In the Shadow of the Rising Sun: Surviving a Prisoner of War Childhood

Olga Morris, a ten-year-old girl, and her family were living in Singapore when it fell to the Japanese Imperial Army in 1942. They were forced to hide out until they were captured and sent on a forced march to Changi Prison. Olga's family was not part of the privileged Raffles Hotel set, and her father worked in construction. Olga and her siblings grew up in Johor Bahru, a diverse part of Malaya, among children of all faiths and cultures, who played together without a thought to race or class.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 272 pages
Publication date: 06 July 2023
Publisher: Mirror Books

In February 1942, ten-year-old Olga Morris and her family were living in Singapore when the city fell to the Japanese Imperial Army in the biggest defeat in history of the British Forces. Turned back at an evacuation ships gangway as the bombs fell, Olga and her parents and siblings were forced to take their chances and hide out until, captured by Japanese soldiers, they were sent on a forced march to the notorious Changi Prison.

Theres a certain stereotype of the British in Singapore in the 1930s and early 1940s, which Olga Morris – Henderson as she is now – definitely did not fit. Her family was not part of the privileged Raffles Hotel set, with their big houses and servants. Her father worked in construction, building roads, the citys hospital, and a mosque. Olga and her siblings grew up in Johor Bahru, a diverse part of Malaya just across the causeway from Singapore, among children of all faiths and cultures, who played together without a thought to race or class. It was a very happy upbringing.

All that changed in 1942. Olga was playing with her guinea pigs when a British Army officer arrived to tell her mother that the family had just 20 minutes to pack what they could and get out. The Japanese were ten miles away. Olgas mother grabbed the family photograph album and they ran...

Three years of captivity followed. Three years of disease, malnutrition, deprivation, and oppression. Olga and her friends bravely raided the vegetable plot; “dodging the searchlights” and sometimes enduring severe punishments. She stood alongside the other women and children through the ordeal of Tenko in the blazing sun. They were used as slave labor. Halfway through their captivity, Olga and her friends were sent to work on a farm in Johor Bahru. They were given extra rice to have the strength and energy to dig their own graves.

Olga and her friends were eventually released in 1945, after the Japanese surrendered. They returned to Singapore, where Olga finished her education and went on to have a successful career as a teacher. She never forgot the horrors of her captivity, and she dedicated her life to promoting peace and understanding between different cultures.

Olga Morris – Henderson is a remarkable woman who survived the darkest days of World War II. Her story is a testament to the human spirit and the resilience of the human mind. It is a reminder of the importance of never forgetting the sacrifices made by those who fought for freedom and democracy, and of the importance of working towards a world where peace and justice are the norm.

Dimension: 198 x 129 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781915306425