Diary/notebook of Herbert Stanley Geldard - Part 2

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me to draw the rope up while he & the
"interrupter" retired some 20 yds away.
The job didn't exactly appeal to me, I
thought that it would be just my luck
to bump the d- thing ^that was on the end of the
rope, against something ^or other & go up with the
boat, leaving the 2 onlookers high & dry.
However nothing happened & let it ^ be said
that both Japs came to the edge of the pier shortly
& watched progress until the package
came to the top. And so the Japs got a
Vessel undamaged as they got, the Military
stores ^& oil at Panang, fishing boats (that enabled
them to send a force down the coast &
outflank us), bridges, & oil tanks at
Maur & all kinds of war stores at Kranji & Nee Soon.
In the afternoon about 4 o'c I was
told to join the AIF & march to Changi.
The Japs from the C.O down had treated
me with every courtesy & treated the
Civilians humanely. But this was
no criterion of what was to follow for
while their treatment of the Malays &
Indians was good, they tried hard to
woo the latter -, they were absolutely
ruthless with the Chinese. Out of xx
population estimated at 3,000,000 one in
every 7 was killed. Thousands were
drowned in the harbour, over 200 were
washed up on Blakang Mati Isd, tied

51
together in lots of 6; while at Changi
we continually heard the firing of
machine guns on the beach to find
later a score or more of Chinese
bodies tied together & left to the 
mercies of a rising tide. The Jap.
spy system was apparently efficient in S'pore
before the war, & disclosed the organisations
& names of members with subversive
views which to which list was added
thousands of names obtained through
the medium of advanced tourture. 
I drove off in a car at 4pm, glad to
go too, for one felt a deep humiliation at
being a prisoner of war in front of the
thousands of the Bth subjects who had been
led to believe that we were the Salt of the
Earth & who we had failed to protect. Did
they despise ^ us now, I wondered.
Unfortunately for me, I stopped at the
Maxwell Police Stn. to gather my kit which
had been ^ left there in the morning for protection,
& on returning to the car discovered that
some marauding b - who finding found that
he couldn't start the car, had broken
the ignition lock. The Jap. soldier had been
kept well under control but it would 
appear that he was "warming up" & anything
might happen to private property in the future.

52
The dect detectives at the Police Stn. were
apprehensive, they were being grilled for
lists of Communistic organisations &, 
while still operating as a public utility
force, didn't know whether they would 
shortly be "fair game" for the populace or
be expected to share with the Jap. police
the responsibility of restoring law & order.
Hearing of my trouble they reluctantly
undertook to drive me in a police car
to Bididari (about 3 miles along the changi
road) providing they were not molested.
The run was without incident except
that the an Indian driver of a truck tried
deliberately to run us down, & I joined
the A.I.F. who, strung out over many
miles were marching to changi with
full packs up. (17 miles all told).
Cable from Prime Minister.
on Sat 14^th Feb. Gen G.B. sent a cable to me
for deciphering which he had just recd from
Mr Curtin. All cyphers were destroyed on the 13^th
by men of Fort C., & despite a search at F.E.HQ
& a visit to His Ex, who had left Govt Hse & taken
some rooms in the municipal Bldgs opp. the 
Cricket Club failed to reveal one. What
would we have given to know the context
of that cable? 

? 40% of landings if air force received no: of planes
asked for  →
53
Why did we lose Malaya?
landed

8 Dec

1942

Tps
1. The Japs employed more tps 300,000 to our 100,000.
AIR 2. Insufficient airforce, we had 146 planes

½ bombers & fighters, the ^ big majority out of date,
against their force which outnumbered
us by hundreds.
The Jap Recce planes found our weak spots
& directed their tps to them. When an Infy
attack was held up their bombers came
& bombed the obstacle till the way was cleared.
Their dive bombers demoralized our tps, tho'
certainly they moral effect was far greater
than anything else.
→It was supposed that the Air Force would
account for 40% of the enemy landing force
even with their old Buffaloes & Catalinas.
The enemy landed simultaneously at
Pulau i & Singora (Thailand) & Kota Bxharu with
only the 1.¼% of tpts damaged. The landing at
Kota Bxharu was determinedly resisted by storm
forces with heavy losses. The first 2 waves waves
of attack failed to land. Would not have
been possible if we had had air support.
The infantry throughout the campaign got
practically no air support & no information.
We had 14 'dromes inc. 4 in Island.  Contd 

54
24 motor boats ↑large rigs, capable carry 80-100 & numerous small
craft were left behind at Penang
undamaged. & with others were used to outflank us.
 Petrol was not destroyed at Penang, Ipoh ^? Ipoh
Maur. Telak ANSON (bat. Penang & Port Swettenham).
Stores. Huge qty left at Penang, xxx.
Troops. Had greater mobility. - Were in good
physical condition & carried mortars
& 2 pdr guns strapped on their backs,
besides own equip. & food, thereby

saving transport. & giving greater
propn. of fighting men. We immobilized
ourselves with excxxsion excessive M.T.
Foxd Food. Their a pkt packet of rice served to provide
a days ration. Many units told us that they
lived on the Country entirely from day of
landing till reaching Johore Bahru.

Mortars. Japs made far better use of these.
2 pdr gun. This man-handled gun is a gem (gem),

they quickly overcame small obstacles
& could be used in positions inaccessible
to our artillery.

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Men. It is said that they lacked initiative
but pushed for,d without fear of death.
On reaching an objective they "sat"
till given another task.
They had a big advantage over our men
as most had seen active service in
China.
Topography. The jungle, which was supposed to be an
impenetrable barrier, was the enemy's
friend. They used it to outflank our
positions, make us fall back & then
advanced ^ themselves along the roads.
They had made a careful study of
Malayan conditions & surprised us
by a capacity to utilize everything to
their advantage. (Prof. v amateurs).
Repairs to bridges were made with
extraordinary speed. 

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Changi. (see over) 

Extract from:
A Roving Commission. Winston Churchill
Prisoner Of War.
It is a melancholy state. You are
in the power of your enemy. You owe
your life to his humanity. Your
daily bread to his Compassion.
You must obey his orders, await his
pleasure, possess your soul in patience.
The days are very long, hours crawl
like paralytic centipides.
Moreover the whole atmosphere of
prison, even the most easy & best
best regulated prison, is odious.
Companions quarrel about trifles
& get the least possible pleasure from

each others society. You feel a
constant humiliation in being
fenced in by railings & wire,
watched by armed guards and
[[ribbed?]] about with a tangle of
regulations & restrictions. 

57
17 Feb '42   P.O.W.
Probably not not one of us had thought of
himself becoming a P.O.W. until the

last few days & the situation was
somewhat appalling as no information
regarding the Jap. treatment of white

prisoners, was known to the world.
Furthermore the Jap'se were not signatories
to the Geneva convention, their standard
of living & types of food were different
to ours & many unsavory reports
were existant regarding their treatment
of Chinese prisoners. Opposed to this, we
had heard that the Japanese professed the
teaching  spirit of the Samurai who taught Kindness
to prisoners. Indeed our future including
our lives, was in the lap of the Gods & it was
in this frame of mind that we trudged
on towards Changi. - 17 miles to march.
At various times Jap tps were passed
where they had taken up positions (partic.
Artillery) in the advance on S'pore, but they 
seemed to have more to do than watch
us, which attitude was xx directly opposed
to that of the Malays & Chinese who
solemnly watched us go by, their minds
doubtless fogged with apprehension xx about
the future. Many stood by the roadside
with jugs of water offering drinks to the
thirsty of which there were many. 

and ambulances → 

58
10 trucks and 2 cars had been allotted
to the AIF. These were allowed to make
a trip at 1 PM & continued to ply back
& forth till daybreak. All the Cooking
gear, stores, records, etc in fact everything
declared an essential for the welfare
& administration of the force of 15000 
→(excluding Hospitals), had to be carefully
selected & transported by the above
vehicles. What a change!! a week before
the force had 600 vehicles at its beck & call.
Every man carried his "all'- probably
everything he was likely to possess for
many months -, also rations for at
least 2 days & a bottle of water.
The head of the Column arr. at Changi
about 10 pm & tps continued to ar. till
2 AM. Each unit was directed to an its area
where men found cover & literally slept in
their boots.
Next morning the main problems
were were tackled - food, water, accommodation,
sanitation.
Food As each man carried rations for 48
hours the Q staff had a short breather; time
in which to plan cooking arrngts, such as
stoves, supply of firewood etc. & to liaisons
with Malaya cd re future supply of food. 

59
Water. The force had been permitted to bring 3
or 4 watercarts from S'pore. As Changi
was dependent on the Johore water supply
& as both the pipe lines & the causeway
carrying the pipes were damaged, it was
apparent that we would have no direct
connection to a water supply for 3 - 4
months. T The nearest waterpoint was
some miles distant & it was estimated
that all tps could be given a ration of
½ gall. drinking water daily. On 3^rd Mar
it was found possible to increase this
amount slightly. Deep anti malarial
drains ran through the area, these were
cleaned out & announced xx fit for
washing and bathing. In a short time
showers were erected, these which were worked
by hand & ^ were extremely efficient.
Sanitary. Right from the beginning our A.D.M.S.

foretold an epidemic of diarrhoea &
dysentery. Malaya, famous for its freedom
from flies?! under ordinary conditions
Yes, but under the present conditions
with rotting bodies, garbage & offal, &
unprotected latrines, it was inevitable
that flies should breed in thousands & we
should pay the penalty.