Teatime Talk Series -The Far East POW Experience - disease, death, survival and aftermath

Teatime talk series (1 of 6) 

The Far East POW Experience - disease, death, survival, and aftermath by Geoff Gill & Nick Beeching

The event is free but booking is essential via Eventbrite

This talk will focus on conditions during the imprisonment of Far East prisoners of war (FEPOW) under the Japanese in the Second World War, the medical problems faced, and the long term health effects amongst survivors.

About 140,000 Allied troops were imprisoned, many suffered from malaria, dysentery, beriberi, cholera and tropical ulcers. Drugs and medical equipment were in short supply, though many camp workshops did remarkable work to manufacture equipment and sometimes even drugs for medical use. Nevertheless, about 25% of FEPOW died during captivity.

Post-war, survivors frequently suffered long-term health problems, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), duodenal ulcers, liver disease, and chronic worm infections.

Geoff Gill is Emeritus Professor of International Medicine, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine & University of Liverpool.

And Dr Nick Beeching is Consultant in Infectious Diseases at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital and Senior Lecturer at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine & University of Liverpool.

This talk will be of interest to health professionals and historians, and anyone who wants to find more of the medical ingenuity of camp doctors and LSTM’s work with FEPOW survivors.

Image - Portrait of Mr. Stanley, an ex-POW held by the Japanese in Changi Gaol, Singapore, who on release was a patient in hospital in Rangoon. Watercolour by Gunner Ashley George Old, Rangoon, September 1945. © Bartholomew family, Courtesy of the Council of the National Army Museum.