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UPTON HALL FCJ SCHOOL
THE ASSEMBLY OF THE UPPER SCHOOL - YEAR
9
Held on 12th November 2002
REMEMBRANCE -THE FAR EAST
The theme of today's assembly is Remembrance. Last Sunday was Remembrance Sunday and we are all asked to reflect upon all those who gave their lives in conflicts during the twentieth century in order that we may enjoy our freedoms. A number of Year 9 pupils from Upton Hall attended an exhibition in September at the Town Hall in Birkenhead, which marked the remarkable courage of all those people that were caught up in events in the Far East, particularly after the fall of Singapore to the Japanese in 1942, through the record kept by one man, who himself was involved in this war- Captain Duncan.
His daughter Meg Parkes, our guest this afternoon, and a former pupil at Upton researched her father's experiences as a Prisoner of War held by the Japanese through his own diary extracts and has written about this in her book 'Notify Alec Rattray'. We are very pleased that she will explain her father's story and why she decided to write it.
Before Meg speaks to us we would like to establish a background and a link between the Far East and the Wirral through the remarkable story of Lieutenant Colonel Toosey whose son was also present at the exhibition in the Town Hall.
A former President of The School of Tropical Medicine in Liverpool was Lieutenant Colonel Philip Toosey who during the Second World War had been involved in building the bridge on the River Kwai as a Prisoner of War when held by the Japanese. The Bridge was the most famous landmark on the Burma-Thailand Railway. It consisted of two hundred and fifty eight miles of track. The human cost however of Prisoners of War constructing this bridge was 16,000 lives. In 1957 the film director David Lean produced a film from Pierre Boulle's novel - 'Bridge over the River Kwai'. For many, this film was accepted as a factual depiction of events although this was not the claim of the film. Just as in the film however, the British Prisoners of War were instructed against the Geneva Convention to build a railway but Lt Col Toosey bore no resemblance to the character portrayed by Alec Guinness. He had been posted to Singapore in 1941 following his return from Europe after Dunkirk but unlike the fictional Colonel Nicholson was not an upper-class career officer but a Territorial Army Officer, born in Oxton, Birkenhead in 1904. Lt Col Toosey never criticised the inaccuracies of the film.
By 1942 the Japanese Army had reached the Indian border. They realised that they needed a land route to defend their far flung army from Allied counter attacks and prepare for the invasion of India. The decision was taken to build a rail link between Burma and Thailand, through two hundred and fifty miles of mountainous jungle. Once completed, the army would be able to move troops and 3,000 tons of supplies each day from Singapore and Bangkok to the Indian border.
Lt Col Toosey was among 130,000 allied soldiers who surrendered to the Japanese after the siege of Singapore in February 1942. It is a tribute to his bravery that he might never have been captured by the Japanese. He was awarded the DSO for his conduct during the siege and ordered to evacuate the city before it fell. He refused and chose to remain with his men.
On October 22 1942 he and 650 men from various regiments arrived at Tamarkan where they were ordered to build two bridges over the river, one wood, and another iron, as part of a railway. Under the Geneva Convention it was forbidden for prisoners of war to do any work of use to the enemy. *
The prisoners had no alternative but to work for the Japanese. Escaping,
refusing to work or sabotaging the bridge, would have all proved pointless
and dangerous. Brutal guards, lack of medicine, tropical diseases and
limited food rations would claim the lives of thousands of prisoners over
the course of the war.
A clip was then shown of the 'Bridge over the River Kwai' and Colonel Nicholson quoting from the Geneva Convention.
Meg Parkes gave an address.
MAY WE CLOSE WITH A PRAYER
Lord Jesus who suffered and died on a cross, we offer in prayer all those who suffered and died in the conflicts of the twentieth century and for the pain and loss felt by those left to mourn and grieve. We pray also for those who survived and the records of their experiences. May we listen to their words, reflect and seek by our own example to be ambassadors for peace, understanding and reconciliation.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Meg Parkes and Patrick Toosey, the son of Colonel Philip Toosey, are both
COFEPOW members.
* The Geneva Convention actually only forbids work by officer prisoners and restricts the type of work which can be given to prisoners of other ranks.
The Exhibition in BIRKENHEAD
Fourteen young people visited the exhibition as mentioned in the Assembly above and wrote a short account of their visit. The following are extracts from some of their accounts.
1. BECKY EATON
"We went in a small group to the Town Hall Museum in Hamilton Square. We learnt about the war and all about the soldiers. It was amazing to look around at real telegrams and letters that had been kept since the early 1940's.
We learnt about one man who had been captured by the Japanese. He was a prisoner for three and a half years. It was really good reading the diary extracts that he had written while being a prisoner. It felt as if you could picture yourself where he was because it was so real.
We also spoke to some prisoners of war. It was good speaking to them because you could ask them questions which couldn't be answered by the diaries. It was a really good day.
2. CHARLOTTE RELF
Today was really interesting. It was fascinating to see the letters,
photographs, diaries etc collected together. There was so much information
about World War II. It made me realise how hard it must have been for
the prisoners of the camps.
Abbreviations made by prisoners in their diaries were difficult to understand,
but the author of the book helped me to understand their code.
It wasn't until the end of the day when Meg Parkes, the author, explained that she had written about her father, that I understood what they had gone through and it was beyond my imagination to appreciate the conditions they had lived in. Survivors who had been captured talked to us of their experiences and it touched me deeply.
The day has inspired me to find out more about the history of my own family and their experiences during World War II.
3. ALEX HITCHMOUGH
The exhibition was very interesting and informative and I learned lots just by reading the diary extracts of Antholl Duncan. The book is based on his life whilst he was a prisoner of war (POW) in the Far Eastern camps.
We spoke to an ex-prisoner of war who told us lots about the conditions they lived in. He told us that they had to make their beds out of bamboo canes and they had no blankets.
We were very fortunate to speak to the author of the book, Meg Parkes, and to the Keeper of Documents at the Imperial War Museum (who was present). They told us many things about World War II.
The day was very interesting and all of us now know a lot more about the war.
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