Stone, Eric William (Corporal, b.1920 - d.1987)

Collection relating to the Second World War service of NX70453 Corporal Eric William Stone, 2/30 Battalion, Second Australian Imperial Force, Malaya, Thailand, Burma and Australia, 1942-1945; date unknown.

Wallet 1 of 1 – Contains two folders of material relating to Corporal Eric William Stone.

Folder 1 of 2 consists of one manuscript relating to Corporal Stone’s service with 2/30 Battalion in Malaya, and subsequent internment as a prisoner of war of the Japanese in Changi (Singapore) and Thailand. This manuscript contains transcripts of Corporal Stone’s diaries, which he wrote between January 1942 and September 1945, and copies of photographs. In his diary entries, Corporal Stone writes about fighting against the Japanese forces as they invaded Malaya, being under heavy machine gun and artillery fire, the deaths of many of his friends, the southward retreat, being evacuated to hospital with malaria, the fall of Singapore, becoming a prisoner of war in Changi Camp, the quality and quantity of food, attending lessons, participating in camp duties, feeling constantly hungry, being part of work parties and doing hard physical labour, recreational activities, getting ulcers due to malnutrition, participating in sports, performing in concerts, travelling out of Changi in a crowded truck, a forced march through Thailand, settling into a new prisoner of war camp, working on the Burma-Thailand Railway, the illness and deaths of many people in the camp, being worked to exhaustion, being very ill, moving back to Changi Camp, gardening, being in and out of hospital, recreational activities, the end of the war, and his return to Australia.

This manuscript also contains an obituary relating to Corporal Stone, written by NX54846 Sergeant Stanley Foch Arneil. The manuscript was made in the late 1980’s by an unknown transcriber. This copy of the manuscript is thought to have been annotated by NX70453 Captain John Lindsay Taylor.

Folder 2 of 2 consists of three transcripts of letters and one copy of a map. The transcripts are of letters from Corporal Stone to his friends, originally written between November 1943 and July 1944. In his letters to his friends, who were also prisoners of war, Corporal Stone gives news about their mutual friends, and writes about the poor health of his fellow prisoners. The date that the transcripts were created is unknown. The copy of a map relates to Changi prisoner of war camp [unknown date].