| Place | Asia: Burma Thailand Railway, Nakom Paton |
|---|---|
| Accession Number | ART90854 |
| Collection type | Art |
| Measurement | Overall: sheet: 29.2 x 19.2cm; card: 34.2 x 22.2cm |
| Object type | Work on paper |
| Physical description | watercolour heightened with white over pencil on paper mounted on card |
| Maker |
Chalker, Jack |
| Place made | Burma Thailand Railway: Nakom Paton |
| Date made | 1945 |
| Conflict |
Second World War, 1939-1945 |
| Copyright |
Item copyright: AWM Licensed copyright |
Tropical ulcer
Description
Detailed sketch of a severe tropical ulcer on a prisoner of war's leg in Nakom Paton, Burma-Thailand Railway.
Jack Chalker, serving in the Royal Artillery, was captured at the fall of Singapore. In October 1942 he was in a party sent to Thailand to construct the Burma-Thailand Railway. Chalker secretly made drawings of the various camps and conditions endured by the prisoners. He drew and painted on whatever materials he could find or steal from the Japanese, hiding his work in sections of bamboo buried in the ground, the attap roofs of huts, or the artificial legs worn by amputees in the hospital camps. His work provides a candid and moving record of the prisoners' suffering.