ABSTRACT
The Changi POW camp had developed considerably since 15 February. Now, at the end of August, the POWs would face their most significant challenge since the fighting itself. Ironically, this challenge was largely of their own making. The events that became known as the ‘Selarang barrack square incident’ would have a profound and long-term effect on the POWs at Changi. These few days at the beginning of September 1942 altered the way the POWs themselves saw captivity itself, as well as altering their perceptions about being prisoners. During Selarang the POW community drew together in a previously unimagined fashion and many of the petty divisions that had bedevilled the camp community evaporated. Although many of these divisions would reappear afterwards they did so in a manner that was less damaging. The benefits that accrued as a result of the Selarang incident would be felt right up until 1945.
