In an article for the British Medical Journal, published in October 1946, Colonel Ernest Edward Dunlop, known as “Weary”, describes the way in which “ellagra, diarrhoea, irritable bladders, and massed overcrowding interrupted rest”. Supply lines were long and unwieldy, and many of the prison locations were barely able to support the needs of a local population, let alone a new, large, hungry population of the Imperial Japanese Army and its prisoners. In capturing tens of thousands of prisoners of war, Japan had a ready-made source of labour which could be utilised to meet infrastructure needs. Conditions in POW camps differed throughout the region but the majority of Allied POWs experienced “…malnutrition, disease, overwork, extreme violence and the denial of basic medical facilities”. When Singapore fell in February 1942, the Imperial Japanese Army suddenly found itself in control of some 60,000 Allied prisoners of war (POW), most of whom were British, Australian or Dutch.Īpproximately 22,000 POWs were Australian soldiers and among them were 106 doctors.
