November 2000 - UK Government Announces Compensation to British Citizens Held as Japanese Prisoners of War

John Stanley Walker 1912-1960

Stan Walker was born in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Before the war he worked as a clerk for the Electricity Department of Hull Corporation.
When called up in the war, he joined the Signals Regiment and was shipped out to the Far East. There he was taken prisoner by the Japanese and sent to Changi Gaol, Singapore. He was fortunate enough to survive three and a half years in Changi before Singapore was liberated by the Allies.
After the war, Stan returned to Yorkshire and trained as a teacher. He taught at Minster Boys Junior School in Beverley, and he and his family lived in Driffield. His health was poor and he died aged 48.

Stan with his parents, sisters and brother-in-law

Stan	Emma Walker (nee Brice)	John Pitt-Pladdy
Anne Walker	Francis (Frank) Walker	Kathleen Pitt-Pladdy (nee Walker)

Pictures by Stan Walker

Stan went to art classes run by prisoners in Changi Gaol. Other classes he attended included bee-keeping. After the war he took up bee-keeping, based on the knowledge he had gained in those classes.

M.I. Room


Hut Interior	Kampong

Pictures by a fellow inmate of Changi, "Gibson"

Christmas card from "Lofty"

Part of a Letter Home After Release From Changi Gaol

AIR LETTER ADDRESSED TO:
MR & MRS F. WALKER
2 ARLINGTON AVENUE
COTTINGHAM
YORKS.
ENGLAND

I4th Sept. I945

Dear Mother, Dad and all,

        You will be pleased to hear that I am on the high seas, homeward bound. I am not permitted to tell you the name of the vessel but we are the first boatload of P's.O.W. to leave Singapore and we expect to be the first from Malaya to arrive in England, which should be within four weeks time.

        As I have mentioned before, we are considered the "fit" P's.O.W. but even so, we are being treated almost as if we were on a luxury cruise. We are feeding like fighting cocks. The food is excellent, plenty of variety, exceedingly well cooked, and as much as we can eat. In addition we are having our diet supplemented by vitamin tablets and a full course of anti-malarial treatment. I, myself, have been lucky inasmuch that during my 3¹/₂ years incarceration I did not get malaria even though I was without a mosquito net most of the time.

        The food we are getting now is a great change for us. We are getting bread, potatoes, & other European vegetables, eggs, meat, porridge, fruit &c all of which were either very scarce or nonexistent. Rice, greens (and I don't mean sprouts or cabbage), very little fish , a spoonful of sugar daily, a little red palm oil for fats, and a small amount of tapioca root, made up our diet. We get more in bulk now for breakfast than we did for a full day and our breakfast contains more nourishment. I've had rice in various ways, plain boiled, fried and baked in rissoles, toasted, burned, undercooked, sour, unpolished, but never did we get a good creamy rice pudding (home made) and I am looking forward to that especially with a little fruit tart.

        I should have mentioned that as well as P's.O.W. on board, there are quite a few internees, men, women, and children. The women and children must have had a harrowing time and it is quite a change for us to see European women after the Chinese and other Asiatics . Mind you, I've come to like the Chinese very much. They are the keenest market gardeners in the world, and they possess a keen sense of humour. They have helped a lot of us in many ways.

        Every Christmas toys for the children and gifts for the women were made in our camp and sent to the internees. Considering the tools some of the toys were marvellous. Ships, doll's houses, motor lorries, beads, games etc. were all on show. We had several workshops and I have with me a cut-throat razor made from tool steel by one of the blacksmiths and which I used for a year, and is still in good condition.

        My love to you all,

        Stan

(Transcribed May 1993 by J Carpenter)

N.B. Jean Carpenter still has her father's razor mentioned in the letter.

Home at last!

"Another row of happy prisoners of war entertained at Huyton transit camp. From left to right: Signallers J Tye, Manchester; F Pidgeon, London; J A Walker, Hull; V Bailey, Port Talbot; B J Doyle, Manchester; D H Wilson, Manchester."
News Chronicle 9 October 1945

If you knew Stan Walker, please send us a message by clicking here
To Walker Family History Pages

Other Changi POW Related Links

November 2000 - UK Government Announces Compensation to British Citizens Held as Japanese Prisoners of War

Charles Thrale
The Changi Murals
Bamboo Shoots

Carpenter Family Home Page

	This British Military History site owned by Jim Carpenter. Want to Join the British Military History ring?
[ Skip Previous \| Previous \| Next \| Skip Next \| Next 5 Sites \| Random Site \| List Sites ]

You are Visitor No:

View Counter Stats