Obituary for Sergeant Les Phillips
One of Cambridgeshire’s last survivors of the Japanese prisoner of war camps has died.
Les Phillips, aged 92, joined the 2nd Battalion Cambridgeshire Regiment in 1939 and left England in October 1941 as part of the 18th Division convoy which, when it set sail, was destined for the Middle East. However, during the journey the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour on December 7th which saw America entering the war.
The 18th Division found itself heading instead for Singapore and Les, who by this time had been promoted to sergeant, was subsequently deployed to the southern tip of Malaya, fighting a rear guard action as the invading army stormed southwards through Malaya and across the causeway into Singapore. Singapore fell on Sunday 15th February 1942 and it is well documented that the Cambridgeshires were the last Regiment to cease fighting during the surrender.
Les, along with thousands of fellow serviceman and civilians, was thrown into nearly four years of imprisonment as a Far East Prisoner of War (FEPOW). As he and fellow prisoners were marched to Changi Jail, they were forced to witness the sight of severed heads which had been placed on the railings which was an indication of the brutal treatment that lay ahead.
Transported to Bangkok, Thailand, in cattle trucks with no food or water, they were destined to become the slave labour of the Japanese army whose intentions were to construct the infamous death railway up to the Burma border. Les walked between most of the camps barefooted as his army issue boots simply wore out. The starvation, deprivation and constant beatings took its toll and many did not survive on the diet of poor quality rice and un-purified water. Illness and disease were rampant with many suffering from malaria, dysentery and beriberi to name but a few. Perhaps the most feared was cholera as few survived.
Interviewed about his experiences he said ‘When people died, the guards would send us into the jungle to cut bamboo for a funeral pyre and we would put the corpses on it. The worst thing was that when the fire was lit, the bodies would spring up and seem to look at you.’ On one occasion he was subject to a rifle butt thrust into his chest; he also had to stand in the river with fellow POWs catching fish for the Japanese who would throw hand grenades into the water in order to bring the fish to the surface. The prisoners were never allowed to keep any of their catch and to have secreted any about their person was impossible as they had nowhere to hide it. The only clothing most prisoners had to wear was a loin cloth (or fandashi as Les called it).
On his release in August 1945, he returned home to Cambridge weighing just over six stone and took up farming, taking time off in 1946 in order to get married. No such thing as counselling was available on their return, but Les did attend the Princess of Wales Hospital, Ely, for his tropical ailments under the watchful eye of Air Vice Marshall Sir John Baird. Les received treatment for strongyloides – a microscopic worm which found its way into the body via bare feet and was common amongst FEPOWs. The patient had to swallow a capsule, rather like a gob stopper, which was attached to a length of strong cotton and taped to the cheek. The following day, the capsule would be recovered with offending worm inside!
In 2011, Les was invited to St James Palace, London where he was introduced to HRH Prince Charles who examined the fandashi which Les had brought home. This had been signed by many of his fellow prisoners and the Dakota aircrew who had evacuated him to Rangoon. That same fandashi now bears a royal signature! Although some FEPOWs have since returned to the Far East which has, in some cases, helped with reconciliation, Les never went back. He often said ‘they got me once – never again!’
Les died on 23rd December 2012. Over 200 people attended the funeral service in Cambridge on 15th January 2013. In addition to family and friends, representatives from 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment had driven up from Picton Barracks, Bulford, Wiltshire, in atrocious weather conditions. An honour guard was provided by Drum Major Eastwood, Cpl Jarvis, the Cambridgeshire Regimental Association and Standard Bearer Mr Wally Rooke. The service was conducted by Pauline Simpson, the National FEPOW Chaplain, whose father served with 560th Royal Engineers and had himself been a FEPOW. Last Post was played by Dmr Armstrong and Dmr McDermot of the Vikings.
His coffin draped with the Union Flag, Sergeant Les Phillips was given a real old soldiers send off by The Regiment which he was so proud to be a part of.
GN