Johnstone, Alex R C (Corporal, b.1911 - d.1967)

Diaries, notebooks, letters, telegrams, sketches, leaflets, cards and menus relating to NX20572 Corporal Alex R. C. Johnstone (2/15th Field Regiment, originally attached to the Audit Office, Command Pay Staff of the AIF in Malaya), documenting his experiences as a Prisoner of War of the Japanese.

Three handwritten diaries (accompanied by a typed, bound transcript) titled "The Years Between: A.R.C. Johnstone" document the period from the fall of Singapore in February 1942 until January 1944. Substantial daily entries describe his experiences in Changi and POW camps in Korea, including Jinsen camp (Chosen, Korea) and his subsequent transferal to Keijo camp. The entries are written partly in the form of communications with his wife Peg, and provide considerable detail about camp life and conditions, including food, recreation, illness and work (e.g. unit 'auditing' in Changi; quarry, wharf and railway labour in Jinsen). To conceal the diaries in the POW camps, the diaries were hidden from Japanese guards in drains dug by the prisoners for the camp latrine.

Accompanying the diaries are cards, leaflets, menus and recipe notebooks kept whilst a POW; Johnstone's Demobilisation procedure book; POW postcards; a written copy of "Instructions given by Colonel Y. Noguchi, Superintendent of the Chosen War Prisoners' Camp, September 1942"; and a pencil sketch of Cpl Alex Johnstone whilst in Jinsen camp by an unknown artist.

• Diary of Alexander Roland Campbell Johnstone, 1942-1943
• Diary of Alexander Roland Campbell Johnstone, 1943-1944
• Manuscript for The Years Between by Alexander Roland Campbell Johnstone
• Transcript of The Years Between by Alexander Roland Campbell Johnstone
• Documents relating to the service of Alexander Roland Campbell Johnstone
• Correspondence relating to service of Alexander Roland Campbell Johnstone