A Cool Head in Hell
eBook - ePub

A Cool Head in Hell

The Wartime Diaries of a British Doctor from Dunkirk to the Burma Railway

  1. English
  2. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

A Cool Head in Hell

The Wartime Diaries of a British Doctor from Dunkirk to the Burma Railway

About this book

Dr Harry Silman's WW2 diaries, detailing life as a POW tending to fellow combatants during forced labour on the Burma Railway.

A Cool Head in Hell is a compelling historical narrative based on Harry Silman's diaries, comprising one of the most comprehensive accounts by a POW under the Japanese to survive WWII.

Silman joined the British Army in 1939 as a medical officer. In 1940, he was one of the last soldiers to be shipped out during the mass retreat from Dunkirk. In 1942, his division was assigned to assist in the defence of Singapore, but arrived just before the island fell to Japan. Captain Silman spent the rest of the war in the notorious Changi POW camp as well as in the northernmost camps of the notorious Burma Railway, where he tended to Allied forced-labourers.

Throughout, Silman kept diaries in secret – illegal and dangerous for a POW. He wrote regular accounts of his harrowing experiences in the camps when he himself was weakened and exhausted, caring as best he could for hundreds of ill, wounded and dying men. Articulate, graphic, compassionate and lit with good humour, the diaries have been edited with care and illuminating commentary by Silman's daughter, Jacqueline Passman.

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Yes, you can access A Cool Head in Hell by Harry Silman, Jacqueline Passman in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & Military Biographies. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title
  3. Copyright
  4. Contents
  5. A Note on Language
  6. Editor’s Note
  7. Introduction
  8. 1. What a Night! … Bombed, Machine-Gunned and Shelled
  9. 2. Arrived at Singapore After an Exciting Morning
  10. 3. Very Momentous Day
  11. 4. My Days Are Settling Down
  12. 5. The Food Question Is Rather Important
  13. 6. I Had the Largest Sick Parade Ever
  14. 7. Men Have Turned to Religion for Mental Comfort
  15. 8. Idleness Is a Curse
  16. 9. An Incident Unparalleled in Military History
  17. 10. Interlude
  18. 11. Hell in the Jungle
  19. 12. You Couldn’t Eat a Cigarette Case
  20. 13. The Event We Have Been Looking Forward to So Eagerly
  21. Epilogue
  22. Abbreviations and Glossary
  23. Sources and Notes
  24. Credits