SINGAPORE AND THE THAI RAILWAY EXPERIENCES OF ...

Local cigarettes, 20s at 18 cents to 25 cents (we forced the price down from 30 cents)
Tinned cheese, milk, bully, sardines, jam, etc. at 55 cents - 65 cents
Java tobacco at $4.50 a katty
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Cigarette papers (Rizlers) 7½ cents to 10 cents
Matches 3 cents - 5 cents
Beer 60 cents a pint
also there was a big market in stolen Jap goods brought in by parties from the docks. The
guards did not seem to mind stealing as long as they had a share. Boyes and I used to buy all
our supplies from Chinese nearby. Maurice Gulliford and I worked together for a while and
we used to break out at night and buy in the village. We were caught by an Indian
collaborator one night but bluffed our way through. One of our best lines was peanut toffee
at 3 bars for 10 cents and peanuts (full of B1) at 10 cents a half pint. Maurice and I met Song
Kheng and Omar in the village and they gave us $25 and some food. The money helped to
build up our capital. Then Maurice decided to spend his time reading
14.
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instead of in the shop and so Boyes and I were alone. We found that the work kept us
extraordinarily busy, especially when we had Java Tobacco and peanuts, but it made the time
pass very quickly. I spent what free time I had with Joe Potter and Lincoln Page playing
cards or talking. We made ourselves comfortable at RVR. Most of us made beds and chairs
and tables and we got books from outside and such things as buckets, bowls, kitchen knives,
extra electric light fittings (these were prohibited), all of which helped to make us more
comfortable. I got my weight back and was 12 stone 10 lbs just before we left. I played 7 a
side rugger 10 minutes each way on several occasions. Joe arranged this of course. Cricket
was popular on Yasumé Days.
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The pitch was mud of course, and the bats and stumps home made and the ball a tennis ball
but there was considerable fun and interest. We played Test Matches. The Australians, of
whom there were about 200, were the camp's biggest racketeers and richest men. Few wanted
to go to work because they had so much money. The Nips were very lenient and only when
on one occasion only 2 Australians turned out did they complain. All the others said they
could not work because they had no boots. (Of course they had really.) Then the Nip officer
turned out all the men without boots and made them run around barefoot for about 1/2 an
hour chasing them round with his sword - it was
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very ludicrous. After that there were more men out to work for a few days. Our first real
unpleasantness came when they took the Nip guards off and put on Sikhs. These Sikhs
belonged to an Indian Army unit that had gone over to the Nips in Borneo and they were very
bad. They demanded salutes and bows from everyone and would sometimes pretend not to
see the salute and beat up some unfortunate. They were most unpleasant and I hope they have
now been rounded up. After the Sikhs we got even worse guards - Koreans. These Koreans
are big men averaging 5 ft 10 ins and about 13 stone. They are very quick to lose their