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Prisoner of War Narratives from the Sumatra Railway, May 1944 – August 1945

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Prisoner of War Narratives from the Sumatra Railway, May 1944 – August 1945 Interpreting Memories of a Forgotten Army: Prisoner of War Narratives from the Sumatra Railway, May 1944 – August 1945 Elizabeth Veronica Oliver Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Leeds School of English March, 2014 ii The candidate confirms that the work submitted is her own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. © 2014 The University of Leeds and Elizabeth Oliver iii Acknowledgements I have been blessed with the privilege of having two wonderful supervisors. The considered and insightful readings of Dr Jay Prosser, my supervisor in the School of English, have challenged me to refine my thought and my writing, whilst his conversation and his compassion have been valuable sources of wisdom and encouragement. My supervisor at IWM, the late Roderick Suddaby, had a generosity of spirit and attention to detail that made him a treasured mentor. Rod’s passion for preserving the stories of ordinary folk who had experienced extraordinary things will remain a light in both my life, and my career. My gratitude goes to the AHRC for funding this research and the School of English at the University of Leeds for its support of my project, as well as colleagues at IWM: Suzanne Bardgett, Stephen Walton, Jenny Wood, Sarah Henning, Peter Hart, Tony Richards, Toby Haggith, all of the staff in the research room, and my fellow CDAs – Chris Deal, Leanne Green, Alys Cundy and James Wallis. My especial thanks are due to those people who have shared their family stories with me so openly and generously, and who have continued to take interest in my work: Imogen Holmes, Terry Hadoke, Bob Hall, Anthony Spero, Martin Prechner, Hilary Hamilton, and others who preferred to remain anonymous. I am grateful to many individuals who have shared their time and expertise, in particular: Professor Sears Eldredge, Professor Geoff Gill, Dr Clare Makepeace, Amanda Farrell, Jane Flower, Carol Cooper, Claire Henley, Jonathan Moffatt, Meg Parkes and Pam Stubbs; and to Museon for agreeing to my use of Stanley Russell’s images. A special thanks to Damien Lewis, for his enthusiasm and conversation that arrived at just the right moment; Mary Dennison for her help in compiling lists of former POWs, along with Sarah Gibson, Shona, Rez and Suri Mirtaheri, Kristin Klauser and her family, for their unfailing support and for being there when childcare was needed. I remain indebted to Adam and Lisa Harris, for sharing the comfort of their home and the warmth of their friendship during each of my many visits to London over the last 3 years. This work was inspired by three former POWs: Stanley Russell, John Hedley, and most recently Rouse Voisey, whom it is a pleasure to have met through my research. It has been humbling to read and work with the stories of all of the men who appear in this thesis. My heartfelt appreciation goes to my mum for beginning this adventure by sharing the stories of my grandfather, and for encouraging me to find out more; and to both mum and my brother, Pete, for their continuing support. iv Finally, to Faith, for putting up with mummy being hidden away writing, her delightful company on many trips to ‘big versity’, and for making sure that among my library books on trauma and violence, there were also pretty-looking pink books regardless of their content; and to Ollie, whose patience, calm and ability to remember that there was laundry to be done, kept the rest of the world ticking over; to you both, my deepest gratitude, and love. v Abstract In this thesis I set out the rarely-documented life history of the Sumatra Railway, which was constructed by prisoners of war (POWs) of the Japanese during the Second World War. I bring to light the personal narratives of former POWs, based on diaries, memoirs and sound recordings held predominantly within Imperial War Museum (IWM) archives. By doing so, I use some of the most powerful and comprehensive narratives from the men who survived the experience to address the gaps in current historical literature about the Sumatra Railway. Following this, and most substantially, I read these archival materials for what they tell us about the ways in which the captive experience has been represented by former POWs (and how their audiences have responded to their stories). Informed by interviews that I have carried out with the relatives of former Far Eastern POWs, I examine POW life-writing in the context of current cultural debates about forgotten histories and familial remembrance. By focusing on the different genres of POW life-writing, I explore how specific narrative components shape the representation of captivity. Further, I establish that literature, and literacy, were key to maintaining a POW’s imaginative freedom even when he was physically confined. My examination of the linguistic choices made by former POWs finds that the world of the camp was embedded into their words, and that a camp discourse developed as a means of forging bonds between men, and resisting oppression. This leads me to consider the physicality of incarceration – what I term the 'body biography' of the POW – and its impact on post-war responses to Far Eastern captivity. I conclude by reflecting on the transgenerational transmission of POW history (its postmemory), and question whether a new role is emerging for the third generation in exploring the affective impact of postmemory itself. vi Table of Contents Acknowledgements ............................................................................................. iii Abstract ................................................................................................................. v Table of Contents................................................................................................. vi List of Figures .................................................................................................... viii Abbreviations ....................................................................................................... ix Introduction ........................................................................................................... x Discovering Sumatra .............................................................................. x The railway .......................................................................................... xiii Interpreting Memories ........................................................................... xv Mute witnesses .................................................................................. xviii Sources .............................................................................................. xxii Note on style ..................................................................................... xxiii Chapter 1 Telling the Story of the Sumatra Railway ........................................... 1 The construction of the Sumatra Railway .............................................. 1 Challenges to telling the Sumatra Railway ........................................... 15 The narrativisation of the Sumatra Railway .......................................... 19 Translating Hovinga ............................................................................. 23 Chapter 2 The question of genre ....................................................................... 29 Forms and functions of POW life narratives ......................................... 32 The POW diary .............................................................................. 32 The memoirs of former POWs ........................................................ 41 Oral history .................................................................................... 52 Generic exceptions .............................................................................. 58 The ‘prisoner list’ ............................................................................ 58 Poetry ............................................................................................ 59 The novel ....................................................................................... 61 The necessity of escapism: the POW camp library .............................. 66 Chapter 3 POW camp discourse ........................................................................ 72 Learning a new language .................................................................... 75 The development of a camp discourse: control and resistance ............ 79 Communicating the ‘untranslatable’ ............................................... 84 Romushas ...................................................................................... 88 The role of the camp interpreter ........................................................... 91 ‘Words and things’: transmitting a ‘FEPOW’ discourse ........................ 98 Chapter 4 The body biography of the Far Eastern POW ................................ 101 ‘Mirror, mirror’: accepting the POW body as one’s own...................... 105 vii Cholera and ‘campicatures’: the carnivalesque of the Far Eastern POW ......................................................................................... 113 The role of the Medical Officer ........................................................... 128 Chapter 5 The postmemorial archive of the Far Eastern POW .....................
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