Ron - When a hacker decided to have a go at the fepow list, a new type of list was sought. It wasn’t till recently I was introduced to the Yahoo Groups and discovered that they could be used as a mailing list. After testing, on the 20th October, a new Fepow Group was started.
All the email address’s I had that were Fepow connected were added as it is very easy to unsubscribe. Unfortunately the old email database list, which contained the bulk of address’s was corrupted by the hacker.
The information will still be added to the Monthly Revue for now, until I see what the extra workload brings.
The Fepow Group will work on member feedback and hopefully will generate its own positive responses with the members help.
As some of you might know I am involved heavily in coaching and managing youth football (U7,U8 and U9’s) and the lads require a large slice of my time, but I will do as much as possible on the web side to promote and help the Fepow cause. Football came from my father who represented England at centre half in the POW camp teams after the Thailand - Burma Railway was finished, some of his best games being against the Japs, pay back time (his words, not mine). I was never as hard a player as he was although I played in the same positions as does my lad.
Please bear in mind therefore, if I am not contributing, the Fepow cause is always close to my heart, but, with no disrespect intended, so are the youngsters I coach.
Tony - www.hongkongwardiary.com
I'm taking the opportunity of introducing myself to this community as someone happy to answer any questions about the 8,000 POWs and 4,000 civilian internees held in Hong Kong by the Japanese from Dec 25th 1941 to August 16th 1945.
Janet - >Tony, It is quite remarkable you should write as I was thinking of you and the family recently and wondering did you enjoy your holiday here in August time ?
I was also talking about you and your sister to a lady who's dad was on the railway and remembers the Behind Bamboo exhibition that your sister staged at Wisbech museum.
How are you all ? OK I hope.
I am ok-ish Tony but finding it so incredibly difficult to cope with life after my Dad's passing. I know it probably sounds pretty pathetic for a woman of 47, with a family and a "good life" to be like this, but I had no idea that his death would prove so protractedly pailful. Then I feel dead guilty, cos I keep thinking of his " lot " that he had to endure, which he did without ever once complaining, and also that of so many other people.
I know I must move on but am finding direction difficult right now .
So how are those kids ? getting bigger and cleverer all the time I guess and baby is over 9 months now I think ( I seem to remember you told me he was born 15th January - the day my Dad passed away ). So your wife ( sorry I don't remember her name ) will now have to develop eyes that have 360 degrees worth of vision to keep up with him - right ?
Well Tony, I guess I ought to be off, I do miss the chit-chat on the FEPOW list, but Ron had such alot of cr*p with it that he shut it down, poor devil all the work he put into it too.
Take Care, my best wishes to the family, what's your HK weather doing ? ours is now turning very autumnal, wish translates to BBRRGGHH ! woolly jumpers and the log burner on !
David - Have just heard from the above group, any connection? It sounds awfully familiar?
Ron - It's that man again, hope you all think this list is worth it.
I have tried something completely different this time using a Yahoo Group instead of a list on our server and will start putting links on the Fepow Community to generate more users for it in the near future.
To write to the list use:
Fepow@yahoogroups.com
David - Hi All!
Welcome back
Good Luck with this Ron
Ron - The new Fepow Group does have a live chat, this is one step forward from the Fepow Community and has the facility of "Live Voice Chat".
If you have a mic. attached to your computer and would like to talk to others try it.
The best way to do this is send an email to the group at Fepow@yahoogroups.com with a time when you will be on live and others can join you in a discussion or friendly chat, make it a regular weekly get-to-gether.
Keith - Hi Ron,
Well done, let us hope you have no problems. This is great news. I see Janet Jacobs is on the system, will send her a message tonight, may have found another camp her late father was in. Ties in with one of the stories.
SYD BERKELEY - SYDBERKELEY@aol.com
I AM VERY PLEASED TO ACCEPT THE INVITATION TO JOIN THE FEPOW GROUP. I SPENT MY TIME OF IMPRISONMENT IN PALAMBANG AFTER BEING CAPTURED ON BANKA ISLAND.
I WOULD BE VERY PLEASED TO HEAR FROM ANYONE ELSE WHO WAS IN THAT AREA PARTICULARLY ANY RAF PERSONEL.
BEST REGARDS
Syd BERKELEY - EX FL/SGT 573994
Maxine - >Hi Syd
It was very good to read your e.mail and I'm very pleased that you have joined the fepow list. What did you think of the photos of you and Don on the site? They look good don't they! Would you be able to tell us about the launch and what you and Don were up to when the photo was taken?
Linda May - Webmaster HKVCA http://www.hkvca.ca
I got an invitation from Ron to join you folks over here, so I
thought I would drop in and have a look around...
Ron - >Linda
It has while since I had a look around HKVCA - http://www.hkvca.ca , and very impressed.
The benefits of sharing information about the Far East with a common Fepow Group are enormous and of course, the more information on the net, the better is the remembrance of the Fepow's.
Please feel free to include the Fepow Group on your site using the code at:
http://www.fepow-community.org.uk/html/group_promote.htm
I hope it proves useful to you and also your members.
Geoff Coxon has loaned me the mag "After the Battle" which has a rather large article on Hong Kong. Hope to get some of the new material on soon.
Keith - >Ron,
Ron, I subscribe to the "After the Battle" magazine, which has covered Singapore (1980s), and the Death Railway. To give a full list of Far Eastern Battles covered, I would have to search through each mag, about 117 issues.
The Death of Yamamoto, and several Pacific battles are covered as main articles, but each magazine covers more than one subject.
Tony - Ron,
Watch out for the After The Battle (number 46) article as it muddles up the Rajputs and Punjabis on several occasions. Apart from that it's a useful article and has good photo coverage. Interestingly there is one taken from Middle Gap Road where the only single thing that still exists today is a set of stone steps visible in the Botanical Gardens - and even they still show shrapnel damage.
Rollo's book is an excellent general history of the RA in HK in which Chapter Seven covers the 1941 fighting, and Appendices Four & Five provide useful details of Orders of Battle and wartime movements of artillery (the latter from the PRO, but I would have to look up the document number). The detailed maps of some gun emplacements are also of interest as the majority were still in use during the war. I bought (in HK) the only copy I ever saw, so suspect that the print run was small.
Ron - This email is sent with your computer security in mind, better to be safe then sorry.
These apply to any email messages not just the Fepow Group, simple steps which prevent alot of hassle.
On systems with unpatched Internet Explorer 5.0 and 5.5, a worm attachment can be executed automatically when messages are either opened or previewed using Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express.
Any users on Internet Explorer 5 or 5.5 make sure you read
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/downloads/critical/q290108/default.asp
and if you have not got the patch loaded, do this as soon as possible.
These are safe guards which any computer user should follow.
1.. Make sure you have all the latest Microsoft patches loaded.
2.. Make sure you have the latest pattern file loaded for your virus scanner
3.. Suspect an email - If in doubt, bin it
Three simple steps which keeps your computer working for you.
Enjoy the Fepow Group and help others remember them
Ron - >Tony
Yes the magazine is Issue 46 and I will look out for the muddles on the Rajputs and Punjabis.
The pictures though are excellent and the article fairly easy to follow.
The After the Battle website http://www.afterthebattle.com has an index of the previous issues and back issues are available.
Martin Edwards - Just to introduce myself. My name is Martin Edwards and I have two sites which relate to FEPOW. The first is the Roll of Honour site which covers war memorials for the areas of Cambridgeshire, bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire and neighbouring counties in England.
To be found here is a searchable database of the 2 battalions of the Cambridgeshire Regiment who died during WWII mainly on the Death Railway and in Singapore. The second site is called My Far East and contains pictures and information related to Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore war memorials and cemeteries.
I was lucky enough to visit Duxford Imperial War Museum recently and met Jack Cosford who served with the Cambridgeshire and was taken prisoner. His book 'Line of Lost Lives' is a very enlightening account of the time he spent as a prisoner of war, the condition of the camps, the disease and suffering and more. Highly recommended reading.
Roll of Honour - http://www.roll-of-honour.com
My far East - http://www.myfareast.org/
Maxine - >Syd, Thanks for your e.mail. You say that Rex Spencer was a pow with you in 'Chung Hua' camp. Where was this camp? Was it in Banka or Sumatra?
Did Rex do any painting whilst he was in the camp?
It was interesting to know that he later worked for television. When you say he was in the next bed space to you at the camp what did you sleep on.
I look forward to hearing everything you can tell us about your memories of the camps Syd and also hope that you get your next computer soon and that its easier to use.
David - I've just put a photo of the above camp in the FEPOW photo album (Japan)
There are over 100 names, 'bound to useful to someone?
Ron - Had to forward this on from the http://www.expows.com site
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Keith - Hi David and Ron,
Thanks David, noted in the diary.
Up and running again after the virus episode. Why the missus saved an e-mail to disc from someone she did not know, and then opened it, or tried to, beats me, but these things happen.
Ron is very good at giving out warnings about virus events, and I hope we all take note, my wife will from here on in.
My experience here may help.
First sign of a problem, the anti virus scanner icon did not appear on the tool bar, and all attempts to get the software to scan failed.
Second sign, printer would not work, nothing but error messages.
From what I have been told, this points to the bugbear virus, so no messages went out from me until the system was purged and rebuilt.
As Ron has said, if in doubt, bin it. You can always check with the sender to see if the message was genuine.
A 68K message with no attachment goes straight in the bin, as do messages with attachments that I am not expecting.
I do not have an address book set up on my system, so that's another loop hole plugged, for the time being.
Ron - >Keith
Pleased to see you back on.
The hardest part of research is finding that the person did not make it and what to say.
There is a dig at the moment taking place on Nelson Island and the reports are being added daily to the Nelson Society (http://www.nelson-society.org.uk/index.htm) website, as I am the webmaster, the reports are being read as I put them on the site.
It has crossed my mind that there is common ground here, although two hundred years apart.
The sailors of the Battle of the Nile were buried on this island, also a long way from home, and their loved ones must have felt the same helplessness in not knowing their fate.
On a lighter note, the article is coming on, fifty pages on now, twenty to go.
Well worth a read when its on.
Richard Rongstad - I have had web pages on POW for a long time, and I maintain the POW Guestbook
http://vikingphoenix.com/guestbook/guestbook.html.
I research and write about a lot of things, but matters pertaining to POW and internees bring me a great deal of satisfaction. I am seeing a surge in strong and sometimes desperate public interest in WW-II POW in the U.S., the UK, Canada, and down under.
The Guestbook gets a lot of traffic on British POW and I get email queries on them. I expect to be referring some of the questions to this group for answers.
It seems inevitable I would stumble into this Yahoo! Group.
I see a familiar name, Denis Hudson.
Ron - Welcome Richard
We are a mixed bunch, but all have the Fepows and their memory in our thoughts.
Look forward to your participation.
Jacqueline - >Richard,
Tried to look at your website but the page would not work.............Is it just me or has anyone else had problems with it?
Ron - >Jacqueline
There was a "." on the end, try:
http://vikingphoenix.com/guestbook/guestbook.html
SYD BERKELEY - I HAVE SPENT A FEW HOURS AT THE IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM AND
BROWSED SOME INTERESTING DOCUMENTS WHICH HAS WOKEN UP MY SOMEWHAT DORMANT
MEMORY. I HOPE TO GET THOSE MEMORIES INTO A COMPREHENSIVE STORY SOON
Richard - richardwhymark@yahoo.com
Just finishing an interview with my GrandDad about his times in Hakodate etc... If anyone could use it for their website, I'll try to get some VHSes made. Do you think the Imperial War Museum would be interested?
Peggy Seagrave - >Richard, Try Roger Mansell's website on pows. He has a fantastic collection of material and is always looking for new items.
Ron - >Richard
I have put some audio tapes on the Fepow Community using another site I run, Crystal Radio at:
http://www.crystal-radio.co.uk/html/over_the_waves.htm
This will stream audio and video media, but video does require a large bandwidth and is very slow for download as the files are large.
I would be very interested in the interviews for the site.
Get in touch and I'll get them on.
Try the Imperial War Museum as well.
Lilian Sluijter - rbp@xs4all.nl
Try Roger Mansell's website. He collects POW camps in Japan. He might be interested in an interview too.
Director Center for Research, Allied POWs under Japan www.mansell.com/pow-index.html
Could you ask your granddad if there were also POWs from the former Dutch East Indies (Indonesia)?
If that is the case I might be able to use your interview for www.svjappenkamp.nl which I am filling with stories about camp life and atrocities etc.
Ron - For those new to the Fepow Group and the Fepow Community, emails from the Message Board and Fepow List are all archived to help with research. This is carried out within the Fepow Community under Monthly Revue. You can
find the December Revue at::
http://www.fepow-community.org.uk/monthly_Revue/html/leggies_12-2002.htm
December has been a good one for feedback and collectively the information makes good reading.
Hoping this is a helpful tool
Ron - Arthur (Lane) has sent me in some articles to publish on the Fepow Community.
Arthur writes for NESA and has written many books on the Far East during WWII, where he too was a Fepow. He served in Malaya from 1937 and therefore saw the build up before and during the Japanese attack, Arthur also was on the Thailand - Burma Railway. It was during this time, being a bugler, he was allowed to travel between the camps and played the last post at many prisoners burial. The Japanese papers named him 'Musician to the Dead'.
Arthur has some strong views on the Far East, as shown with Col. Wild's death, which have caused many emails to be exchanged. These views make very good reading and they do stimulate interest and debate. It is therefore important to get these views down for all to read, Arthur now has his own pages
within the Fepow Community, entitled:
Arthur Lane - Musician to the Dead
http://www.fepow-community.org.uk/arthur_lane
My thanks to Arthur for supplying these.
Please read them and any questions or replies send to the Fepow Group, where
Arthur will reply.
George - I hope I don't sound like a "broken record", going 'round and 'round, but I have many articles, complete with professional graphics, at http://www.usmm/duffy.html The current work is a book review, but at its end are titles of about twelve articles relating to WWII, most of which are PW connected.
I send this because I am receiving emails, undoubtedly spawned by this website, which do not reflect a knowledge of my particular experience.
Ron - >George, The Fepow Group is like a list, all the people (members) who have joined, are on that list and receive a copy of the emails sent to it.
Unfortunately, it can not determine who gets an email with a certain topic, so everyone who is a Fepow Group member and is on the list, gets a copy. This will of course mean that some of the topics are not related to your experiences as a pow.
With all the emails and commitments I have it would be impossible for me to do this by hand.
If the topic is not of interest, please bin it, you do not have to reply.
Although the main proportion of the group is made up of families of Fepows, as a group, we are very fortunate to have some Fepows on the list, like yourself.
Any import to the Fepow Group by you is always appreciated.
Your site George
http://www.usmm.org/duffy.html
Is a great place to send people who require information, particularly on Sumatra and the railway there, it is an essential part of the Fepow story.
All my best for the New Year and look forward to any help you can give to the group.
Janet - >George, I second what Ron has said, although my Father was in Singapore and " up the railway " amounst a few other places and that is my first real interest, your knowledge amazes me and your notes and stories are always most interesting, therefore keep doing your stuff to help us all learn and delete whatever' else.
Every morning when I open my mail, I think I'm suddenly the most popular woman on earth, however most mail is the "list" and not Robert Redford asking me for a date !
Still, I'm an optomistic soul and live in hope of his email arriving one day ! !
David - >George, I concur what has been said already, we would miss your input! I, like many on this list, have visited your web-site, but what some might not know is that your "Profile" is at :-
http://www.axpow.org/duffygeorge.htm
With All Good Luck
David
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