P.o.W. mail

 

Syonan-to was the name given to Singapore during the Japanese Occupation, it means “Light of the South”.

Story time!

This is a Prisoner-of-War postcard sent to a certain Mr. E.G.Hebditch in Syonan-To, the name given to Singapore during the Japanese Occupation. Now note that this person, E.G.Hebditch, was not a military personnel but a British civilian because of the salutation "Mr.' and not a military rank was stated. That is why the postcard was addressed to a civilian internment camp in Changi Prison. The military POWs and civilians were kept separately inside the camp. Note the red Japanese inspection seal on the front of the postcard.

Mr. Hebditch stayed in Singapore at a time when many British civilians had already evacuated the island before war came to its shores. That is why I found this postcard interesting and did some more digging.

A simple message from the family could mean the whole world to a PoW.

This postcard was sent on 20/1/1944 by his wife, who was in South Africa, a British colony at that time. The interesting part about this postcard was that, according to a book entitled "British Civilians and the Japanese War in Malaya and Singapore, 1941-45", E.G.Hebditch was arrested by the Kenpeitai, the Japanese military police, on 10/10/1943. He was one of the 57 civilians who were suspected of aiding Anglo-Australian forces in the bombing of Keppel Harbour which had sunk 7 Japanese ships. The arrest and detention of these 57 people was famously known as the "Double Tenth Incident". However, it was found that none of the 57 who were arrested had participated in the raid or had prior knowledge of it. They were still detained and tortured nonetheless. Records has shown that Mr. E.G.Hebditch was released in 13/7/1944, almost a year spent in Changi Prison.

Source: From the book “ British Civilians and the Japanese War in Malaya and Singapore, 1941-45"

More reading about the Double Tenth Incident: 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_Tenth_incident

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Jaywick



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