The Prisoner List: A true story of defeat, captivity and salvation in the Far East: 1941-45

by Richard Kandler

Reuben Kandler was a prisoner of the Japanese for three and a half years after the fall of Singapore during the second World War during which time he worked on the Burma Railway and witnessed the suffering and death of many of his comrades. He had rarely talked about this period of his life until persuaded to do so by his son to whom he gave the series of taped interviews which form the basis of this book.

258 pages, Paperback

First published March 31, 2010

Reviews

[Ann Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you read one factual book about allied prisoners of war in SE Asia during WW2, read this one. It is brilliantly constructed around the harrowing true story of one man's experience as one of the first group of prisoners to be shipped out of Singapore to work as a slave for the Japanese war effort. His group was taken firstly to Saigon, and then on to the Death Railway in Thailand during the notoriously brutal Speedo period. It is the only book I have seen about POWs in Indo-China and about the reaction of the Vichy French to their presence there. The author manages to weave the entire history of the conflict in SE Asia around this personal story in a way which no other book does. We read about the fall of Singapore, the Japanese occupation of the region, the reaction back at home to those events, the defeat of the Japanese by allied forces, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the aftermath of the war, all within the context of the story of the author's father (Ben) and his fellow prisoners. Ben's astonishing bravery and character shine through the pages- he compiled a list of prisoners who left Singapore with him and maintained and updated that list, risking torture and execution so that a record would remain of the crimes that had been committed. He was also brave enough to type up a factual and honest account of the suffering men had encountered when asked to provide some propaganda to counter accusations of ill-treatment. That account is reproduced at the back of the book and is chilling to read. He also had the courage to speak about the events decades later, and to be videotaped doing so. The details of his experience recorded in this book are a permanent record of what happened, and a source of information to those, like me, who have an interest in knowing the truth.