Lot 512

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Description:

ARCHIVE OF A BRITISH PRISONER OF THE JAPANESE
A fascinating and extensive archive of longtime Japanese P.O.W. CHARLES THRALE, including his diary kept while imprisoned for over 3 ½ years, photos of his postwar art exhibition, depicting life in in a Japanese P.O.W. camp, and a most attractive painting of his wife, done while in captivity and even incorporating his blood for coloring, along with a vast collection of photos. The diary is penned in a small memorandum book, approx. 200pp. and measuring 3 x 4 in. The text is largely legible though it is accompanied by a transcript which reads in part: ‘...Feb 15 1942 – We capitulated at 4 o'clock...most of the fellows got drunk...Feb 17 1942 – All British troops marched off to Changi camp [Singapore]...we are living in huts...Feb 26 1942 – Our main food now is just rice, about 17 ozs a day...March 2 1942 – We have seen very little of the Japs – we are being ran by our own officers on a formation basis...March 30 1942 – Harry and myself taken to hospital with diarrhea – the hospitals here have over 1000 down with it...April 11 1942...Harry died during the night...April 12 1942...the rate of deaths at the moment Is about 6 to 7 a day...May 6 1942...I have Dysentery...May 27 1942 – The Div English Course has fizzled out – I am afraid I have gained very little from it – May 30 1942 – The MT Course finishes – I've learnt quite a lot from it...June 24 1942...The Japs order total blackout – so once again we have no lights in the evening...Sept 23 1942 – Changi-Malay So far there has been 40 deaths from ‘Beri Beri' and there are at present 600 fellows out of 2000 in the hospital suffering from disease caused by under nourishment and lack of vitamins...Dec 1 1942 – The minor complaints I've had since I've been here are sore throats – bad eyes – scrotum trouble – deafness – boils in my ear – kidneys out of order – heart and dysentery, paralysis...Jan 2 1943 – the shits that deserted the British and went over to the Japs have all been interned because they would not fight against the Indian troops in Burma. Their CO has been shot – Red Cross rep put in the jail for espionage – about six officers also put inside...Jan 10 1943 – The Major in charge of dys has given me some painting to do of dys ulcers which will make medical history when we get back to England...March 11 1943 – At last some of the mail is being given out – it's all last June and July mail...March 18 1943 – I lost one of my paintings. I think stolen – I saw for the first time an English officer get a beating up – I hear it's a regular thing in Singapore Town and Java...May 26 1943 – My God this cannot last much longer with so many dying every day...July 4 1943 – The railway, it is said will be finished this August – every railway sleeper represents a grave of a P of W who worked on the job...July 30 1943 – Down with dysentery again...Aug 12 1943 – Cholera cases still coming and mostly all dying...Sept 15 1943 – Doing a few paintings for a Nip here; got paints – proper pencils for myself from him...Dec 26 1943 – Weight 10.10...Feb 27 1945 – A WHITE CROSS ship in Singapore Dock with supplies for POWs and Internees – 1200 tons – this means the saving of hundreds of lives...Aug 14 1945 – Rumour that it is all over?...Aug 22 1945 – We are the only camp not returned to Changi – our hopes are to go straight to the boat...'. Amongst the transcript pages are several printed pages giving the ‘Casualty Details' of Thrale's fellow prisoners, many of whom he mentions. Thrale's concise entries on his peers in no way lack in poignancy, such as when he speaks on the death of his friend, Clifford ‘Sept 19 1942 - Clifford the [?] medical corporal dies – one of the best chaps I've known in the M I Rooms – a damn fine fellow...' To earn money while in captivity Thrale would create paintings with any materials he could get his hands on, including: sediment from medicine, brown from clay, blue from boiled rags etc. Postwar, Thrale would put on an art exhibition, named the ‘Charles Thrale Exhibition: The Story of the Japanese Ex-P.O.W. Camps', travelling all across the United Kingdom, and depicting the harsh realities of life as a P.O.W. under Japanese rule. Accompanying this lot are 95 b/w photos of the exhibit and its visitors, including: Queen Mary; the Lord Mayor of Leeds; closeups of Thrale with either a cigarette or paintbrush in hand; soldiers and citizens alike viewing the artwork; along with several photos of his daughter Doreen, who was born while he was still in captivity. This was clearly quite a popular exhibit, lasting from 1946-1964, all while raising funds for charities. Also present is an original painting by Thrale while in a P.O.W. camp of his wife, 6.25 x 8 in., a portrait view of his wife Hilda, made with pencil, medicine sediment, clay, dye, and blood! He completed this painting while at Changi, and it is signed by him at the bottom right and dated '44-Oct.'. WITH: official invitations to the art exhibit, magazine articles on Thrale and a transcript of a radio interview with Thrale advertising the exhibit. The last portion of this substantial lot is a comment book from his art exhibit, titled ‘Ex-P.O.W.'s Candid Comments', dated on the cover under the paper cover, ‘Sep. 30, 1948', unpaginated though sure to be over 100pp. This book bears hundreds of handwritten notes from the Ex-P.O.W.s who visited Thrale's exhibition. Comments read in part: ‘...Brings back vividly many memories of experiences shared with the artist who has captured them in a manner possibly too well for those who shared them...I was in Saigon...things were not at all good there but I can assure anyone that conditions were as depicted...Very true to life...Wonderful exhibition. We live in comfort through the sacrifice and misery of others...This is just like P.O.W. days...Every picture true in every detail particularly those relating to dysentery and cholera cases. So much for the ‘humanity' of the Nips...What struck me most, and which I admire the most also is that this man having passed through so many difficulties had been able to keep the strength of his thinking (sanity) and know how to maintain a man in spite of all the examples of which make a man an animal which was shown to him by the Japanese...', countless comments continue with similar expressions of admiration for the artwork and the artist. This comment book has not been fully analyzed, and is therefore worthy of further research of the notes and visitors. A truly exceptional lot offering a firsthand account of life as a P.O.W., particularly under brutal Japanese control.

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November 29, 2023 10:00 AM EST
Chesapeake City, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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