At the prisoner of war (POW) hospital camp at Nakom Paton, an improvised alcohol still had been ...

At the prisoner of war (POW) hospital camp at Nakom Paton, an improvised alcohol still had been operating for a year and produced two litres of alcohol a day from rice. The still was set up by Mr Chapman, a Malay volunteer, and Dr Kostermans, formerly of the Botanical Gardens at Buitenzorg, Java, both civilian internees. After rice had been sprinkled with a fungus that converted the starch to sugar, it was placed in jars where water was poured in and inoculated with yeast that converted the sugars to alcohol. Shown transferring the rice to the pots is Private M. V. D. Burgt of the Dutch Army. In January 1944, using POW and native labour, the Japanese began the construction of this major POW hospital for the chronically ill and amputees at Nakom Paton, on the main Singapore-Thailand railway, fifty six kilometres west of Bangkok. Lieutenant Colonel A. E. Coates, Australian Army Medical Corps (AAMC) was appointed as Chief Medical Officer. At its peak the camp contained 7,353 POWs.