Guestbook

Gerry Roosen

Australia

After a recent visit to the war graves at the river Kwia we discovered a dutch soldier with the same last name as mine, It mite be a shot in the dark but he may be a distant relitive. My Grand parents and there children fled Holland after the war. My grandfather told us about how was involved in the dutch under ground but he never mentioned anything about any other relitives in the war, the soldier was A.J.Roosen, can some wone give me advice on how to research this further.

Frazer Kirkham

Scotland

I have visited Hellfire pass, the bridge on the Kwia, and the war graves at Chungkai, Kanchanaburi, where my great uncle died...Signalman James T Watt 2333800, aged 25, Dec 31st(New years Eve) 1943"A Son Of Strathaven,Lanarkshire, Scotland" making the railway is buried.
This is a beautiful part of Thailand, but to think our boys were made to suffer like they did!, unthinkable what they endured." At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember them"
God bless them! x

Rance Jurevwicz

FYI: This is a very informative website. Keep up the great work. Also, if any veteran is looking for

Ann Lockett

Mindarie (Perth)

I applaud and thank you for the vital work you are doing Peter.

jim mc daniel

new orleans

my cousin, john wisecup usmc was a survivor of uss houston and death railroad. his take on "survival factor = when your # comes up there ain,t no way around it.

Jeff Milne

Mildura

Peter, thanks for being the catalyst to get dad's (Lex Milne VX39668) story about Timor, Java, Singapore and finally The Sumatra Railway told. This is an experience of POWs about which little is known. I had heard snippets over the last 50 years but to have it recorded for future generations is great.

Jan R Hein

Sweden

Currently researching my roots and found my grand mothers brother Gerrit Kappert died as a POW of the Japs.....
I have all respect for this great research that has been done here.

Sally Dingo

Melbourne

Wonderful and respectful website. Thank you.
I am searching for my father's story. He was Sgt Max Butler of 2nd/40th Battalion. Tasmanian. Captured in Timor. imprisoned in Thailand. I believe he was NCO of Australian group on Mergui Road tragedy and assisted many men. He died in Jan. 1966. I would appreciate any information whatsoever.

Rodney Bennett

Gladstone QLD

G'day, my grandfather Joseph Bennett (QX23248, 2/19 Battalion) spent 3.5 years as a POW 1941 to 1945 and I am trying to find out what POW camps he was in. He did spend some time at the Outram rd Jail singapore and thats all the information I have. Does anybody know if there is a roll call of the camps?

Thanks

john omeara

melb

i wonder if any body knew of a Jack Gaskett i think he was in the twenty second reg ?he served in Borneo. i be wrapped if any old digger new him please email me if you have any pic or info
john

Audrey

Florida

My Mother that was Dutch, was in a camp in Indonesia. She shared very little with us. Now as an adult and with my Mom gone, I have been reading everything I can to learn what she must have experienced. Does the name Irvine Nabilcy or Irvine Wiggers ring a bell to anyone?

John Fragomeni

Rotary Club of Mt Lawley

Hello Peter, With apologies for the delay, I write to thank you for you talk to our Rotary Club recently. In your Anzac Day address to us, you brought to life a lot of people, names, places, situations and events and tied them together to give specific meaning to a very significant part of our recent history.
You obviosly know your stuff, but you are more than just another historian. You are passionate about your subject and I for one am moved that you are able to tie it together as you have done.I believe we have a need to raise awareness among our youth of events such as these, and of the impact they have had on the development of our national psyche. Through your work, you are doing just this!
Many members of the Rotary Club have spokebn to me since your address and have indicated how deeply moved they were by your address.
Again I thank you for your time with us and the message you shared on the night. Please keep up the good work.

keely reid

three springs W.A

hi my name is keely
i have started a history challenge in
carnamah district high school and im doing jack thorpe
ive looked at this website and read the whole lot
i have had some laughs and have gotten a lot of infomation so i think this would really help my project

Tina M.

Fredericksburg, Texas

This site is awesome. My Dad was a POW from 11/41 to 6/45 in Fukuoka No. 2. He passed away 2 1/2 weeks ago and I miss him so. He didn't talk much about his experience. I am interested in any and all info I can get. I am his youngest and only daughter.

Rance Jurevwicz

We love this web site. Like ours, it offers a lot of information that veterans can use. Have you seen the new 2009 Presumptive List of service-connected conditions? If not, visit http://www.veteranpograms.com to learn what benefits veterans can get today.

Sgt Ian Cook

Adelaide

This Book has left me feeling shame and Guilt, because I am RAAMC, and knew nothing of these men. An absolute must for all up and comming Military Doctors and Health Services Pers.
Demonstrates the worst and best in Man, but most of all pays overdue homage to a group of men, who have been lost in the black hole of Military and they deserve better. If you see the book grab it with both hands a box of tissues and enjoy
Sgt I. Cook
R.A.A.M.C

Honour the Dead
Fight like Hell For the Living

Robert Brokenmouth

Adelaide

Peter, it was a privilege to meet you today. The internet is chockas with pointless sites and a storm of dopey data. It is my hope that your site will continue for decades to come; the one thing life has taught me is that human nature just doesn't change. Contact me if you want a copy of that film on the Japanese in Manchuria. Fabulous site.

Audrey

Buderim Queensland

I found your site by chance and I am very impressed with the volume of information it has amassed. Great work.
My interest is in the P.O.W. camp in Borneo where my uncle, Gunner David Roy Shaw was interned after the fall of Singapore. His service number was QX15018. He joined up in Gympie Queensland and Died as a result of inflamation of the bowel 1945.If anyone has further information I would be pleased to hear.

Jacqui Durtanovich

Perth, Western Australia

What a wonderful site. I am researching my family and have come across 3 photos of Changi Prison, 1 of the cells, 1 of the 4th Floor of the Civilian Gaol and 1 of the hospital huts. The backs of the photos have been written on by my Great Uncle Roy DAVID who came from Scotland. I don't know anything more about him other than he lived in Glasgow and had also been sent to America following the war to recuperate before being sent home. I don't know if anybody out there would have known of him but I felt it was worth a try to see if I could find any information. Thank you

simon roberts

mullumbimby,NSW

I'm Sir Albert Coates' eldest grandchild. Iknew him while I was an uncontrollable larikan, but only within the last decade or so have I shown an intense interest in his heroics. I would like to know more

Shirley Martin

Dawesville Western Australia

Harold Martin is now 92 and lives in Albany Western Australia he was mentioned several times in the article concerning Bill Armit. and recently visited the grave sites of his mates on the Burma railway.
He recently travelled to San Francisco where he visited the Submarine the Pampanito which is moored in SanFrancisco as part of the Museum. He is still quite fit and able to climb down the subs ladders and through the tight spaces. The Sanfrancisco Chronicle under the heading Harold Martin. has a peice written about him and can be found on the internet google if you would like to read his story. Harold has been reticent about his experiences during the war until recently. I have printed off a copy of the Artcle concerning Bill Armit and posting it to Harold. I hope this will help folk searching for answers Regards
Shirley ph 08 95823252

Jeff M.

BC, Canada

My wife's late Grandfather, Charles Constantine was UK Army signal corp, taken prisoner in Singapore. He survived his time in the hands of the Japanese only to learn his job was gone when he got back because he volunteered rather than wait for conscription. Disgusted they left England for Canada. I have documents, letters, and some photographs but would like to hear from you if his name rings a bell. Thanks. My email is jmoncalieri (at) shaw (dot) CA

Luhsun

Melbourne

Hello, My grandfather helped run Smokey Joe's cafe in Changi. Piet Bakker. It was run to raise money to feed the Dutch troops. At the time he was in his late 40's. He never told us about changi. As a kid I had a traumatic time learning to swim breaststroke from him because that's how he swam up a river in Java to blow up a bridge. If anyone knows any stories about Smoky Joe's please send them to me.

Alison Phillips

Portsmouth Hampshire U.K

My beloved great-uncle Leonard Daughtrey was a P.O.W . captured in Singapore in 41. He was in anti-tank , and from a village called Emsworth near Portsmouth. He lived on to be 86 , only passed away only 4 years ago . I just took a trip today to visit his widow. He was a very amazeing person , and although troubled by the past , he had great humanity , and a love of the natural world thatv he passed on to me . Thankyou for this site , and i wish any surviving members all the very best. With love and thanks , for all your increadable stories of survival and courage X <BR>P.S I know he was at Kanu 2

P Tripcony

UK

This is a new site to me on the internet so was pleased to find it. My father was not on the Dreaded railway but was a signalman on HMS Exeter sunk 1st march 42 during the battle of the Java sea.
He was in the sea for 36hrs and picked up and taken to Makassar POW camp for 6mths after was transported to Nagasaki Japan, fukuoka camp 2b and worked in the shipyards as a riveter, many perished in the winter months there, but Dad survived until the A bomb dropped, one of the few westerners to witness the bomb from the ground, He died aged 52 in 1974 we are convinced the A bomb was to blame for his early death...try telling that to the MOD..a joke.Here is a link to my Video clip on youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hF-Tast2Ua8