into two areas - that for Men inside the Goal walls and 

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the one for officers outside the walls – it was necessary to build two "theatres" – inter 
area visiting was limited to special occasions. The main Theatre was inside the Goal 
proper and was fitted out to adequately produce, by means of scenery, lighting and 
curtains etc - pantomimes, plays by various people such as Shaw, Maughan and 
Coward. Seating for several hundred was erected on a permanent basis. In the 
Officers area a small stage with a dressing room attached was set up and became 
known as the Cocoanut Grove or just Grove. Here we attended Musicales, Lectures, 
Talks, Revues and Quizzes.

Bill Dick was the hero of one Quizz, England versus Australia. All the Australian  
team had passed the vital question "Who led the Israelites on the death of Moses"? 
Bill had a couple of puffs of his pipe, removed it from his mouth long enough to say 
"Joshua, the son of Nunn" and then went on puffing, quire unperturbed.

The lectures or talks given in the Grove were most interesting. Best remembered are:

"Round Australia" by George Abromovitch of Rest MT. 

"North and South Islands of New Zealand" by Les Greener, which described his 
experiences as a telegraph linesman and as a photographer.

"The Kamoracan Expedition 1939" by Scott Russell of the Ghurkas (?), which told of 
the organisation rather than of the climb itself.

Captain Grapello of one of the Italian submarines told of life aboard in wartime; he 
told also of how the sub surfaced at Penang and entered the harbour to take aboard 
supplies. Imagine the surprise of the Italians when informed that they were prisoners 
of the Japanese. While at sea Italy had capitulated to the allies and were thus against 
the Axis. The Italian camp was divided in its loyalties - some for Musso and some for 
Victor Emanuel. Supporters of the King were given better treatment than the others so 
Musso's barracks decided to switch their allegiance; it was a bad decision as their 
treatment deteriorated because they did not stick to their guns.

The Musicales were very popular and catered for all tastes as the programmes varied 
considerably, covering symphonies, chamber music, strings, comic opera and plain 
jazz.

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Several letters arrived during this period - all were about twelve months behind the 
times. Some of the highlights were that Ivy and the boys had spent a fortnight at 
Queenscliffe, David was a Lieutenant Colonel in command of 1/1/ Punjabis and 
Kathleen had been granted her Decree Nisi.

September 1944 was a bad month for me. My groin started to play up again and then 
my attacks of Colic got the better of me and on 29 September, I was packed off to 
AGH with Bac Dysentry. Don Trewin kindly helped me carry my gear over to the 
ward where I stayed for nearly two months.

October - November 1944

Hospital

The AGH, or rather the Hospital as it served both AIF and British, Officers block was 
a two storied building and I was in an upstairs ward with Johnson, Morgan and Hal 
Steele as well as five Poms. Hal, 2/15 Fd Regiment was an old Collegian of which 
there were nineteen in Malaya.

Ian Cameron was the MO. He came from Croydon and was one of Dad's students in 
Final Med at the Melbourne University.

The upstairs room were very bug ridden as they could not be washed out. Washing 
them out was tried early in the piece but it was found that the water seeped through 
the floor boards onto the patients below. All we could do to ease the situation was to 
burn them out of the beds; however, the bugs did not take long to get possession 
again. My best tally in one debugging operation was 156 bodies.

All medical supplies were in very limited quantity and the treatment for Dysentery 
was first weak Epsom Salts to clear the infection and then some Sulphur drugs to heal 
things up. A restricted diet and rest were the main parts of the treatment. After three 
weeks I felt pretty good but Ian kept me in hospital for nearly two months.

After the first fortnight the MO thought that I might have Amoebic Dysentery so I had 
to be tested for same. This was done by means of a Sygmortascope (?) and was rather 
an undignified procedure. I had to kneel on a table with my head on the table in front 

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