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Gnr/Dvr. Bob Lister RA, 11th
Indian Division
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A survivor of Dunkirk, Bob was posted overseas to join the 11th
Indian Division in India, subsequently becoming a POW in
Singapore
Ω. They went
imprisoned in Changi Goal under very bad conditions so when the
opportunity to volunteer for work in Thailand they took it.
(ed: unbeknown to them, they were to work on the infamous
Burma-Siam railway which would claim the lives of 13,000 Allied
POWs and perhaps 100,000 native workers)
Packed into rail wagons, under terrible conditions, they
eventually arrived at the first part of the new railway, the
camp at Bam Pong
Ω. They
passed from camp to camp, using primitive tools and working
under dreadful conditions
Ω.
Illness was widespread and in the virtual absence of medical
supplies, medical staff had to resort to very unconventional
methods of treatment to save lives
Ω.
Treatment by the guards could be brutal, particularly if they
felt that insubordination was involved
Ω. The dangers of the jungle
were always present. The ill treatment continued with the
officers being separated to avoid any organisation of
resentment. The camp at Kinsayok passed by the “cholera camp”
that had been the site of horrendous casualties during a cholera
epidemic
Ω. They were
also employed unloading diesel from wagons although this
presented the opportunity to blackmail medical supplies from the
Thai workers
Ω.
At Nikki Nikki they were nearing the end of the line but Bob and
his mates had been identified as staying on to maintain the line
in the future
Ω. The
joining of the North and South branches of the line offered a
rare opportunity to savour extra food
Ω. They continued on to
Moulmein at the Northern end of the line and saw their first
examples of Allied air activity. Taking refuge in the jungle
offered the opportunity to scrounge extra food
Ω. In the camps, keeping up
the spirits of the sick was a constant preoccupation; they could
still find the will to sing to help their comrades
Ω. 60 years on, the
poignancy of the singing is clear in his memory
Ω.
In Moulmein, the first news of the dropping of the atomic bombs
became known from the local Thais, and the Japanese camp staff
slipped away. Allied aircraft dropped leaflets telling the POWs
to stay in camp
Ω. At
last medical help arrived and the sickest moved to base camp by
barge. They were told to destroy all clothing and were moved
downstream to an airfield in Bangkok
Ω. They were finally
transferred to Rangoon when his group was at last broken up and
after 2-3 months to recover and assist in the description of war
criminals, he returned to Amnanaga in India and thence to Bombay
Ω where he joined a
troopship.
He was back in England in time for Christmas 1945.
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