Diary/notebook of Herbert Stanley Geldard - Part 5

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Fuki MARU
On 16 Aug ’42, 3 parties left Changi
for an unknown destination in 
Japan one party consisted of
all officers of the rank of Colonel
and above including Lt Gen
Percival, Lt Gen sir L Heath Maj
Gen Callaghan (AIF) & other
Generals, and the C.O’s of Java
& Sumatra both Dutch officers
of high rank. The Govenors of
Singapore & N.E.I were also
in this party. The Second lot
was made up of Engineers &
technicians with the 1^st
party totalling 400 persons.
The 3^rd party of 1000 was
designated the working party
with such x distinguish a
Company one was entitled
to visualize something along
the lines of ease & comfort in
travelling, say a 20000 ton
steamer with airy cabins
promenade decks & spacious
dining rooms; & there was
such conjecture on this
subject.
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on 16 August I left charge for
Japan. Looking back on it after
10 mths absence I feel that we
were fortunate in many ways.
1. To be located in the pick spot of the Id
in large airy houses & barrack rooms
xxxx with plenty of "LebensRaum".
2. To enjoy comparative liberty of movement
within the Camp, free from
Roll calls & parades supervised by the
Jse. (We only paraded 3 times in 6 mnths,
when we lined the roadway for exhibition to
Army cdr Navy Cdr & a Jse notable rep.
3. That all foodstuffs were not destroyed
before capitulation & we got some.
4. That the Jse Adminr was in civil
occupation before the war xxxxxxxxxxxx was practical &
trialed as humanely. The same can
be said in the main about the Jse guards
over working parties in S'pore. The 
officers & men injured or beaten up on
these parties were the exception a small minority, tho
many were shook faceslapped by the guards. At
Serangoon camp, men were given very
hard work on 7 days a week, fed poorly
& hit with an iron bar on the slightest
pretext. This was not a very large camp.
& represented the worst case.
 

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5. Our Kits containing clothing, which
were deposited in S'pore, were made
available to us. This was a concession
to the A.I.F. as Bth Units didn't get theirs.
As an officer said, on hearing that a
brother officer had been shot for
sleeping in the wrong bed "It could have
been worse" (- I'll tell you the story if
you haven't heard it -) but don't
get the idea that a Prisoners life
is a happy one, at the best it is only
an existence.