An exhibition, named “Flora and Fauna painted by Allied prisoners in Siam, 1942-1945”, ran from 10th to 23rd December 1970 (25 years after VJ Day) at The Sladmore Gallery, 32 Bruton Place, Berkeley Square, London, W1. It was opened by Admiral of The Fleet The Earl Mountbatten of Burma, K.G., P.C., G.C.B., O.M., G.C.S.I., G.C.I.E., G.C.V.O., D.S.O., F.R.S. (see page 3 of the guide below)
Invitation
Publicity for the exhibition:
Article from the “The Field” 3rd Dec 1970
Article in an unknown newspaper, possibly the East Anglian Daily Times?
Below are the pages of the “Catalogue” for the Sladmore exhibition, or you can scroll down to download it as a pdf file.
Almost 50 years later, in October 2019, a second and more wide-ranging exhibition named “Secret Art of Survival – Creativity and ingenuity of British Far East prisoners of war, 1942 – 1945” opened at the University of Liverpool’s Victoria Gallery and Museum, through a partnership with the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. Many drawings, paintings and artefacts previously unseen in public were displayed, thanks to the diligent work of Meg Parkes and Geoff Gill. Sadly, as with many other events, the exhibition had to close abruptly with the advent of the Covid-19 crisis, well in advance of its planned end date in June 2020. Fortunately, the many additional materials about the plight, survival techniques and ingenuity of Far Eastern Prisoners of War which were on display can now be viewed at the VGM website.
Gunner Meninsky was a trained artist and son of famous British artist Bernard Meninsky . The paintings above were commissioned by AAJ to complement his growing collection of tropical flora and fauna gathered in camps on the railway. Meninsky also did a great deal of medical artwork for the doctors working in the improvised British Army Hospital during captivity.
Please click here to visit the VGM website
The Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine has a strong link to the story of Far Eastern Prisoners of War (FEPOW). Many of the returning FEPOWs arrived in the UK via the port of Liverpool from late 1945 to early 1946, many of them suffering from tropical diseases as well as malnutrition and the after-effects of maltreatment. The hospital found it had to quickly specialise in this emerging area of medicine. It became and remains a leading centre of excellence in this field of medicine today and contact was maintained with some of the surviving POWs, to continue their treatment or monitor their recovery, for many years.