A Doctor's War

by Rowley Richards

Rowley Richards was a young doctor and officer in the army reserve when war broke out. He embarked for Singapore in 1941, a year before the Allies capitulated to invading Japanese forces. This is his account of the horrors of battle, imprisonment and survival.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, War, Australia

332 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Hope · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the most unemotional memoir of a WWII that I've ever read. Rowley Richards was a doctor who was captured with the fall of Singapore and he kept painstakingly accurate statistical records of his experiences as a prisoner of war. Time and again he writes that he couldn't tell you how he felt about such-and-such a situation; he had been raised to hide his feelings and the horrors of the war numbed him even more. His clinically objective observations are off-putting and at the same time mesmerizing because you know things were much worse than he states.

I was fascinated by his attitude toward the British officers because the Australians had a more egalitarian army where the officers fraternized with their men. The British, on the other hand, had a strong sense of hierarchy and many of the officers in the camps kept a lonely distance from their soldiers. I also found it interesting that many of his childhood experiences uniquely prepared him for survival in the POW camps.

Although he had been brought up in the church he writes," I often thought of my mother's words, 'Trust God and fear no man,' but as far as I was concerned, there was no sign of God in the jungles of Burma." He envied the men who could find comfort in religion, but saw it as a false comfort. Salvation, to him, was his work and obsessive sense of duty.

I've read a dozen books about POWs in the Pacific, and although this is not a favorite of that genre, I was intrigued to read about the experiences of the River Kwai POWs from a unique perspective.

[Carroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you don't want to feel pasion, anger, hate and dispare then this isnt the book for you. However; if you want to know what it was like for our POW's and understand their pain then you need to read this.
The Japanese had/have no mercy, compassion for a human life and their "attempt" at an appology for their cruilty to our soldiers is an insult.
I read this book a few years ago now and i still feel the anger from it.
It will stay with me for a long time to come.

[Olga Cahill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rowley's story is one that will stay with me forever. Rowley passed this year at the age of 98. His family are people I have been blessed to meet. I wish that I had met Rowley, I would have loved to look into his eyes and see the light and courage in them. I am humbled by his story. This book was an amazing memoir.

[Mavi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very thought provoking book