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Hellfire traces the experiences of the Australian, British and Allied prisoners of war under Japanese occupation during World War II. The book analyses the cultural differences, dating from the 19th century, which underpinned the attitudes of the politicians and the military on both sides of the conflict. The Australian Prime Minister Billy Hughes, at the time of the White Australia Policy, opposed Japan’s proposal for a racial equity doctrine at the Peace Conference of 1919. The Japanese also resented what they perceived as the interference of Western nations in their own sphere of influence. Under the Emperor, Japanese doctrines emphasised the importance of dedication to the Emperor and the nation and the subjection of the individual. The Japanese military code, bushido, urged soldiers to fight to the death. Consequently the Japanese military were very harsh on enemy soldiers who allowed themselves to be captured alive.

Cameron Forbes details the fall of Singapore that resulted in the capture of huge numbers of Allied troops. He also describes how Australia’s token advance defence forces were left unsupported and effectively sacrificed on Ambon, Rabaul and Timor. After capture the prisoners of war were dispersed to work camps throughout the region, where they struggled to exist in conditions that became increasingly desperate. When the Japanese realised the strategic importance of a rail link between Thailand and Burma tens of thousands of Allied prisoners of war were sent to work in inhuman conditions that made survival almost impossible. Thousands died from literally being worked to death, from tropical disease or the casual brutality of the camp guards.

Interviews were conducted with over 50 survivors of the conflict. Most were Australian prisoners of war who worked on the Thai-Burma railway. Forbes follows them from their arrival in Malaya or the Dutch East Indies, through capture, to the years of brutality and hard labour under the Japanese and finally, liberation. From their eyewitness accounts the reader discovers the horror of the prisoners’ living conditions; the fragility of day-to-day existence; the support of mates, which was essential for survival; the heroism of the medical officers; and the bravery required just to stay alive.

Written in a style that will remind many booksellers of Les Carlyon’s Gallipoli, Hellfire is a very open, accessible account of the sufferings of Allied prisoners of war in Malaya, Indonesia and South East Asia. If you haven’t read anything before on this subject, then start with Hellfire.