Beyond The Bamboo Screen

Scottish POW's under the Japanese

Tom McGowran OBE

POW WOW, the Newsletter of the Scottish Far East Prisoner of War Association, was never just an ordinary newsletter. With a small circulation that seldom ventured beyond the bounds of its select membership, it is a vital link and a very private avenue of communication between men and women who had survived the odds.

Hong Kong fell to the Japanese on Christmas Day 1941. Seven short weeks later Singapore suffered the same fate. Those who had survived the onslaught became prisoners of the Japanese. Their experiences in captivity were to be worse than any battle.

After the war, the surviving POW's, bearing their indelible scars, seldom spoke of their imprisonment, deprivation, and cruel handling. Many found relief from the nightmares and memories in comradeship. Many also shared their experiences in writing with the only people who really understood: their fellow survivors.

These few Scots whose words appear in these pages are extraordinary men and women. We read this book with incredulity, with humility, with tears and with pride. Had the atom bombs not been dropped on Japan, none of these storytellers would have survived.

Beyond the Bamboo Screen is a chapter in our history that must never happen again.

Book is in great condition!

 

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