Flying Under Fire: Canadian Fliers Recall the Second World War Book

I first heard of Changi Prison when I was watching the Australian TV series Serangoon (sp?) Road. The main character lived in Changi Prison during WWII. I had to learn more.

The author, Sheila Allan, grew up in a convent in Malaya. Her father was a mining engineer and her mother was nonexistent (dead, I think). When she was 17, her father married a woman from Siam and they all vacationed in the Cameron Highlands. It was late in 1941. Her father was recalled to work because the Japanese had just invaded Malaya. Sheila and her step mother were supposed to leave the country but they decided to stay together. They travelled to Singapore with the Japanese approaching the city. The battle for the city occurred in February 1942 and the Japanese took over control. The devastation of Singapore with the dead and dying and the Japanese cruelty left a lasting mark on Sheila. She and her family along with other foreign civilians were marched to Singapoare's Changi Prison where she lived for 2 1/2 years.

The persevering British attitude took over the encampment. The men were separated from the women and children. Each side elected their leaders and assigned chores. Writing a diary was forbidden but Sheila did so anyway and the Japanese never found her books during inspections. From her writings, that first year wasn't all that bad. The entertainment committee provided a lot of activities and shows for the internees. Morale could be low during this time but, for the most part, the mental state of the internees was intact. Food provisions were low and got worse over time. By the end of the war, Sheila weighed 6 stones (84 pounds). She contracted malaria several times and had a bout of dysentery. Her father contracted beri beri and died just before the war ended.

After 2 1/2 years, the civilian internees were moved from Changi Prison to Sime Road Camp (also in Singapore) where Sheila lived when the war ended. What was she planning to do with her life now? Her step mother decided to move back to her family in Siam and Sheila decided she wanted to train as a nurse at the Military hospital in Singapore.

This is not much of a war story and of battles; it's a story, a diary of Sheila's day to day life living during a war and the internment camp. There was much that I didn't understand because she often used initials for people's names. The British English lingo was often confusing to me. As an example, she mentions "tinned hats" several times which I later discovered means a weather proofed hat. She also refers to the Japanese as Japs and Nips. This is, after all, a diary of a 18 year old girl.

This was a good and informative read.