1000 Days on the River Kwai
The Secret Diary of a British Camp Commandant

My father was a PoW in Indonesian camps for 3 years and 7 months. He rarely spoke of his time in captivity so this book was enlightening and helped me understand my dad a little more. He also carried with him a hatred of the Japanese that, as a Christian, I couldn't fully understand. This novel shed......more

A true caring compassionate office who worked hard to keep his men as fit and sane as he possibly could- only God knows their sufferings and hardships - thank God for this officer’s courage and God bless him and all our brave FEPOW’s xcx......more

To date, most of what I know about the experience of Allied prisoners of the Japanese in the Far East comes from novels like The Narrow Road to the Deep North and A Town Like Alice, movies like The Bridge on the River Kwai, and what I’ve gleaned from assisting two World War II classes. The novels pr......more

A fascinating and insightful read. The book mentions some of the atrocities committed by Japanese soldiers during the war but it doesn't solely focus on it. The author writes about more 'positive' aspects of life in internment camp such as the kindness and bravery of Siamese and Thai civilians, Brit......more

This gentlemanly book published sometime after Owtram’s true World War II prisoner of war experience in Malaya, provides a restrained account, perhaps, of what really happened to him and the many who fell foul to the Japanese after the 1942 British capitulation in February 1942. It is well written,......more