Death Was Our Bedmate: 155Th (Lanarkshire Yeomanry) Field Regiment and the Japanese 1941-1945 by Agnes McEwan Campbell Thomson

Author:Agnes McEwan, Campbell Thomson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: HISTORY / Military / World War II
ISBN: 9781473822481
Publisher: Pen & Sword Military
Published: 2013-03-26T16:00:00+00:00

Two days after the death of BQMS Bartlett, the track-laying gang moved on to Prankassi. Like Kinsaiyok, this was a ‘mixed’ camp, with British, Australian and Dutch prisoners. Dutch mess tins were considered to be superior to those provided to British troops and it was in one of these camps that Lance Bombardier Robert Hudson of the 155th obtained two Dutch mess tins on which he skilfully inscribed the badge of the Lanarkshire Yeomanry using only a nail and a stone. The tins were found in Robert’s home in 2009, after his death.

While at Prankassi, Bombardier Pat Campbell received a cut to his leg, which quickly developed into a serious tropical ulcer. The usual treatment of scraping the diseased flesh away with a sharpened spoon was tried but the ulcer refused to heal and eventually Dr Macdonald sent him down to the hospital camp at Chungkai. During the resultant surgery, flesh and bone were removed to a depth sufficient to remove all of the decayed material. Anaesthetic was in short supply and Pat awoke while the doctors were still working on his leg.

Said Pat Campbell: ‘A Book of Commonwealth Law had been given to me while I was in Singapore and I kept it because I thought it would be useful after the war as I was studying to be a solicitor. After my operation at Chungkai I needed to use pages from it to bandage my leg. Someone asked me for some sheets from it to go to the toilet. I said “No! If you want it to bandage your leg, OK, but not for wiping your backside.” ’

‘I was wearing ragged short trousers but I burned them later because they were full of bugs. I had had a good pair of long trousers at one point but I sold them for a couple of dollars to buy food. I should have kept them because I ended up with just a jap-happy and that was the only clothing I possessed till the end of the war. When I arrived at Chungkai I had an old sheet that I covered myself with at night but it was filthy and I washed it and hung it outside to dry. I would have been better leaving it dirty because someone stole it and I never saw it again.’

Eventually, Pat Campbell was well enough to be moved down the line to Kanburi and then to Nakon Pathon, a brighter, better-equipped camp where he saw out the remainder of the war. While at Nakon Pathon he renewed acquaintanceship with Gunner George ‘Butcher’ Smith, from his home town of Dumfries. George had gained the nickname ‘Butcher’ as he had worked as a butcher in Dumfries, a trade to which he returned after the war. George was gravely ill at this time and, although he survived and returned home, he never completely recovered from his time as a POW.

Pat Campbell later said: ‘As a prisoner of war I had very few possessions – the remains of my book, something to eat from, my japhappy and a hollowed-out piece of bamboo to use as a cup.

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