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Beyond the Bamboo Screen
Scottish Prisoners of War Under the Japanese
Tom McGowran O.B.E.
Foreword and Illustrations by G S Gimson Q.C.
Chairman of the Scottish Far East Prisoner of War Association.
Part of the Voices of War series
ISBN 0953503615 pbk £9.99 £5.00
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Over forty articles, most written by Scottish survivors of Japanese Prisoner of War Camps in the Far East during World War II, attempt to describe the indescribable: deaths from beatings, disease and malnutrition; forced labour and capricious 'speedos'; heroic efforts to save lives in bamboo shacks awash after the monsoon with little or no medical equipment and the bombing of unmarked ships by Allied planes.
These articles, along with drawings buried in a bottle and retrieved after the war, are invaluable, not only as historic records, but also as a fitting tribute to the human spirit in the depths of adversity.
From a tropical paradise we were plunged suddenly into the lower depths of hell. Death soon came as a welcome release to many in Japanese prison camps during World War II. For survivors, aware that they were under official sentence of death - a fate avoided in the end by a matter of days - recollection of those years of compulsive, addictive, bestial cruelty by captors has been so painful that many have been left inarticulate. Only in the company of comrades who shared the horror have they found it possible to record what happened in that other world far removed from the sanity and sureties of everyday life.
Historical Background
POW WOW, the Newsletter of the Scottish Far East Prisoner of War Association, was never just an ordinary newsletter. With a small circulation that seldom ventured beyond the bounds of its select membership, it is a vital link and a very private avenue of communication between men and women who had survived against the odds.
Hong Kong fell to the Japanese on Christmas Day 1941. Seven short weeks later Singapore suffered the same fate. Those who had survived the onslaught became prisoners of the Japanese. Their experiences in captivity were to be worse than any battle. After the war, the surviving Far East Prisoners of War, bearing their indelible scars, seldom spoke of their imprisonment, deprivation and cruel handling. Many found relief from the nightmares and memories in comradeship. Many also shared their experiences in writing with the only people who really understood: their fellow survivors.
These few Scots whose words appear in these pages are extraordinary men and women. We read this book with incredulity, with humility, with tears and with pride. Had the atom bombs not been dropped on Japan, none of these storytellers would have survived. Beyond the Bamboo Screen is a chapter in our history that must never happen again.
Dr Diana M Henderson Research Director, The SCOTS at WAR Trust.
Biography
Tom McGowran joined the army at twenty-one and was posted to Singapore. Following the fall of Singapore he spent three and a half years as a prisoner of war under the Japanese. After the war he returned to journalism with the Falkirk Herald, later becoming managing director of Johnston Press, one of the largest newspaper groups in the country. For the past five years he has edited POW WOW, the Scottish Far East Prisoner of War Association's newsletter.
G S Gimson QC : Following repatriation Stanley Gimson studied law. He was called to the bar in 1949 and took silk in 1961. From 1972 -1975 he was Sheriff Principal of Aberdeen and subsequently Sheriff Principal of Grampian and The Highlands and Islands from 1975-1982. From 1971-1994 he chaired the War Pensions Tribunal and has been Chairman of the Scottish Far East Prisoner of War Association since 1995.