The Changi Book

When the British surrendered to the Japanese on 15 February 1942, Australian soldiers were marched to the army barracks at Changi which was to be a prison for prisoners of war until the Japanese surrendered on 2 September 1945.

The Changi Book edited by Lachlan Grant provides a summary of life in Changi before presenting a collection of articles written by prisoners of war from the 8th Division about aspects of life in Changi. The book also contains cartoons, paintings and photographs made secretly by the prisoners in the camp. This compilation was published in 2015.

At the time of the British surrender, 130,000 British troops including 15,000 members of thee 8th Division became prisoners of the Japanese. Members of the 8th Division were marched to Changi on 17 February. Although they were prisoners of the Japanese they remained with their units and military leaders. The 8th Division was housed at Selarang Barracks previously occupied by 900 Gordon Highlanders and their families. Consequently accommodation was cramped and facilities inadequate for the 15,000 soldiers. The first task was to make the area livable for so many men. The Australian General Hospital was also transferred to Changi.

At Selarang Barracks there was lots of land but the buildings had been damaged during bombing raids. There were no kitchens, no showers, no means of transport and no tools. Food kitchens were built from strips of galvanised iron. Water was obtained from several wells. Latrines had to be constructed. As well as making the area that was to be their new home livable, soldiers were allocated to Japanese working parties, including the erection of a barbed wire fence around the prison.

Access to food for the soldiers was minimal and food that was provided was of poor quality. The soldiers also needed to work out how to cook ingredients with some flavour and nutritional value - not an easy task with rice and sometimes small quantities of fish the only ingredients. Some of the soldiers established contacts with men outside the compound arranging for goods to be brought into the camp on the black market. Grass was also boiled in water to be used for adding nutrition to the food. Outbreaks of dysentery occurred periodically.

The men created their own entertainment including concerts presented by unit entertainers and concert parties. An education scheme was established encouraging the soldiers to learn something new and reduce boredom. This was not always successful. Another major problem was that the men had no access to information about the rest of the war until they eventually managed to acquire a radio. Over three and a half years the men were allowed to send only five postcards home. The first mail from home was received in March 1943.

Life for the men in Changi was not easy but it was much worse for the thousands of soldiers chosen for work camps in Burma, Thailand and Borneo. Thousands of men died on these expeditions and those who returned were mere skeletons. An outbreak of cholera had killed many men in these work parties. Compared with life in these camps, life in Changi was generally better.

Those living in Changi had to be resilient. The essays written by some of the men tell of how many of the men made the best of a bad situation.