Harry's War

Harry Silman joined the army as a doctor in September 1939 at the outbreak of the Second World War. He cared for the wounded under bombardment on the beaches of Dunkirk and was one of the last to be shipped out during the mass retreat in May 1940. His division was en route to Africa when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour. The troops were diverted to assist in the defence of Singapore where it was their ill fortune to arrive just before the island fell in February 1942.

Harry spent the rest of the war as a prisoner of the Japanese, first in Changi POW camp, then up country in the jungle hell of the Burma Railway. What makes Harry’s story remarkable is not just that he kept a secret illegal diary throughout his captivity, but that he managed to write a comprehensive account of his harrowing experiences in the jungle camps when he himself was weakened and exhausted, caring for hundreds of sick and dying men. His diary is articulate, graphic and compassionate, lit with the occasional ray of humour. This is Harry’s war in Harry’s words, edited and with commentary by his daughter Jacqueline Passman.