Stuart Lloyd - A Bleeding Slaughterhouse: The Outrageous True Story of the Alexandra Hospital Massacres, Singapore February 1942

A BLEEDING SLAUGHTERHOUSE

The outrageous true story of the

Alexandra Hospital Massacres,

Singapore, February 1942

Stuart Lloyd

CatMatDog

Storytelling

I congratulate you on your research and writing.

Brigadier Henry Wilson.

Excellent! I really hope you get your deserved reward for this monumental work. Stephen Mackenzie, ex-Royal Australian Air Force.

Fascinating to get more insight into the story of Dads experiences. We are amazed and pleased to discover all this new information so many years on. Maureen Lane, daughter of survivor Pte Bert Gurd, RAMC.

Also by Stuart Lloyd

Bamboozled The Lighter Side of Expat Life in Asia.

The Depths of December The Sinking of the HMS Prince of Wales, Repulse, and The British Empire, 1941.

The Grubby Little Men Who Raped Hong Kong The True Story of the St Stephen's College Massacre, December 1941.

The Malay Experiment The Colourful Story of How Capt George Bruce Made the Malay Regiment Fit to Fight, 1933-1942.

The Missing Years A PoWs Story from Changi to Hellfire Pass.

The Nightmare of Nanking Selected Stories from The Nanking Massacres of 1937-38.

Tales from the Tigers Den An Oral History of Foreigners in the Far East from 1920 to 2020.

Copyright 2021. All rights reserved Stuart Lloyd.

No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form, or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information browsing, storage, or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Published by: CatMatDog Publishers, Australia.

ABN: 85312594003

CatMatDog.com

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Although this publication is designed to provide accurate information in regard to the subject matter covered, the publisher and the author assume no responsibility for errors, inaccuracies, omissions, or any other inconsistencies herein.

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Available in paperback and eBook.

Cover design and maps: Stuart Lloyd

Interior typesetting: Shahid Aziz

Reasonable attempts have been made to identify and contact copyright holders of text and photographs used in this publication. If crediting of your work has been overlooked or omitted please contact the publisher and we will make corrections in the next edition. A full list of copyright credits can be found on our website catmatdog.com/ableedingslaughterhouse

The hunter shall cradle the wounded bird to his breast.

Japanese proverb

Mans inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn.

Robert Burns

Part 1 - The Build Up

Part 2 - The Main Act

Part 3 - Post War

By Colonel (Retired) M A Slade L/RAMC

T

here are some books, which once read, you cannot get completely out of your mind. This is one of them. Whether you are just curious, a scholar, military historian or, like me, have a personal connection to this story, you will at once be absorbed. At the end you will be compelled to reflect with very mixed and conflicting emotions upon what you have read.

I joined the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) as a boy soldier in 1972, retiring in 2011. I have been involved in many conflicts and humanitarian activities over the intervening 40-year period. I have witnessed much. However, I volunteered to join this fine Corps and never regretted a moment of it. My experiences have, however, exposed me to the fragility of civilised behaviours which it seems far from being deep-rooted in our cultures and psychology are in fact only a very thin veneer deep. What one apparently civilised human will do to another under differing circumstances has always both shocked and fascinated me. I have to some extent become conditioned to the base levels of human behaviours and the subsequent effect upon individuals and communities. But this story places individuals and events under the microscope in order to highlight what motivated the aggressors and to remind the reader of the bravery of the recipients.

The motto of the RAMC is In Arduis Fidelis. Translated, this means Faithful in Adversity. Although not formally established as the RAMC until 1898, the Corps can trace its proud history back to 1660. This book demonstrates that the soldiers and officers of the Corps were, even when tested to the bitter end, true to their motto.

In contrast to todays professional soldiers and officers of the British armed forces medical services, it should be remembered that many of the medical personnel caught up in this appalling event were effectively conscripts who were propelled into active service with the minimum of preparation and just vague expectations of what was to come, bar to just treat the sick and injured. Nobody could have foreseen what nightmarish and monstrous acts would be perpetrated in a perfectly nice hospital in an exotic posting such as Singapore.

This book offers first-hand testimony regarding the behaviour of many elements of the Imperial Japanese Army which confirms that, far from being actions of last resort in personal survival terms, these horrific acts were organised, deliberate and ruthlessly applied and when considered in the context of slaughtering unarmed medical and other hospital personnel and their patients simply unforgivable. The armed forces of Japan were (and remain) signatories to the Geneva Conventions (the rules of war). However they were not ratified by Japan until 1953. This is important because, despite not ratifying these Conventions at the time of the war, Japan promised to abide by and respect them. Had this been the case, then clearly, they would have not illegally attacked a marked medical facility, and engaged in the subsequent wholesale murder of medical staff. Likewise, any survivors falling into their hands should have been defined not as Prisoners of War, but rather Retained Personnel.

The difference is that Retained Personnel must be allowed to continue discharging their medical duties to all (including injured enemy) with priority of treatment based upon clinical need alone. What greater contrast to this internationally agreed approach to the treatment of medical staff has there ever been?

Many years ago, I discovered that my wifes grandfather (Pte Frank Hill, RAMC) had apparently been killed at the fall of the Alexandra Hospital on 14-15 February 1942. My father-in-law, Brian Hill, knew next to nothing regarding his fathers service and demise as, at the time of his reported death, Brian was only three years old. His family didnt seem to know much beyond this headline. Subsequent enquiries and research over many years has now filled in many gaps. He was a member of 198th Field Ambulance which, owing to the imminent fall of Singapore, had withdrawn from previous locations and, unusually, become co-located with the hospital.

He miraculously survived the massacre and, following a period in Changi Camp, was sent on a hell ship via Rabaul on the island of Papua New Guinea and then on to Balalea island in the Western Solomon Islands where, with nearly 600 others (mainly Royal Artillery), they were tasked to construct an airstrip. However, the American Airforce spotted this activity and began to regularly bomb the island, killing many Allied prisoners who were given no shelter. The Japanese eventually believing that they were about to be overrun, murdered all of the remaining prisoners including, it is believed, Frank Hill. He was just 23 years old.

It was during this long journey of discovery in respect of Brians father that we came into contact with the author of this engrossing and important book.