The word Changi

Image above: Prisoners of War in Changi Prisoner of War camp in 1942.

On the way to Vietnam we have a two hour stop-over in Singapore. However we do not leave the Airport called Changi. Changi Airport is recognised as one of the best airports in the world, with accommodation, bars, pools, shops etc. 

However there is more to the name that you should know as young historians. 

Two hours is not enough time to go into Singapore but certainly enough time for us to contemplate the plight of the Australians captured in Singapore by the Japanese in 1942 and as a result spent the rest of the war, until 1945 in the Changi prison (POW Camp) or elsewhere.  

The name Changi is synonymous with the suffering of Australian prisoners of the Japanese during the Second World War. This is ironic, since for most of the war in the Pacific Changi was, in reality, one of the most benign of the Japanese prisoner-of-war camps; its privations were relatively minor compared to those of others, particularly those on the Burma–Thailand railway.
                                                   https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/encyclopedia/pow/changi

Sadly many of those captured were sent from Changi between 1942-45 to work, and for many die on the infamous Burma Railway and other locations under the control of the Japanese. 

Image above: Three prisoners at Shimo Songkurai in 1943 suffer the effects of malnutrition. The photograph was one of the last to be taken by George Aspinall on the camera he smuggled up to the Thai–Burma railway from Changi.

I recommend that you read as much as you can about the Fall of Singapore and the experiences of the Australians in the Changi POW camp and on the Burma Railway to get a feel for that important time in Australia's military history. A time of great significance and heated controversy - why a controversy? 

We can talk about it when we have two hours to kill in the airport, a luxurious place, a very different experience to that of Australians in Singapore in 1942-45.

 While talking about Changi, check out the Changi POW Artwork of Des Bettany

Des Bettany was a survivor of being a POW at Changi, and after the war became an art teacher at Whyalla. He was to finish his working life as the Principal of the South Australian School of Art in Adelaide. The images he created are fascinating and a real insight into the time. Since we are taking along an a teacher of The Arts on the tour this year, Sharyn thought this would be a great introduction for us to look beyond the history of a place/event and look at how history is represented.  Thanks Sharyn!