Secret Art of Survival Exhibition - Survival Further Information
Artwork and exhibition information
Portrait of Gunner Anckorn, Ubon POW camp, Thailand, September 1945
By Gunner William Carthew Wilder, 135 Field Regt., RA
Pencil on paper
Loaned by Anthony Wilder
By Gunner William Carthew Wilder, 135 Field Regt., RA
Pencil on paper
Loaned by Anthony Wilder
This pencil portrait was done by Will Wilder at Ubon POW camp in the north of Thailand on 1 September 1945. It is a very good likeness of Gunner Fergus Anckorn, who like Wilder was also a member of the 135th Field Regiment. They were in a party sent north to Ubon in late 1944 to build an airfield.
Fergus Anckorn was charismatic, a born performer. He was a magician, and at the age of 17 was the youngest person to be admitted to the elite Magic Circle of magicians. The Japanese were enthralled by magic and during captivity Fergus used it as a means to gain extra food. When he died in 2018 aged 99, Fergus was the oldest performing member of the Magic Circle.
The portrait was done on a piece of flimsy coloured paper which is now very fragile, though the portrait remains clear despite the paper being torn and damaged.
Fergus Anckorn was charismatic, a born performer. He was a magician, and at the age of 17 was the youngest person to be admitted to the elite Magic Circle of magicians. The Japanese were enthralled by magic and during captivity Fergus used it as a means to gain extra food. When he died in 2018 aged 99, Fergus was the oldest performing member of the Magic Circle.
The portrait was done on a piece of flimsy coloured paper which is now very fragile, though the portrait remains clear despite the paper being torn and damaged.
Portrait of Private Don ‘Nobby’ Clarke, 1943
By Gunner William Carthew Wilder, 135 Field Regt., RA
Graphite on paper
Loaned by Anthony Wilder
By Gunner William Carthew Wilder, 135 Field Regt., RA
Graphite on paper
Loaned by Anthony Wilder
This haunting pencil portrait of Private Don Clarke was done by his close friend and fellow artist, Gunner Will Wilder. Dated 1 December 1943 it was drawn at Nong Pladuk POW camp at the southern end of the Thai-Burma railway. Clarke, like Wilder was originally from Oxfordshire and both served in the 135 Field Regiment, the Territorial unit commanded by Liverpool businessman, Lt Col. Philip Toosey.
By the time this portrait was done Clarke had been in Thailand over a year and had been in work camps up country as far north as Kinsaiyok. Clarke’s eyes tell their own story.
Wilder had had formal art training pre-war and was teaching art when he enlisted in August 1940 while Clarke, eight years his senior, was a keen amateur artist. Both men survived captivity and remained friends through the post-war years.
By the time this portrait was done Clarke had been in Thailand over a year and had been in work camps up country as far north as Kinsaiyok. Clarke’s eyes tell their own story.
Wilder had had formal art training pre-war and was teaching art when he enlisted in August 1940 while Clarke, eight years his senior, was a keen amateur artist. Both men survived captivity and remained friends through the post-war years.
Two Portraits of Charlie Proctor, Changi 1942 & Thailand late 1943
By Gunner Ashley George Old, 1/5 Sherwood Foresters Regt.
Pencil on paper
Watercolour on paper
Loaned by the Bartholomew Family
These two portraits are of the same man, Private Ernest Charles Proctor, the oldest member of the 1/5 Sherwood Foresters Regt in captivity in the Far East. They were both done by the same artist during captivity and 18 months apart. Created by Gunner Ashley George Old of the same regiment as Charlie, the pencil sketch on the right was done in early 1942 during the first weeks of captivity at Changi POW camp in Singapore. By late 1943 both men were at Chungkai Hospital camp in Thailand when the second, watercolour, portrait was done. The difference between the two portraits is stark. Both men survived captivity.
Old said he painted over a thousand such portraits during captivity. LSTM knows of the whereabouts of 17 and hopes to find more, visit www.captivememories.org.uk for more information.
St George’s Chapel Interior, Changi POW camp, Singapore 1943
By Lt. Eric Francis Stacy, 560 Field Coy, RE
Watercolour & pencil on paper
Loaned by the Cordingly Family
By Lt. Eric Francis Stacy, 560 Field Coy, RE
Watercolour & pencil on paper
Loaned by the Cordingly Family
Another view of St George’s Church, Changi POW camp, once again done by architect, Eric Stacy. This time he illustrated the interior of the church in pencil and watercolour.
Over time the former mosque was refurbished, with coconut matting covering the floor of the nave and fixtures and fittings, including pews, side rails, a pulpit and the large wooden cross above the altar made in nearby workshops by POW carpenters and craftsmen. Floodlights, made from car headlamps, shone in the evenings on the large wooden altar cross. A smaller brass cross was later fashioned out of a 4.5 howitzer shell case and placed on the altar. This was finely engraved and highly polished.
Over time the former mosque was refurbished, with coconut matting covering the floor of the nave and fixtures and fittings, including pews, side rails, a pulpit and the large wooden cross above the altar made in nearby workshops by POW carpenters and craftsmen. Floodlights, made from car headlamps, shone in the evenings on the large wooden altar cross. A smaller brass cross was later fashioned out of a 4.5 howitzer shell case and placed on the altar. This was finely engraved and highly polished.
St George’s Chapel Outside View, Changi POW camp, 1943
By Lt. Eric Francis Stacy, 560 Field Coy, RE
Ink on paper
Loaned by the Cordingly Family
By Lt. Eric Francis Stacy, 560 Field Coy, RE
Ink on paper
Loaned by the Cordingly Family
This fine ink sketch is inscribed ‘St George’s Church, India Lines’ and depicts the first church of that name at Changi POW camp. It was drawn by Lt Eric Stacy and dated 1943. Stacy, from London, was a qualified chartered architect at the outbreak of war. St George’s Church was created by utilising an abandoned mosque. It was the idea of army padre Eric Cordingly, attached to the 9th Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, who discovered the mosque almost hidden in undergrowth next to his billet in Changi village. The first Saturday of their captivity saw the padre and volunteers making their church. Cordingly led worship at St George’s: it was the first of four churches dedicated to the patron saint that he helped to create.
This is a particularly pleasing view of St George’s, set in a shady area with palm trees and flowering shrubs all around. It has wide and low attap-roofed verandas on three sides and minaret topped by a cupula, previously used for the call to prayer. It appears to have been drawn from the veranda of an adjacent concrete structure. Stacy helped to design and build several chapels and churches in captivity in Singapore.
This is a particularly pleasing view of St George’s, set in a shady area with palm trees and flowering shrubs all around. It has wide and low attap-roofed verandas on three sides and minaret topped by a cupula, previously used for the call to prayer. It appears to have been drawn from the veranda of an adjacent concrete structure. Stacy helped to design and build several chapels and churches in captivity in Singapore.
Anniversary Card with Roses, 1940 - 1945
By CQMS Maurice Charles Green, 287 Field Coy, RE
Loaned by the Green Family
By CQMS Maurice Charles Green, 287 Field Coy, RE
Loaned by the Green Family
This anniversary ‘card’ was drawn on a small piece of coloured paper, by Liverpudlian Quartermaster Sergeant Maurice Green, to remind him of his wife Doris (seen in this photograph taken after he had disembarked in Liverpool in October 1945).
Green kept the small card with him throughout his captivity in camps in Singapore and Thailand, marking off the years as each 13th July anniversary passed. This is a simple and yet poignant reminder of a young soldier’s longing to return to hearth and home. Green had joined the army as a boy soldier, aged 15 in 1931. He returned to his unit after extended leave, in 1946.
Green kept the small card with him throughout his captivity in camps in Singapore and Thailand, marking off the years as each 13th July anniversary passed. This is a simple and yet poignant reminder of a young soldier’s longing to return to hearth and home. Green had joined the army as a boy soldier, aged 15 in 1931. He returned to his unit after extended leave, in 1946.
Barber’s Shop, POW camp Hong Kong
By Capt. Godfrey Vernon Bird, RE
Pencil on paper
Loaned by Derek Bird
By Capt. Godfrey Vernon Bird, RE
Pencil on paper
Loaned by Derek Bird
This small pencil and charcoal sketch is of a busy barber’s shop at one of the large camps in Hong Kong. Self-discipline and self-respect were vital elements in raising morale and such a facility was a feature of the larger more organised camps.
The sketch was drawn by Captain Bird, a trained architect who had worked in the colony for several years. He used his considerable artistic talent to create dozens of sketches during captivity. As well as documenting camp life he also produced from memory dozens of illustrations depicting myriad building styles and detail, which he used as teaching notes for talks and lectures he gave on the history of architecture.
The sketch was drawn by Captain Bird, a trained architect who had worked in the colony for several years. He used his considerable artistic talent to create dozens of sketches during captivity. As well as documenting camp life he also produced from memory dozens of illustrations depicting myriad building styles and detail, which he used as teaching notes for talks and lectures he gave on the history of architecture.
Caricature of Capt. Ronald Moore ‘Jack’ Horner, ‘Up the Spurs’
By Sapper Ronald William Fordham Searle, 287 Field Coy, RE
Pastel & ink on paper
Loaned by the Horner Family
By Sapper Ronald William Fordham Searle, 287 Field Coy, RE
Pastel & ink on paper
Loaned by the Horner Family
This lovely caricature of Captain Ronnie Horner, an avid Spurs fan, was done by artist Ronald Searle on a small scrap of paper. Both men were in Changi Gaol POW camp for the final part of their captivity.
Searle, a trained artist, documented life and death in captivity in his distinctive spiky style. He was lucky to survive several serious bouts of illness both in Singapore and in Thailand. In his memoir he described waking up one morning to find a snake coiled under his head, with two friends lying either side of him, both dead.
A fellow prisoner later recalled of Searle: “If you can imagine something that weighs six stone or so, on the point of death… calmly lying there with a pencil and a scrap of paper, drawing, you have some idea of the difference of temperament that this man had from the ordinary human being.”
Searle, a trained artist, documented life and death in captivity in his distinctive spiky style. He was lucky to survive several serious bouts of illness both in Singapore and in Thailand. In his memoir he described waking up one morning to find a snake coiled under his head, with two friends lying either side of him, both dead.
A fellow prisoner later recalled of Searle: “If you can imagine something that weighs six stone or so, on the point of death… calmly lying there with a pencil and a scrap of paper, drawing, you have some idea of the difference of temperament that this man had from the ordinary human being.”
Cartoon of Capt. Ronald Moore ‘Jack’ Horner, 1945
By L/Bombardier Desmond Bettany, 88 Field Regt., RA
Watercolour and ink on paper
Loaned by the Horner Family
By L/Bombardier Desmond Bettany, 88 Field Regt., RA
Watercolour and ink on paper
Loaned by the Horner Family
This amusing caricature was created by Lancashire artist Des Bettany and given to the subject of the picture, Captain Ronnie Horner. It depicts Horner’s love of singing while at ablutions, here taken in an imaginary bath tub. Horner, like Bettany, was involved in theatricals in camp. Bettany, a prolific cartoonist and gifted caricaturist, created several hundred works during captivity. Captured in Singapore he remained on the island throughout. His accomplished artwork was designed to amuse but often had a serious message.
He documented all aspects of life, from the serious to the hilarious, using watercolour, pen and ink, pastels and pigments derived from local clays. The latter provided a rich array of colours including white, brown, ochre and red. Dried and then ground using bottles, the pigments were mixed with rice water to help adherence. They have lasted the test of time. Bettany’s artwork is also displayed digitally in the exhibition.
He documented all aspects of life, from the serious to the hilarious, using watercolour, pen and ink, pastels and pigments derived from local clays. The latter provided a rich array of colours including white, brown, ochre and red. Dried and then ground using bottles, the pigments were mixed with rice water to help adherence. They have lasted the test of time. Bettany’s artwork is also displayed digitally in the exhibition.
Motorbike drawn from memory, Kranji POW Hospital camp, Singapore, 1944
By Corporal William George ‘Bill’ Norways, 2Btn Cambs Regt., RA
Pencil gouache
Loaned by Graeme and Toby Norways
By Corporal William George ‘Bill’ Norways, 2Btn Cambs Regt., RA
Pencil gouache
Loaned by Graeme and Toby Norways
This extraordinarily detailed sketch of a motorbike for an imaginary sales poster was created by trained graphic artist Bill Norways in 1944. On the back of the sketch he wrote: “Wasn’t feeling too good when I did this, so thought I would fill in time by seeing if I could remember what a motorbike looked like”. He hadn’t seen a British motorbike in over four years.
Norways studied at the Chelsea School of Art graduating in 1936 and then worked as a commercial artist before the war. During captivity in Changi POW camp he lectured on Advertising and Art as part of the ‘Changi University’. He was heavily involved in theatricals in camps in Singapore and Thailand and painted detailed studies of medical facilities at Kranji POW Hospital camp after his return to Singapore in late 1943.
Norways studied at the Chelsea School of Art graduating in 1936 and then worked as a commercial artist before the war. During captivity in Changi POW camp he lectured on Advertising and Art as part of the ‘Changi University’. He was heavily involved in theatricals in camps in Singapore and Thailand and painted detailed studies of medical facilities at Kranji POW Hospital camp after his return to Singapore in late 1943.
Portrait of Vera Mayne, 1944 (and photograph 1940)
By Sapper Geoffrey Barlow Gee, 560 Field Coy, RE
Colour pencil
Photograph print
Loaned by Jill Fleming, daughter of Vera and Edward John Mayne
By Sapper Geoffrey Barlow Gee, 560 Field Coy, RE
Colour pencil
Photograph print
Loaned by Jill Fleming, daughter of Vera and Edward John Mayne
Geoffrey Gee drew several portraits from photographs, like this one (left) of Vera Mayne, the wife of Signalman Jack Mayne, created in January 1944 while both he and Mayne were at Chungkai Hospital camp in Thailand. Amateur artists like Gee used their talents to not only document life in captivity but also to help raise morale. Portraits such as these were treasured.
Gee’s distinctive signature is clearly seen bottom right: the vertical lines extending down from each stylised “G” in his name appear to resemble posts, criss-crossed by two intersecting lines of barbed wire.
Gee, from Scotland, was involved with theatricals, painting sets, posters and programmes for productions like, Night Must Fall, which opened on 23 June 1944 at Chungkai Hospital camp in Thailand. In a letter to Professor Sears Eldredge, Gee commented: “The whole thing was first class from every angle… its wonderful what we prisoners-of-war can do!”
NB Professor Sears Eldredge: Captive Audiences/Captive Performers
Gee’s distinctive signature is clearly seen bottom right: the vertical lines extending down from each stylised “G” in his name appear to resemble posts, criss-crossed by two intersecting lines of barbed wire.
Gee, from Scotland, was involved with theatricals, painting sets, posters and programmes for productions like, Night Must Fall, which opened on 23 June 1944 at Chungkai Hospital camp in Thailand. In a letter to Professor Sears Eldredge, Gee commented: “The whole thing was first class from every angle… its wonderful what we prisoners-of-war can do!”
NB Professor Sears Eldredge: Captive Audiences/Captive Performers
Coconut Grove Theatre, Changi Gaol, 1945
By Capt. Thomas ‘Toss’ Wilson, RAMC
Ink wash on paper
Loaned by the Wilson Family
By Capt. Thomas ‘Toss’ Wilson, RAMC
Ink wash on paper
Loaned by the Wilson Family
This is army medical officer, Captain Toss Wilson’s pen and ink sketch of a performance at the Coconut Grove Theatre, one of two theatres at Changi Gaol POW camp in Singapore. Variety shows, plays, musical comedies and concerts took place in camps across Far East captivity. Not all camps had a specially-made permanent stage like this one. Up country in Thailand and in other remote areas, performers used a raised area with their audience seated all around. Or musicians and actors would go from hut to hut in the evenings, holding sing-songs, poetry readings or doing comic turns.
Artists created professional billboard posters and programmes as well as magical scenery and stage sets. A host of volunteers made wigs, costumes and applied makeup. In camps in Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, Tandjong Priok and Bandoeng (in Java), professional actors, musicians, producers and directors planned, wrote and put on highly-accomplished shows. The performers did their best to entertain and distract, raising morale and transporting both audiences and themselves to another time, another place.
Artists created professional billboard posters and programmes as well as magical scenery and stage sets. A host of volunteers made wigs, costumes and applied makeup. In camps in Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, Tandjong Priok and Bandoeng (in Java), professional actors, musicians, producers and directors planned, wrote and put on highly-accomplished shows. The performers did their best to entertain and distract, raising morale and transporting both audiences and themselves to another time, another place.
Kanburi Theatre Poster, Victory Concert, 18 August 1945
By Lt Fred William H. Ransome-Smith, 5 Suffolks Regt., RA
Watercolour & pencil on paper
Loaned by Neil Pearson
By Lt Fred William H. Ransome-Smith, 5 Suffolks Regt., RA
Watercolour & pencil on paper
Loaned by Neil Pearson
This poster, designed and made by Lt Fred “Smudger” Ransome-Smith, heralded the Victory Concert that was staged at Kanburi Officers’ camp in Thailand on the night of 28 August 1945. The show was produced and compered by Fizzer Pearson and the programme, written in pencil on the back by Smudger, showed the range of talents that performed on the night. The concert finale included ‘Land of Hope and Glory’ followed by the national anthems of the United States, the Netherlands and Great Britain.
Ransome-Smith produced artwork for posters, programmes and stage sets during captivity in Singapore and Thailand, as well as documenting aspects of daily life and medical care.
Poster, Nakom Paton POW Hospital camp, 1945
By Bombardier Basil Parry ‘AKKI’ Akhurst, 137 Field Regt., RA
Watercolour and pencil on paper
Loaned by Richard Brown, son of play’s author, Bernard Brown, 2nd Battalion East Surrey Regt.
By Bombardier Basil Parry ‘AKKI’ Akhurst, 137 Field Regt., RA
Watercolour and pencil on paper
Loaned by Richard Brown, son of play’s author, Bernard Brown, 2nd Battalion East Surrey Regt.
This glorious theatrical bill poster was painted by FEPOW artist AKKI. It announced the first show performed at Nakom Patom POW camp in Thailand following the Japanese surrender in August 1945. His inscription on the back of the poster gives a flavour of the excitement and joy that must have pervaded the staging of this elaborate comedy show. It was written by Sgt Bernard Brown who brought the poster home with him.
Jack Chalker describes the show in great detail and hilarity in his memoir, Burma Railway Artist. It featured an elephant, the costume made from a framework of bamboo strips shaped to form the large body, covered with plaited bamboo panels and finished off with grey woodash smeared over the body. Needing two men inside the elephant, it caused much hilarity. However, it all nearly ended in tragedy when, part way through one scene the animal collapsed on stage amid howls of mirth from the audience. Chalker relates that both men had to be dragged out semi-conscious, having been asphixiated by the ash!
Jack Chalker describes the show in great detail and hilarity in his memoir, Burma Railway Artist. It featured an elephant, the costume made from a framework of bamboo strips shaped to form the large body, covered with plaited bamboo panels and finished off with grey woodash smeared over the body. Needing two men inside the elephant, it caused much hilarity. However, it all nearly ended in tragedy when, part way through one scene the animal collapsed on stage amid howls of mirth from the audience. Chalker relates that both men had to be dragged out semi-conscious, having been asphixiated by the ash!
Embroidered Panel of a tropical fantasy scene
By Gunner Jack Bridger Chalker, 118 Field Regt., RA
Fabric
Loaned by Guy Chalker-Howells
By Gunner Jack Bridger Chalker, 118 Field Regt., RA
Fabric
Loaned by Guy Chalker-Howells
This is the first time that this glorious piece of needlework has ever been seen in public. Designed and worked by FEPOW artist Jack Chalker whilst laid up sick at Chungkai POW Hospital camp in Thailand towards the end of 1943. Depicting a tropical fantasy of flora and fauna it was created using a riot of startlingly vibrant coloured silks. In his memoir, Burma Railway Artist, Chalker relates how he was mesmerised by the beauty and colours of the jungle.
He came across the silks and cloth during the fighting in Singapore in early 1942. Chalker was sent to an outlying observation post and had to make his way through bomb-damaged houses. In one, amid the dust and chaos of the hallway, he noticed bright colours lying in the debris. The contents of a sewing chest had been blown apart. Snatching up a handful of coloured Chinese silks he wrapped them in a piece of cloth and stuffed them in his haversack.
It was nearly two years later in Thailand that a sick Australian POW “with huge hands…” lying next to Chalker, showed him the rudiments of embroidery stitching.
He came across the silks and cloth during the fighting in Singapore in early 1942. Chalker was sent to an outlying observation post and had to make his way through bomb-damaged houses. In one, amid the dust and chaos of the hallway, he noticed bright colours lying in the debris. The contents of a sewing chest had been blown apart. Snatching up a handful of coloured Chinese silks he wrapped them in a piece of cloth and stuffed them in his haversack.
It was nearly two years later in Thailand that a sick Australian POW “with huge hands…” lying next to Chalker, showed him the rudiments of embroidery stitching.