Descent Into Hell - The Fall of Singapore - Pudu and Changi - the Thai Burma Railway

by Peter Brune

'No man has the command of words needed for conveying...the courage and the cowardice; the loyalty and the treachery; the dedication and the dereliction; the strengths and the frailties; the kindness and the brutality; the integrity and depravity; the magnificence and the enormities of men, as revealed by and to those fated to pass through the entrails of hell, in Thailand Burma, during and after the Railway was built.'

Descent into Hell is a scrupulously researched and groundbreaking account of one of the most traumatic calamities in Australian history - the Malayan Campaign, the fall of Singapore and the subsequent horrors of the Thai-Burma Railway. Unpicking the myths and legends of the war, Peter Brune goes to the heart of the Australian experience. He describes the shambolic planning by the British in Singapore and the failures and incompetence of some of the Australian command. He debunks the claims about Australian deserters in Singapore, and we learn of the black market in Changi and the beatings, torture and murder on the Thai-Burma Railway.

Here too are stories of the war's many heroes and villains: of officers who looked after their men and optimised their chances of survival, and others who looked after themselves at their men's expense; the heroes of battle who became ineffectual and lost in the camps and on the Railway, and the least liked and least respected battlefield officers who came to be great leaders. And then there are countless acts of kindness and decency performed by one POW for another in the most cruel of circumstances.

Genres: History, World War II, Military Fiction, Nonfiction

802 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2014

Reviews

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first half of this book detailing the lead up to and the conduct of the Malayan Campaign in WW2 was very well written. The author claims this book as a filling a void with regards to the historical narrative of the 8th Australian Division and as such details its raising, training and command in an informative and readable manner. His writing on the fighting on the Malay Peninsula really captures the perspective of all participants, being Australian, British, Indian or Japanese, the scope of the narrative goes well beyond the Australian 8th Division's campaign.
The second half of the book deals with the surrender and subsequent incarceration of the Allied forces in Singapore, the focus here shifting to predominately to the Australian perspective. It is here that the book looses a bit of it's flow, whilst the information was good and there was still some interesting facts and anecdotes I don't think this part of the book gelled together like the first half. It was almost like reading two separate books.
All that aside still a very good book.

[Beatté · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compelling reading - easy to read and understand therefore though circumstances horrific by Peter's writing style able to enjoy and learn at the same time. My only criticism is why Edward Dunlop was excluded from from the book as he was an intrical part of the story of the Thai-Burma railway story that focused on medicos trying to save their men under the most horrific circumstances. Personally I felt like is was a bias towards Weary Dunlop but he was part of the story that needed to be told. Otherwise a " must read" book.

[Marsilla Dewi-Baruch · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read it twice and wish the author could have written more about Thai-Burma railway brutality. That piqued me to purchase the book.

[GrabaBookBookClub · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peter Brune wrote this book with Fierce Dedication his ability to write so purely gave the soldiers who fought a voice you can feel the exhaustion the pain you can feel your muscles ache in sympathy whilst a war fought in our history the men who came home brave enough to Give this dedicated Author the most powerful gift a life can give a book that i will re -read so i can always remember the sacrifices of those brave men and women for those that are avid readers of our History this book and this author will put you in a place where it makes you sympathise with our Men as they grew weary fight after fight , the enemy we also feel they were up against an appononet who didn’t know how to give up when the going got tough they fought against an enemy that knew nothing more than contempt and hate for the Australian and British and American and New Zealand Man. The conditions these brave men endured I don’t believe many of us would survive , i am one glad that i got to read this book by Peter Brune.

[john haran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly Detailed History

Peter Brune has written a thoroughly detailed history of the defense of British Malaya Singapore and Prisoner of War experience of Australian Army soldiers. While the telling of minute details of battle are a bit much to read continuously, they lend credence to the overall challenge to soldiering in AS Asia. The material could be split into two books as the volume of information is comprehensive beyond compare. Brune writes a compelling story of the Australian soldiers Decent into Hell. The ability to survive the hell of combat followed by three years of being worked to death by Imperial Japanese Forces reveals the extent of hatred of the British Empire. Furthermore, Brune continually supports his premise with conveying the good, bad, and the ugly of Australian officers. It's amazing that any of the POW's survived.

[Alex Soong · Rating 5 out of 5]

One might expect a meticulously researched, highly detailed and historically accurate account to be officious and difficult to read but this book is just the opposite. The prose is accessible and propels the reader effortlessly forward through a tumultuous period of Malayan history. The major characters of this story are painted with deft brush strokes that bring them back to flickering life in the picture screen of the reader's mind. The author does not hold back from giving his personal opinion of key events and persons but this is exactly what makes the narrative more comprehensible in comparison to a bland statement of facts. Excerpts of interviews the author conducted with the last remaining participants of this hellish episode re-ignite the emotional charge of long buried incidents. There is so much cruelty, misery and tragedy in this volume but also tremendous courage and resilience. And that's just the shocking, sad and pitiless drama of human existence.

[Kellye · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5... this is an excellent military history of the fall of Singapore and the subsequent action/inaction of the Australian and British military leaders. This is a thorough analytical report of the details that led to the rapid loss of Singapore in WWII.

[Mike Kershaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

Superb account of both the Australian fighting in the Malayan Campaign and the subsequent Prisoner of War experience, primarily along the infamous Thai-Burma Railway.