Surviving the Death Railway: A POW’s Memoirs and Letters from Home
To my intense joy and relief the military publishers Pen & Sword and will be launching this title in June/July 2016.
For six years I have been researching and editing a story using a unique collection of letters and a memoir. The letters between my parents, Barry and Phyllis, and my father’s memoir of life as a Japanese POW tell a chronological story of a young couple during World War Two – these are special, but not, perhaps, unique.
What is unique is another collection of letters and a dossier. Phyllis spent the war looking after her baby son AND trying to look after the relatives of the men in Barry’s Royal Signals Unit, 27 Line Section. There were 68 men under Barry’s captaincy and Phyllis had addresses for many of the wives, mothers and fiancées. She sent circular and individual letters, at first to keep up spirits, later to co-ordinate information, and towards the end of the war to create a simple dossier of the men to help identification by rescued POWs at the War Office. To do this she gathered information about each man.
If it is of any help my son was a jolly natured chap, with wavy hair and a gap between his front teeth.
Although there was nothing outstanding in his appearance… he had a tattoo done on his right forearm, it began at the wrist, and went almost to the elbow. It was the figure of a highlander in full national costume…
These letters are heart-breaking and heartwarming and give and insight into the lives of ordinary people coping with the wall of silence that came down with the Fall of Singapore on February 1942.
Barry memoirs record, without bitterness or bravado, what the lives of the men were like during those years.
He helped to build the Wampo viaduct, he nearly died, he became a chorus girl and he assisted at amputations. After giving blood he remembers a happy encounter with one of the men from his Unit:
“Sir, yesterday I had some of your blood, and last night I dreamt about a woman for the first time since capitulation!”
This story records the two streams of life in Britain and the Far East. What I find so moving is that year after year these relatives wrote into the blue. Although some received a few multiple-choice field cards; no one, as far as I know, ever received an answer to a letter in three and a half years.
Please forgive me, but for the next two months I will only be a very rare visitor to your blogs. I am already deep in the final editing of the manuscript, gaining permissions for the ninety odd illustrations and preparing them and the maps for publication.
Green Writing Room 
I am overjoyed.
You are very kind. There are many other books telling this story, I hope I can add something useful.
This is also movie stuff Hilary…
Remember my comment made two years ago about the first scene of the movie with soldiers along the pier awaiting for embarkation.
I’ll try the idea on the publishers a little further down the line!
Reblogged this on Lest We Forget and commented:
The news I was waiting for…
Thanks so much.
This is such great news, Hilary. I am so pleased for you. You will be a busy girl and what great parents Phyllis and Barry were (are). A great job you are doing ,I am sure many P.O.W soldiers are smiling now.. You did not forget.
A lot of people are remembering on this 70th anniversary, which is wonderful.
Wow, Hilary. This is a fascinating story. Congratulations on the good news!
Thank you. I have just finished your heart-warming book A Good Home. If I can ever catch my tail I will write about it.
It sounds fascinating! Congratulations!
Thank you. The research has indeed been fascinating.
That’s wonderful, HIlary! It really struck me about the unanswered letters for three years. And we can get so whingey if our emails are not answered immediately! What a different world it was and what faith those families had.
What is so difficult to take in is that every day of those years, they hoped again that the post might bring something. I can barely wait a day for an email!
That is wonderful news. Congratulations! And good luck putting together the finishing touches. 🙂
Finishing touches? I am desperately trying not to follow new lines of research, as my ‘final’ read through simply throws up a hundred questions.
Haha, I know the feeling.
That’s so great, Hilary. This has been, still is, a wonderful, valuable project, and I’m so happy for you. I shall miss you (my new “virtual” friend across the seas) but look forward to your triumphant return to the blogosphere with plenty of tales of reader appreciation to share!
Thank you. I shall still be about and dropping in, so you won’t be rid of me entirely.
Congratulations Hilary. I am looking forward to reading the book and no others with contemporary interests who will definitely want to read it.
Thanks, Andrew, that is heartening. It is an area with some tremendous stories already in print. I hope those in the field will find something new in the material my parents have left.
Great piece, Hilary! I’ve been curious as to what you think of the first link on my past post –
Rod Beattie is a legend. I met him at the conference I attended in Liverpool and I have his wonderful map of the railway on my wall. His colleague in the Thailand Burma Railway Centre, Terry Manttan has been the most wonderful support during my research.
I had a feeling!! Thank you for stopping to see it.
Hope I’m not bothering you, but I just read this interesting Burma eye witness story…
Click to access john-chiles.pdf
The Burma story is interesting. The POWs in Thailand had no idea about the fighting going on in Burma. On the few radios that they had hidden, they mostly heard about the European or Middle eastern theatres of war. They felt completely abandoned in their bit of jungle.
This is absolutely excellent. Well done.
Thanks Rod, it feel like a major life project is in a way to being accomplished, and it will be so much better than if I self-published (though their house-style of covers is not be to my taste).
What a triumph…for you as the daughter of these remarkable people, and for you, the writer. Good luck getting through the grunt paper work. I am very much looking forward to reading the published product!
Thank you. I hope it has come together. It has been a very different kind of project for me. Most of the work has been assembly, research and trying to make some kind of chronological order to a story where true dating is sparse.
What Cynthia said, Hilary – and many big fat hugs as well ! You’re both admirable women (and your books are with me at all times). All the success you receive is merited beyond description, in my opinion. FORZA HILARY CUSTANCE GREEN !!!!
Fat hugs received with much pleasure. I’m going to need the Forza, I think.
Yes, you will; but you’ll use it and you’ll get there. I have absolute faith in you.
What a wonderful thing! – to have those resources at hand and be able to make something from them to share the story with others.
It is an amazing resource, I hope I have managed to tie it into a readable story.
Hope to read the book!
Thank you, that is so encouraging.
This is excellent news! Heartiest congratulations!!
Many thanks. I am cheered by the support.
Can’t wait to read it. I love the excerpts. Best of luck on the publication process!
I’m so glad, it is always difficult to know whether what grabs you will grab others. Publication so far so good…
Best wishes.
Thank you so much.
This is wonderful news! I have a dear friend who I just know would love to read this book. I’ll be eagerly awaiting the launch date.
Thank you, I hope it lives up to expectations. Launch next July I think.
I’M excited to hear that it is actually being published! I will look forward to reading this (these) story(ries). Congratulations!
I think I may have mentioned my father was shot down over Burma, the only survivor of his plane, and managed to avoid capture and walk out over months. A story I often think I should piece together. It was only later I my life, after hearing all the POW stories, that I realized how very lucky he was. (And only occurring to me now: I might never have been born.)
Yes, I remember reading about your father. He did well to avoid capture, there was a high price available to locals for turning in the enemy. Living in the jungle was incredibly difficult, he must have had intelligence and stamina.
I’m sure this will be a great read, and all the more poignant because it features your own parents. It’s amazing that people kept on writing for months, and even years, into a void like that. Would anyone have the patience for that nowadays? I don’t know that I would. What a wonderful project to have got stuck into, I have no doubt you’ll make a first class job of it and I look forward to reading more.
Forgot to say, many congratulations on the publishing deal!
Thanks, I do hope it will be a good read. I have done my best to edit it into a coherent story, but the material is very complex (letters, memoirs, linking passages) and none of the dates match up. So letters, if they arrive at all, arrive in a different order from when they were written, and so on.
That sounds like a huge, and potentially overwhelming, job. It will be a great achievement to get it all into print in a coherent manner. I’m convinced you’ll do a terrific job on it though.
Thanks, you are right, I’m feeling a little overwhelmed. The book is written and accepted as is, but it is the kind of research that never ends and you don’t want to get it wrong. I am sure the editors at the publishers will flag up any problems… once I get it to them.
That’s one of the bonuses of having an editor, rather than having to carry the full weight of that responsibility yourself. Knowing when to stop can be very difficult when research keeps leading you down different alleyways, but hopefully you’ll reach a point where you feel somehow satisfied that it’s reached a natural end. It’s a great relief when that happens.
I’m so pleased to hear this ‘officially’ announced Hilary. Enjoy the editing!
It’s crazy! This is history and there mustn’t be any mistakes…
Wow, Hilary, I had no idea that this was such a personal story for you and your family. One of my grandfathers was also in the Pacific theater, but was never a POW. In just these few anecdotes above, you have already carved out a moving and heartbreaking space that reminds us, once again, of the human beings behind war efforts. I can’t wait to see your book next year. Many congratulations!
Thank you so much. I have been sadly aware, as I put this book together, that the story is still being repeated all over the world.
Hilary, I am fascinated by the work you have done and just to add a little bit from my place I have just posted something about POW doctors. It is of course from an Aussie point of view, http://wp.me/p5rgVm-Iw
Yes, I saw this and found it very interesting. There is still so much research to be done on this. I agree, there are heroes, scoundrels and plain idiots in every nation on earth.
Hilary, what superb news! I am so, so happy for you. Indeed, fruit from a tree planted over 70 years ago. May we always know of bravery and survival in the war that had no boundaries on humanity. Best of luck to you! Get to work!!! ☺
I’m hard at work, but very happy knowing that there will be a published record now.
You deserve it, Hilary. Best wishes!
You’re so kind. I’m not sure about the deserving. I am lucky to have all these letters and memoirs to edit into a story.
Super news, so happy for you ☺️. My Grandad is a real history buff so I’d love to get this book for him.
I just finished Borderline, it was great to have time to sit and focus just on reading, I thoroughly enjoyed the developments and really felt for the very individual characters. Vicky in particular really made me think as my cousins both had Hunters Syndrome and died as teenagers, my Aunt has been nominated for the Pride Of Britain award this year for her fundraising to try to improve the chances for future generations. I loved the setting too, Slovenia is beautiful. Mums reading it now ☺️.
Best wishes
Charlotte
Thank’s so much for all this encouragement. Your family is amazing. I hope you mange a real rest this summer in spite of your crazy schedule.
Great news, Hilary. Sorry I’m so late to congratulate you, I’m late to all the parties these days! Best of luck with the admin stuff and look forward to seeing it come out.
I’m late full stop. Professional publishing means working to someone else’s schedule… but then you get to hand the baby over, so there are compensations.
An admirable project, Hilary and nearly done. All the best.
Thanks for the encouragement. It is nearly there, though pledging to do two versions with the letters unabridged and other changes in a private family printing is stretching me somewhat. Party in 4 weeks time and official release on 30 June.
It’s probably a good thing you are doing them concurrently, else it would be hard to keep up the motivation to do the family version afterwards. You will be glad you did the unabridged work, though. A work to be proud of, that’s for sure.
I know you are right and I can almost see the light ahead.