Gilmore, Samuel Leslie (Corporal, b.1909 – d.1992) Accession Number: PR89/051

Description

Collection relating to the Second World War service of NX31253 Corporal Samuel Leslie Gilmore, 2/20 Australian Infantry Battalion, 8 Division, prisoner of war, Australia, Malaysia and Singapore, 1940-1945.

Wallet 1 of 1 – contains one typed transcript relating to Corporal Samuel Leslie Gilmore's service and period of captivity as a prisoner of war. The collection, transcribed by Gilmore’s daughter-in-law Merilyn, contains Gilmore’s diary, directives given to the AIF prisoners, as well as 44 poems composed during Gilmore’s internment at Changi gaol. The diary entries, dated February 1940 to December 1945, briefly cover Gilmore’s training in Australia before mentioning the evacuations of Allied troops at Mersing and Jemaluang, notable incidents under enemy fire, and his capture by Japanese forces in February 1942. Gilmore continues by describing his time as a prisoner-of-war at Changi, including the unsanitary conditions, poor rationing, attempted escape and executions of comrades, various ailments and illnesses, supplies dropped by Allied aircraft, the liberation of the camp and his return to Sydney. Several directives, issued by Headquarters AIF, outline the expectations for Australian internees, the consequences of attempting escape, and permitted clothing list. The poems are mostly unattributed or credited to Gilmore. Several poems consider the themes of homesickness, the climate, dying comrades, the bond between mother and son, and despair at the futility of war.

Details

Conflicts

• Second World War, 1939-1945

Places

• Malaya
• Johore
• Muar Area
• Changi

Units

• 2/20th Australian Infantry Battalion

Tags

• Diaries
• Poetry
• Prisoners of war
• Changi Gaol
• Poets (amateur)
• Transcribed