Introduction by Martin Percival
May 1976 – what was about to become the longest, hottest and driest summer in memory for many people in the UK.
My father, Frank Percival, turned 58 years old that month. He had retired 2 years previously and his time was now spent raising two young sons, watching his beloved Queen’s Park Rangers have what was to be their most successful season in his 50th year as a fan and getting back in contact with some friends and relations in London and the south of England who he hadn’t seen for a long time, having lived in the north for many years. He re-joined the London Far East Prisoner of War Association for the first time in nearly 20 years and was to subsequently write a couple of articles for their bi-monthly “FEPOW Forum” magazine.
That month the “The Observer” Sunday newspaper magazine started a series entitled “I was there”. It consisted of eye witness accounts to various events that had gone down in history. My Dad was inspired to write up his memories from 34 years previously of the fall of Singapore – the greatest mass surrender in the history of the British Army.
Within a few weeks the 4 page typed manuscript was returned with a “thanks but no thanks” type note from the newspaper. My father filed it away. After all, he had been in the Royal Army Service Corps, so presumably that’s what he had been trained to do!
Whenever my brother or I asked Dad about his experiences in World War 2 he would tell us whatever we wanted to know. I later discovered that this was rare for men who had been Prisoners of War in Japanese hands in the Far East. Most just tried to bury the memories.
In December 1982 my Dad died, aged 64. Within 18 months my brother and I sold the family house and went our separate ways. Fortunately I had enough presence of mind to not just throw away my Dad’s papers, books and other mementoes from his time in the British Army from 1939 to 1946. Instead they headed up to the loft of my newly purchased house. 20 years later it was time to move house again and in 2004 I then re-discovered all of the items that I had packed away carefully in 1984. I sat and read a few of the articles my Dad had written. A lot of memories came back to me. I was thus inspired to start to research more of my father’s story. Within a year I had met other FEPOW descendants like Meg Parkes and Julie Summers and these meetings helped me to develop an even keener interest in the story of WW2 Far East Prisoners of War.
79 years after the fall of Singapore I hope the following pdf that contains my father’s previously unpublished memories of February 1942 are of interest to others. Maybe they will even inspire people to find out more about their own family history.
RFHG 
An interesting read and tallies with my father’s (RCOS) last days in Singapore. He too fired his only shots in battle into a palm tree! Like your father, my own father was able to talk and answer questions about his life as a POW. He wrote his memoirs in his 80s and I was able to to turn the FEPOW sections into a book. It is so important to look at those bit of paper and other small mementos, so as not to lose the few records of the period.
Very true Hilary. My brother called me yesterday and he also remembered the palm tree story. I do recall my Dad saying there were concerns about snipers etc.
If he had lived I do suspect that my father would have written a book, visited Singapore and Thailand again and possibly even Japan. I am glad that he did talk. It must be so hard to just suffer in silence, as so many people did.
Thank you very much for posting this; always great to have collateral information for my own research endeavours!
It’s a pleasure Mark – I am glad you valued it. Eye witness accounts are always valuable. Good luck with your research!