Harry's War: From Dunkirk to the Burma Railway. A Doctor's Diary

Harry Silman joined the army as a doctor in September 1939, just after the outbreak of the Second World War. He cared for the wounded during the bombing of the Dunkirk beaches and was one of the last to be deployed during the mass retreat in May 1940. His division was on its way to Africa when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. The troops were diverted to help defend Singapore, where their arrival just before the island fell in February 1942 was their misfortune. Harry spent the rest of the war as a Japanese prisoner of war, first in a prison camp at Changi and then in the hell of the Burmese jungle. What makes Harry's story remarkable is not only that he kept a secret, illegal diary throughout his captivity, but also that he managed to write a comprehensive account of his harrowing experiences in the jungle camps while he himself was weakened and exhausted, caring for hundreds of sick and dying men. His diary is eloquent and compassionate, lit with occasional rays of humour. It is Harry's war in Harry's own words, edited and annotated by his daughter Jacqueline.