Recreation of the POW Changi walk

Great to see that a group called the sandbaggers are organising a 28k city to Changi walk to retrace the steps that the POWs took when they were marched to Changi prison after the surrender. Believe this is being planned for September. Facinating

Singapore1942 twitter site

My twitter site that is connected to this blog website has now hit 300 followers and thank you to everyone's interest and encouragement preserving this fascinating history.

The Adam Park Project

TAPP continues to make some fascinating discoveries with their search and excavation around the old black and white houses at Adam Park in Singapore. There are some very interesting photos on the TAPP Facebook page.

BBC segment on the anniversary

Video from the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the fall of Singapore

70th Anniversary memorial

This is one of the shots I took at the 7am fall of Singapore memorial service at Kranji War Memorial on 15th February 2012 - the 70th anniversary of the fall of Singapore. These were the Australian vets present who received a lot of media coverage back home during their time on the island last week. Would have been great to have had the opportunity to spend soem time with them but their schedule did not allow unfortunately. I am sure it was a very moving experience for them coming back.

New Zealand Veterans

New Zealand fall of Singapore veterans at the 7oth Anniversary at Kranji Cemetary

George Prior

A nice photo of George Prior at the Singapore veterans anniversary dinner held just over a week ago in commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the fall of Singapore. Captured in Singapore George ended on the Thai Burma Railway and maintains a cheeky sense of humour and looks remarkedly well for his age.

Fall of Singapore remembered by survivors

NOT many can make the journey now. Only a dozen ageing Australian survivors of the fall of Singapore stood when asked to identify themselves at the city-state's Kranji War Memorial yesterday during a service commemorating the 70th anniversary of perhaps the greatest military defeat in the history of the British empire. Veteran Affairs Minister Warren Snowdon announced the fast-diminishing roll call. While 14,792 Australian servicemen and nurses were captured by the Japanese in Singapore in 1942 ''only 520 of those brave souls are still with us,'' he said. ''We are fortunate some of those who survived sit with us here today.'' One of them, Bill Ennis, 89, of Sydney, said despite the passing of many of his comrades he believes the sacrifices made in Singapore will grow stronger in the minds of Australians when they are all gone. ''It don't know why but just like Gallipoli the young people are taking a much greater interest in what happened in these battles,'' Mr Ennis said. ''It's very sad that so many of us are passing but you just have to get used to it,'' he said. George Smith, 86, of Western Australia, who lied about his age to enlist in June 1941, said that during the solemn service held on a hill overlooking the graves of thousands of servicemen he remembered his many mates who were killed. ''Usually I try not to think about it - you get too upset otherwise,'' he said. Air Vice-Marshal Neil Hart, representing the Australian Defence Force at the service, said it was important to continue to speak about the stories and the sacrifices that were made 70 years ago. ''It is hard for those of new generations, those without the personal experiences of the veterans here with us today, to understand, to comprehend,'' Air Vice-Marshal Hart said. ''All these numbers, all the killed, all the wounded, had loved ones, had their own personal and unique stories; some of them known to us, some of them unknown,'' he said. Constituting only 14 per cent of the troops defending Singapore, Australian forces sustained 73 per cent of the battle deaths, about 400 people attending the service were told. Of the Australian prisoners, a third died in captivity, many of them in conditions that Mr Snowdon described as barbarous. Staff of Australia's Department of Veterans' Affairs have fussed over six of the survivors who were flown to Malaysia and Singapore for services marking the anniversary. The youngest are 86 and the oldest 93. According to the department, 326 Australians who were prisoners of war in Europe during World War II are still alive. But the department says there are 54,118 Australian World War II veterans still alive, the youngest of whom would be 85, if they lied about their age. The oldest are 100 or more. There are no survivors of World War of WW1. From the Age Newspaper

Exhibition on the Adam Park Battle