Grass cutting and crushing machine, Changi

Place Asia: Singapore, Changi
Accession Number ART26507
Collection type Art
Measurement Overall: 36.4 x 46.8 cm
Object type Work on paper
Physical description brush and brown ink and wash heightened with white, over pencil on paper
Maker Griffin, Murray
Place made Singapore: Changi
Date made 1943
Conflict Second World War, 1939-1945
Copyright

Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain

Public Domain Mark This item is in the Public Domain

Description

The finer type of grass was gathered outside the camp, cut, crushed and soaked for 24 hours, then the liquid taken medicinally as a preventative against beri beri. On the left a POW is feeding an inverted lawn mower with grass. At the right another POW runs the cut grass through rollers 2 or3 times to crush it. This machine, built in camp from bits and pieces, is run by electricity. Captain Michael F A Woodruff, AAMC; improvised machinery for cutting and crushing grass to make beri beri preventitive.