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The Changi quilts

The Changi quilts were created by women interned by the Japanese in Changi Prison.

When Singapore fell on 15 February 1942, 400 women and children were interned. The quilts were the idea of Mrs Ethel Mulvaney. Supposedly made for the wounded in Changi hospitals, the quilts were actually meant to relieve boredom, to boost morale, and to pass information to other camps. Three quilts were made, one each for the Red Cross organisations of Britain, Australia and Japan.

Each woman was asked to put “something of herself” into the square, together with her signature. The meanings of many of the personal messages on the quilts are now lost.

The work of four Australian women is represented in the Australian quilt:

• Sheila Allen
• Judy Good
• Helen Loxton
• Dr Margaret Smallwood

The Australian War Memorial holds the Australian and Japanese Changi quilts.

AWM REL/14235

More About:

• Changi quilts
  The history of the Changi quilts
• Changi quilt
  Detailed description of quilt, panel by panel
• Changi
  History of the camp during the Second World War
• The fall of Singapore , 15 February 1942
  Presented by Dr Chris Coulthard-Clark from the Memorial's Military History Section, 15 Friday February 2002, beside the Roll of Honour at the Memorial.
• Australian prisoners of the Japanese