| Places | |
|---|---|
| Accession Number | PR03179 |
| Collection type | Private Record |
| Record type | Collection |
| Measurement | 1 wallet: 1 cm |
| Object type | Diary |
| Maker |
Bell, Keith H |
| Place made | Malaya, Singapore |
| Date made | 1941-1945 |
| Access | Open |
| Conflict |
Second World War, 1939-1945 |
Bell, Keith H
Description
Collection in relation to Keith H Bell from Federated Malay State Volunteer Force and POW in Changi.
Wallet 1 of 1 contains a typescript diary written by Keith Bell. The diary is divided into two sections:
-"A DIARY of My experiences while serving with No 1 Platoon, A/S Company, 4th Pahang Battalion, Federated Malay State Volunteer Forces, 1 December 1941 to 15 February 1942", and;
-"AN ACCOUNT of my three and a half years in the cook-house of a Japanese POW Camp, Singapore 1942-1945".
In the first part of the diary Bell writes of the events leading up to the fall of Singapore, including the organisation and movement of equipment by rail and road, blowing up a bridge and employing a scorched earth policy on the retreat towards Singapore. The second part of Bell's diary (undated) covers his imprisonment in Changi and particularly focuses on the prisoners' rations and the use of secret radios.