Justinth Posted 13 May , 2014 Share Posted 13 May , 2014 My grandfather was a POW at Tamarkan on the Thai-Burma Railway. He would have been in the camp in July 1943 when: 'Journey’s EndOn 27 July, “Fizzer” Pearson’s company mounted a production of R. C. Sherriff’s First WorldWar drama Journey’s End. Nussbaum was impressed with the relevance of its “message” for the POWs atTamarkan: Tonight, they performed Journey’s End, a saddening play about ayoung officer during World War I who arrives as a novice on the front in France.Enthusiastically, he pioneers a new bond of equality between officers andprivates, and he dies in a mood of melancholy in the evening of that very firstday in the command bunker.The audience is grateful and deeply touched, apparently identifyingwith this soldier’s story. To produce Journey’s End in this setting was an extraordinary gamble. It is a serious play aboutsoldiers obeying orders to defend the British lines against a major attack by German forces; the soldiersknow full well it will bring about their deaths. With its tragic ending, it was not the usual fare for recoveringPOWs, who, it was thought, needed songs and laughter. Perhaps the rationale for its production was itspolitical importance more than its entertainment value.' From Eldredge, Sears, "Chapter 5. "The Tamarkan Players Present ": Tamarkan Convalescent Camp" (2014). Book Chapters. Book 17.http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/thdabooks/17 I am sure that all members of this forum will be fully aware of the difficulties faced by the prisoners of the Japanese on the Thai-Burma Railway in 1942/3. How moving must it have been to witness this tale when you are living or have lived through (by this time Tarmakan was a hospital/convalescent camp) the horrors of the construction of the Thai-Burma Railway? Justin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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