Captured at Singapore (ePub)
A Diary of a Far East Prisoner of War
Imprint: Pen & Sword Military
File Size: 23.8 MB (.epub)
Pages: 296
Illustrations: 40 mono
ISBN: 9781399085694
Published: 28th June 2022
| Other formats available - Buy the Hardback and get the eBook for £1.99! | Price |
|---|---|
| Captured at Singapore Hardback Add to Basket | £25.00 |
What would it be like to leave your loved ones behind knowing you may never see them again? Then depart on a ship in the dead of night heading for an unknown destination and find yourself in the heat of a battle which concludes in enemy conditions so terrible that your survival in captivity is still under threat?
Cultivated from a small, faded, address book secretly written by a young soldier in the Royal Army Service Corps, Captured at Singapore, is a POW story of adventure, courage resilience and luck.
In 1940, Londoner Stanley Moore became Driver T/170638 and trained for desert warfare along with many others in the British Army’s 18th Division. Their mission, they thought, was to fight against Hitler and fascism in the Middle East. But in a change of plan and destination, he and his fellow servicemen became sacrificial lambs on a continent much further from home.
After tough rudimentary combat training in England, Stan’s division set off on a secret overseas mission. After months at sea, and several unexpected ports of call, their convoy was redirected to the other side of the world as the Imperial Japanese Army rampaged across Manchuria, Hong Kong and other parts of Asia. Singapore was under sole British jurisdiction and a large naval base had been built after the First World War to defend the island at the foot of the Malay Peninsula. The British Government believed Japan would never attack their prize territory and so left Singapore to fight for itself with limited troops and outdated equipment. But after an attack on Pearl Harbor, the under-trained and undersupplied 18th Division was redirected to fight the Japanese.
Using extensive research and personal documents, the authors’ account - via their father’s small, faded, diary and his 1990 tape recording - tells of Stan’s journey and arrival in Keppel Harbour under shellfire; the horrific 17 day battle to defend the island, the Japanese Admonition and the harrowing forced labour conditions after capitulation.
Only a small percentage of the 85,000 British troops returned after the war. Captivity and years of trauma ultimately stole years of the young soldiers’ lives, which they were later ordered to forget by the British Government. The aim of this work is to provide information for future generations to understand how ordinary men died under horrific conditions of war, and how the lucky survived.
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
NetGalley, Hazel Howorth
You can only ever give 5 stars for stories like these ... those that open your eyes to the reality of war and the harrowing nature of what life was like for those unfortunate to have been taken prisoner but lucky enough to have survived.
This is a really well written and powerful account of one man's experiences during World War II and is a eye-opening and, at times, shocking read.
Their stories cannot and should never be forgotten.
Stan Moore’s daughter, Jill Robertson, has made brilliant use of her father’s wartime diary and an audio recording he made during his lifetime to create a clear picture of the suffering endured by POWs at Changi prison camp and also the resilient spirit of these men. The book is well-written; the blending of diary entries with statements given by Stan, in addition to detailed historical research, blends together seamlessly in a way that makes it easy to read
Military History Quarterly
Review as featured in
Military History Quarterly (US)
Highlight: "Stan Moore’s daughter, Jill Robertson, has made brilliant use of her father’s wartime diary and an audio recording he made during his lifetime to create a clear picture of the suffering endured by POWs at Changi prison camp and also the resilient spirit of these men. The book is well-written; the blending of diary entries with statements given by Stan, in addition to detailed historical research, blends together seamlessly in a way that makes it easy to read."
Intriguing and moving. The bravery is incredible. True heroes. Well written and evoking we are given an insight to what these poor people went through.
NetGalley, AnneMarie Brear
This was another intense read. I was fully submerged in this story and what was going to happen next. I was glad I went into this story blind and not knowing what it was about other than what is seen on the front cover. I enjoyed this story a lot. Opened my eyes to another person’s experience and I appreciate this!
NetGalley, Nicole Belanger
"...provides information for future generations to understand how ordinary men died under horrific conditions of war and how the lucky survived."
SirReadaLot.org, September 2022
"The aim of this work is to provide information for future generations to understand how ordinary men died under monstrous conditions of war, and how the lucky survived."
ARGunners.com
A really well-written book and works very well to make an excellent account of having to be a Japanese prisoner of war.
The History Fella
Read the full review here
Well done to Jill Robertson and Jan Slimming for converting their late father's war story - pieced together from an address book, diary and tape recorded interview - and sharing it with a wider audience.
Amazon Customer, Paul Nixon
These men deserve to be remembered, and this is another important narrative that should be of interest to those who are fascinated by the hardships endured by FEPOWs generally and those who had Singapore connections generally.
5 out of 5
'Captured at Singapore', written from notes made by Stanley Moore, whilst prisoner of the Japanese in WWll,
Richard Gough - Historian, writer, author of the Escape from Singapore, The jungle was Red, Outpost of the Empire, SOE Singapore 1941-42. Waiting publication Tony Poe, CIA Paramilitary in SE Asia.
The notes were found hidden in his prayer book. Moore was a driver with the ill-fatted 18 Division which disembarked in Singapore, as reinforcements day before Britain's 'Pearl of the East' 90,000 garrison surrendered to the Japanese 30,000 army, led by General Yamashita. From these notes, and further research, Stanley Moore's two sisters, Jill Roberts Jan Slimming, produced a fresh look at the horrific conditions suffered by the POWs in Singapore and elsewhere.
In London on a cold February day, Winston Churchill, Prime Minister looked at his briefing papers. In recent months the British Army in Norway, had been overwhelmed, the survivors of the British Expandatory Force in France were rescued from the beaches of Dunkirk. Now, with little love in the air, Churchill, Prime Minister, stood up in Parliament to announce to a silent House 'that the Singapore garrison had surrendered'. Some 90,000 British and colonial troops were in Japanese hands.
'Escape from Singapore' is a comfortable read and a page turner.
‘Captured at Singapore’ is an account from a side of history I know very little about; an individual held as a Prisoner of War in the Far East following the Second World War.
NetGalley, Molly K
As a history student; Primary Sources are invaluable, and so the authors have helped greatly by offering an additional one.
About Jill Robertson
A mother of two young adults, Jill Robertson was raised in Surrey, but lived in Toronto, Canada, during the 1970s. She later returned to England to pursue a career in office administration, office planning and, ultimately, passenger services for United Airlines. Interest in her father’s time as a ‘prisoner’ during the Second World War grew after she encountered FEPOW Fergus Anckorn in 2012. Since then, she has contributed enthralling articles for newspapers and newsletters. Jill is West Sussex Area Co-ordinator CoFEPOW (Children of Far Eastern Prisoners of War) and WASPI (Women Against State Pension Inequality). Her later years are now more active than expected. She lives with her partner in Northampton. This is her first book.
About Jan Slimming
Jan Slimming is a publishing professional and the author of Codebreaker Girls: A Secret Life at Bletchley Park and The Secret Life of an American Codebreaker. She now lives in Atlanta with her husband and family. She is CoFEPOW Area Co-ordinator for the Eastern United States.
Pen and Sword Books
About Us | Contact Us | Delivery Information | Privacy Policy | Cookies | Affiliates | Terms and Conditions | Backlist | Mailing List | Reward Scheme | Review Request
© Pen and Sword Books Limited 2024. Registered in England No. 2527258.
Registered Office: 47 Church Street, Barnsley, S70 2AS.