Ordinary men in another world : British other ranks in captivity in Asia during the Second World War
The Second World War was a time of increased contacts for ordinary Britons with peoples of different race, ethnicity and nationality. This thesis explores these novel interactions primarily through the eyes of the other ranks of the 18th Division,who set sail from Britain in the latter part of 1941 and arrived in Singapore shortly before it was overwhelmed by the Japanese Imperial Army, in February 1942. They subsequently endured three and a half years in captivity, the severity of which was such that a quarter of them never returned. The harsh nature of their captivity meant that an unusually large number of them were inspired to make a record of their experiences, and it is the holdings of these accounts at the Imperial War Museum which provide the pivotal source for this project. Previous British studies of the prisoners of the Japanese have tended to describe aspects of the experience of the officer corps. In this thesis the focus is on the other ranks, and specifically those recently recruited to the services, whose previous overseas travels were at best, limited. It examines their attitudes towards the variety of peoples with whom they came into contact, in the categories of civilians, allied and enemy
Boyne, David J.
D731 World War II ; U021 War. Philosophy. Military sociology
Ordinary men in another world : British other ranks in captivity in Asia during the Second World War. The Second World War was a time of increased contacts for ordinary Britons with peoples of different race, ethnicity and nationality. This thesis explores these novel interactions primarily through the eyes of the other ranks of the 18th Division,who set sail from Britain in the latter part of 1941 and arrived in Singapore shortly before it was overwhelmed by the Japanese Imperial Army, in February 1942. They subsequently endured three and a half years in captivity, the severity of which was such that a quarter of them never returned. The harsh nature of their captivity meant that an unusually large number of them were inspired to make a record of their experiences, and it is the holdings of these accounts at the Imperial War Museum which provide the pivotal source for this project. Previous British studies of the prisoners of the Japanese have tended to describe aspects of the experience of the officer corps. In this thesis the focus is on the other ranks, and specifically those recently recruited to the services, whose previous overseas travels were at best, limited. It examines their attitudes towards the variety of peoples with whom they came into contact, in the categories of civilians, allied and enemy
ordinary men another world british rank asia second_world_war second_world_war time increase contact ordinary britons people_different race ethnicity nationality explores novel interaction primarily eye rank division set sail britain latter_part arrive singapore shortly overwhelm japanese imperial army subsequently endure severity quarter never return harsh nature mean unusually large_number inspire make record experience holding account imperial war museum provide pivotal source project previous british study prisoner japanese tend describe aspect experience officer_corp focus rank specifically recently recruit service whose previous overseas travel best limited examines attitude_towards variety people come_contact category civilian ally enemy