During the years that David Barrett and I wrote Digger’s Story we always had it in mind that we might use more of the material we had. David had collected this from other Prisoners of War who had shared similar experiences during World War Two.
Those who have read Digger’s Story will be aware that David founded the Australian Reparations Committee in 1986 to fight for compensation from the Japanese Government. Part of this process was that ex-POWs or their surviving relatives had to make a claim. This involved completing a simple form and returning it to the committee. On the form there were a few lines to:
- describe their experience,
- list any diseases suffered,
- state any sadistic treatment received, and
- make any further comment.
(See photographs between pages 146 and 147 in Digger’s Story).
Naturally this was not enough space for everyone to say exactly what they wanted to say and so some applicants attached several pages to their application.
I have those pages still, and I am seriously thinking that the world should also be able to read them.
This, of course, will depend on the wishes of their surviving relatives who I will be trying to contact.
If after trying to contact relatives and gaining permission to use the information or on the other hand not being able to find any relatives, I will make a decision about which stories to use and which not to use.
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