British Policymakers and the Prisoner-of-War Issue: Perceptions and Responses

Abstract

Between the end of December 1941 and March 1942 approximately 67000 British servicemen were captured by the Japanese in the Asia-Pacific region. Of this number over 40000 surrendered at the fall of Singapore, with the majority of the remainder taken prisoner in Hong Kong, the Netherlands East Indies or at the Battle of the Java Sea. It was known in general terms where most of the prisoners of war (POWs) began their captivity, the two principal exceptions being those who escaped from Singapore to Sumatra caught before securing a passage to safety, and Royal Navy personnel from ships sunk. Many of these POWs were dispersed in workforces to Japan and to the Japanese-occupied territories; the largest concentration of British POWs was held in Thailand, where more than 30000 of them were employed between June 1942 and October 1943 in the construction of the Thailand-Burma Railway. This essay examines how the British government obtained information about POWs held in Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand during the period 1942–43 and their response to the distressing picture which emerged about their conditions under the Japanese. The initial response of the British government was twofold: first, to attempt to secure the nominal rolls of those who survived the final days of the fighting and entered captivity; secondly, to establish the view of the Japanese on the provisions of the Geneva Convention.