Nakom Paton, Thailand. 18 September 1945. At the prisoner of war (POW) hospital camp at Nakom ...

Places
Accession Number 118851
Collection type Photograph
Object type Black & white
Physical description Black & white
Maker Stuckey, Norman Bradford
Conflict Second World War, 1939-1945
Copyright

Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain

Public Domain Mark This item is in the Public Domain

Description

Nakom Paton, Thailand. 18 September 1945. 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 civil 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. Fermentation took one week. The stills, constructed from kerosene tins are shown in operation. 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.