ABSTRACT
By the end of September 1943, the number of men at Changi stood at just 5,332.1
Much had changed with the departure of men overseas and many of the comforts and diversions contingent on a large POW population had vanished as a result. There were also compensations; fewer men obviously meant that resources went further, in the short term at least. Much had been achieved to make life more palatable, both at the behest of the Japanese and as a result of the POWs’ own initiatives. From September 1943 to May 1944, however, the war would revisit Changi and sweep away many of the assumptions and securities that had grown up since February 1942. Life would become harder for those at Changi and for those who had been fortunate to avoid moving overseas on working parties. The reality of being a POW of the Japanese would be brought home by the return of the ‘upcountry’ parties. These men, the fortunate survivors of the railway, had endured conditions which went beyond anything at Changi. Their return demonstrated what their captors were capable of and swiftly banished any complacency in POW/ IJA relations.
