Egan, Jack Edgar George (Private, b.1915 - d.1942)

Collection relating to the Second World War service and internment of NX25651 Jack Edgar George Egan, 2/30th Australian Infantry Battalion, Malaya, 1941-1942. The collection consists of a typescript copy of Jack Egan's diary which has been collated with photocopied supplementary material, and a photocopy of a letter from 1986. The collated diary is entitled 'A Changi Soldier's Diary by Jack Edgar George Egan, Written in Changi P.O.W. Camp 29 March - 26 October 1942'. The manuscript was compiled by Jack's nephews Michael and Gordon Egan in 1986. It includes a transcription of Jack's diary and some photocopied supplementary material. The diary was written in 1942, in the form of an extended letter to his family. It features regular, detailed entries covering Jack's involvement in the Malayan Campaign, the fall of Singapore, and his experiences as a prisoner of war up until three days before his accidental death following a tree-felling accident in October 1942. The diary includes detailed descriptions of the Changi Incident and the signing by internees of the pledge to not escape; Jack's observations of cultural differences between the interns and the Japanese; 'barbaric' treatment by guards, but also observations of kindness; the 'bitter conditions' of the interned Indians; illnesses such as dysentery, beri beri, dengue and tinea; black markets in the camp; rumours and 'furphies'; work and occupations at Changi including working parties and road building; the formation of an education centre; frequent incidences of prisoners going off camp for food, and the kindness of the local people; two up; his impressions of Singapore; and the Little Sisters of the Poor.

Supplementary material bound in the manuscript with the typescript diary includes a short biography of Jack written by his nephew Michael, as well as photocopies of family photographs and Jack's personal effects from Changi. It also includes a letter from Captain Dick Tompson about the return to Jack's family of a book (We of the Never Never) given to the Company by the Japanese guards at Changi in honour of Jack's death.

The collection also includes a photocopy of a letter from Michael Egan to Carl Rope, who served with Jack and who delivered Jack's diary and personal effects to his family after the war. This letter seeks to ascertain Carl Rope's current address so that the manuscript may be sent to him, discusses Michael's childhood memory of Carl's visit to his parents (Jack's brother), and provides updates on family news.