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The Burma Railway Artist
By Jack Chalker
We hope to show you, over a period of time, some of the fine artistic
work of Jack Chalker, who has kindly given us permission to use his work
on our site and in our exhibitions. We know his work can only enhance
our web pages and bring to you a glimpse of the POWs in captivity.
Jack Chalker was a P.O.W. on the Thai/Burma railway and during his imprisonment
he managed to sketch - and more importantly, to hide, much of what was
going on around him. Prior to the out break of war, Jack was a student
set to commence a scholarship at London's Royal College of Art so it was
second nature to include some watercolours in his kit
On becoming a P.O.W., he hid his small supply of colours in a scrap of
an old gas cape with a few brushes and drawing nibs in a false bottom
in his haversack. In turn the paintings and drawings he produced were
concealed in a hidden section of bamboo, the end being sealed with a wooden
stopper. During his years of captivity many of his precious sketches were
destroyed by cockroaches and termites who could eat through anything,
but fortunately many of his drawings and paintings survived to bear testament
to the conditions that the P.O.W.'s were forced to endure.
Jack's work and his own story are brilliantly portrayed in his book "The
Burma Railway Artist"
Published by Pen & Sword
ISBN 085052 337 0
Price £17.95
This book is recommended to anyone who wants to know more about the life
of a prisoner working on the railway. Both the text (not without a touch
humour) coupled with his sketches and a few delicate water colours, complete
an excellent impression of "life on the railway".
Incidentally, a gallery has recently been opened in Thailand, at a place
called Home Phu Toey, near the Hellfire Pass in which the work of Jack
Chalker is on display.
Our group of COFEPOW members visited this gallery during a tour of the
Far East in April 2001 - it was well worth the visit.
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